“HE’S SO SMART.” The consensus is clear: Emeka Egbuka was a standout during Tampa Bay Buccaneers minicamp last week.
The former Ohio State wide receiver looked the part of a first-round pick. More than that, he looked like someone who could be a game-changer in Tampa Bay’s offense.
But don’t take my word for it.
Take the word of quarterback Baker Mayfield, who said the Bucaneers could already “plug-and-play him at every receiver spot” because of how well he understands the offense.
“At this level, you have to have talent, and he has that, being a first-round pick,” Mayfield said. “The thing that sticks out is how cerebral he is. He’s so smart. Right now, I think we could plug-and-play him at every receiver spot – he understands the offense that well. That’s just him being a pro already. He’s not a rookie. He doesn’t act like it, at least.
“It’s been really good to see him take that ownership. He takes it really serious. He’s in constant communication (with me and the coaches). He always wants to be in the right spot at the right time. He’s much like J-Mac (Jalen McMillan) in his understanding of zone coverage and like Chris (Godwin) as well in his understanding of when to be open, the voids in the zone defense and how to be friendly to the quarterback. It’s a nice luxury to have.”
Egbuka’s fellow wide receivers also complimented him last week. That includes Mike Evans, who has been a 1,000-yard receiver in each of his 11 NFL seasons with the Buccaneers.
“This might be the best receiver room I’ve been a part of,” Evans said while explaining what Egbuka adds to the position group. “We always get great players coming in. That’s been very fortunate for me in my career, to be around a lot of great young players. They’ve added to the room tremendously. They’re very polished already. Emeka has really strong hands. He’s super smart.”
Evans agreed with Mayfield that Egbuka is similar to Godwin.
“He looks like a running back, but he catches like Chris,” Evans said. “He’s a very polished, very well-rounded player.”
Baker Mayfield calls Emeka Egbuka “cerebral” and “a nice luxury to have” at wide receiver, and TreVeyon Henderson says he wants to model his game after James White.
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