Bucs OC on Emeka Egbuka's struggles: 'No one's more upset with him than himself'

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2025-12-11

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have stumbled down the stretch, losing four of their last five games and seeing their NFC South lead evaporate. Ahead of Thursday night’s divisional bout with the Atlanta Falcons, the Bucs’ offense needs to get back on track.

Tampa has put up 20 or fewer points each of the past three weeks (1-2), and Baker Mayfield hasn’t hit the 200-yard passing mark in four games.

The offensive lull has coincided with first-round pick Emeka Egbuka hitting a rookie wall. After averaging 89.0 receiving yards through the first five weeks, Egbuka has put up just 45.1 yards per game over the last eight tilts, despite seeing an uptick in targets — 9.0 over the last eight games versus 7.6 in the first five. Drops have been a big issue, with an NFL-high six since Week 6, per Next Gen Stats. He also has an NFL-low 40.3 catch percentage since Week 6 (minimum 40 targets).

Despite the struggles, offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard said Tuesday that there is zero loss of confidence from the rookie.

“I don’t even think it’s really confidence — he’s a very confident guy,” Grizzard said, via the team’s official transcript. “What we’ve asked him to do [as a] rookie gets taken for granted a lot — even from the coaching staff. It’s not easy to do what he’s done on playing all three positions. He’s a guy that came in here from day one and has prepared the right way. He’s played all three spots. He’s won games for us. We have all the confidence in the world in him. We’re going to try to get it to him early, often, with the game on the line — which he’s proven he can do. No one’s more upset with him than himself.”

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Egbuka had a massive drop in Sunday’s 24-20 loss to the New Orleans Saints on a potential touchdown that would have tied the score late in the fourth quarter. After toasting the defense with an excellent route, the rookie was wide open in the end zone but had the score slide through his hands. The miscue was emblematic of the Bucs’ recent struggles: talented enough to get in position, but couldn’t come down with the key play.

“I’m on this team for one reason, and that’s to catch the ball, and I didn’t,” Egbuka said Sunday after the loss.

Despite the recent struggles, Egbuka leads the Buccaneers with 54 catches, 806 receiving yards and six TD catches. He’s second among rookies in receiving yards and tied for the most TD receptions.