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Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka appears ready to take a step forward this sophomore season. Mike Evans departed for the San Francisco 49ers this offseason, leaving a huge void in the Buccaneers receiver room. While they have decent depth at the position, Evans remains a future Hall of Famer and a legendary Buccaneer.

Egbuka said, “Obviously, I think there’s a passing of a torch and it needs to be received by someone.”

Egbuka appeared on Up and Adams with Kay Adams to discuss the upcoming season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He acknowledged there’s a lot of room for the Bucs to grow.

He said, “I think that our management, you know our GM, our owners and everything like that, they’ve done a great job of bringing guys in who are up to the task. So, you know, obviously, they drafted me last year. But we have Chris Godwin. We have Jalen McMillan, and we have a bunch of guys who are really ready to make an impact.”

The Buccaneers drafted Ted Hurst in the third round of the NFL Draft this year.

“We’re really excited to see what [Hurst] can do. But obviously, you know, we’re feeling the effects of Mike being gone. He’s so loved within the building, within the Tampa community. It’s nothing but love for him. There’s no hard feelings or anything. And we all believe he’s going to do amazing things in San Francisco. But yeah, there is a little bit of a passing of a torch and a handoff, and I think everybody in our room is up to the task.”

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Egbuka Ready to Take a Leap

GettyEgbuka impressed many throughout this rookie season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Egbuka came into the NFL with some extremely impressive performances for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He caught 63 passes for 938 yards in 2025. However, 677 yards and 40 catches of that production came in the first nine weeks of the season.

In a conversation with Newsweek, Egbuka commented on those late season struggles and how the rest of the team uplifted his performance.

He said, “We had a lot of team success early on in the season, and then when my production dropped, the whole production of the entire team dropped as well. As a team, we have to work on keeping our foot on the gas and executing in a better way.”

In terms of improving, Egbuka knows what he needs to do to make his play take a new step forward with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“My blocking technique and running with the ball after the catch. Last year, there was that little bit of, Whoa, I’m still a rookie. But I think I’m very dynamic with the ball in my hands and want to be able to make more plays.”

Egbuka Needs to Turn Potential Into Production

GettyEgbuka performed greatly with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but there remains room for growth.

Despite his excellence throughout the 2025 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Egbuka needs to improve on some key areas. For one, he struggled with drops. PFF recorded eight total drops last year, leading to a drop grade of 49.6. Plus, he had 27 contested targets and only eight of those were converted into catches. In order to take a step forward, Egbuka needs to improve on his route running and reception rate.

PFF gave Egbuka a 67.3 overall grade in his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That ranks 52nd out of 81 eligible wide receivers. However, the Buccaneers plan on giving him a massive workload. Last season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers gave Egbuka a weighted opportunity of 60.17%. Weighted opportunity factors in his total target share and air yardage share of the offense as a percentage. That ranks 12th overall in the NFL, making him a clear wide receiver one in terms of his role.

Given the role the Tampa Bay Buccaneers project for Egbuka, 2026 proves to be a massive season for his overall development.