What Happened to Emeka Egbuka? Why the Buccaneers Rookie Isn’t Playing Much Down the Stretch

Emeka Egbuka was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ most productive wide receiver through the first half of the 2025 NFL season. He has continued to play in every game for them this year, but his playing time and production have significantly regressed in recent weeks. here’s a look at what happened to the promising rookie prospect.

Why Has Emeka Egbuka Regressed for Buccaneers?

Egbuka quickly became one of the most intriguing rookies in the 2025 season amid his impressive first year with the Buccaneers. He totaled six touchdowns across his first nine games and exceeded 65 yards in five of them as the top target for Baker Mayfield in a productive passing game.

The rookie wide receiver has now failed to score a touchdown in his past seven games and hasn’t reached 65 yards in any of them, entering their pivotal Week 18 matchup against the Carolina Panthers. They once had a commanding lead in the NFC South, but a loss this week would give the division title to the Panthers instead. This would also eliminate the Buccaneers from playoff contention.

Tampa Bay enters the contest having lost seven of their past eight games, which almost directly lines up with Egbuka’s regression timeline in the second half of the season. His decreased opportunities can explain some of his dip in production, but it’s interesting to see that they were winning many more games when he was more involved in their game plan.

He had played in at least 75% of their offensive snaps in 12 of their first 13 games, but hasn’t done so in any of their past three games. It once seemed to be a luxury that their wide receivers were getting healthy later in the season, but it hasn’t had a positive impact on their record. Chris Godwin has been back for the past six games, while Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan have played in the past three.

Buccaneers offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard has insisted in recent weeks that they will get Egbuka more involved, but it has yet to happen since the return of their veterans. Most notably, they featured McMillan much more in their most recent game. His nine targets were nearly double that of their star rookie as the Bucs continue to struggle.

Egbuka still has the highest score of any Buccaneers wide receiver in PFSN’s Impact Rankings for this year, despite his recent skid. As Tampa Bay continues to search for answers to stop their alarming skid, it may be right in front of them as a potentially obvious solution of getting back to featuring their rookie in their passing schemes.