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Emeka Egbuka #2 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ selection of wide receiver Emeka Egbuka in the first round of the 2026 NFL draft was one of the best moves of the entire 2025 NFL draft. Egbuka was selected 19th overall by the Bucs in the actual draft. However, Egbuka went 11th overall in a re-draft done by Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report.

Egbuka was excellent in his rookie year and hit the ground running with two touchdowns in the first game of his NFL career. He continued that through the year with 63 catches for 938 yards and six touchdowns.

He is not going any higher than 11th because while he started the season hot, he did not finish strong. Egbuka has 40 catches for 677 yards in the first nine games of the season. He averaged 4.4 catches for 75 yards.

In the final eight games, he posted just 23 catches for 261 yards. This resulted in 2.9 catches for 32.6 yards per game. Still, the first half was strong enough to forgive the rookie wall. Beyond that, some of the rookies selected ahead of him in the re-draft had issues as well.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Stole Emeka Egbuka with the 19th Overall Pick in the 2025 NFL Draft

Cam Ward still went first overall, but Jaxson Dart and Tyler Shough rounded out a new top three. While all three flashed and are quarterbacks, they all enter year two with questions about their progression.

Kelvin Banks jumped from the ninth pick to the number four overall pick. However, Travis Hunter stayed at pick five despite not producing on either side of the ball and missing most of the year with a torn ACL.

Will Campbell dropped from four to six, and Abdul Carter dropped from second to seventh, so their rookie seasons were not everything the teams wanted. Tetairoa McMillan went eight. He did just slightly outproduce Egbuka.

Armand Membou fell from seventh to ninth, and Colston Loveland stayed tenth. It makes sense that three quarterbacks, three tackles, and a pass rusher went ahead of Egbuka. He was the fourth pass catcher, if you include Travis Hunter, though. A strong end to his season could have had him as high as fifth or sixth.

Emeka Egbuka Was a Value Pick for the Buccaneers

Of the players who went in the top ten, eight of them originally did in the year prior. Seven players in the top ten either dropped or went in the same spot as their initial draft selection.

So, when looking at the best value picks in the draft, it comes down to Dart, Shough, Banks, and Egbuka. Banks only jumped from nine to four, but that is significant considering the expecations were already high and he still outshot them.

Still, the two best value picks will be going to Dart and Shough right now. Dart went 25th overall, and Shough went 40th overall. For them to rise into top three picks is a great job by the teams that took them.

Still, a lot of that comes back to the value of the quarterback. As a position player, Egbuka was one of the best picks.