The Bucs offense is loaded with weapons at the wide receiver position. Whenever a team has the likes of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin Jr., they don't usually need more help. Despite that, the Bucs drafted Jalen McMillan in 2024, and he proved to play a meaningful role in the offense, but then they added more firepower in the draft.
When they drafted Emeka Egbuka in the first round of April's draft, it shocked everyone. ESPN's Dan Graziano got to the bottom of the idea behind the pick, and it paints a clearer picture of why the team took the approach they did.
Graziano writes, "The Bucs surprised many when they used the No. 19 pick in April to select wide receiver Emeka Egbuka. They'd just re-signed Chris Godwin to a three-year contract, they still have veteran Mike Evans playing well and their 2024 third-round pick, Jalen McMillan, caught seven touchdown passes in their final five games of the season. Some wondered if the Egbuka pick meant they were worried about Godwin's recovery from his season-ending ankle injury. But again, they just gave Godwin a three-year deal, so they couldn't be that worried."
Egbuka has been the star of Bucs training camp early on, taking advantage of the absence of Godwin due to injury. With the veteran receiver expected to miss time to start the year, Egbuka is poised to take his role in the slot while Evans and McMillan continue their work on the outside. It doesn't hurt that Egbuka has a strong connection already with quarterback Baker Mayfield to earn that role so quickly.
As for the Evans angle of this all, he is heading into a contract year so it is a situation to monitor as the season progresses.
