Tampa Bay Buccaneers second-year wide receiver Emeka Egbuka is expected to be one of the best picks in fantasy football drafts this year. Fantasy Football Analyst Hayden Winks of Yahoo Sports predicted Egbuka to finish as one of the top 13 wide receivers in scoring this year. Right now, he is being drafted as the 21st-best option, so he looks like a great bargain in fantasy football drafts.
Winks noted that he started the season as the ninth-best receiver in fantasy football through the first 11 weeks. However, he became the 64th-best receiver in fantasy from Week 12 through the end of the season.
Winks does a great job providing context and pointing to why Egbuka could maintain that top nine status in 2026.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Emeka Egbuka Could Finish Top 13 In Fantasy Football
GettyTampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka.
Winks first noted that his quarterback, Baker Mayfield, was hurt last year, and that injury started to show in Week 12.
“Baker Mayfield suffered an AC Joint sprain to his shoulder in Week 12, and Egbuka’s catchable ball rate dropped to 50% from that point forward, which was tied for worst among WRs,” wrote Winks. “It was at 61% in Weeks 1-11.”
Egbuka was not the only player to suffer. Mayfield struggled across the board. He started the year with 17 touchdowns to four interceptions and ended the year with nine touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Winks notes it was not just Mayfield, though. Egbuka was banged up himself.
“From ESPN’s Benjamin Solak: “A Week 6 hamstring injury robbed him of his top speed; NFL Next Gen Stats tracking data had Egbuka with 11 routes of at least 18 miles per hour through the first five weeks of the season … and 11 such routes in the remaining 12 weeks, after the hamstring injury,”” Winks cited.
Lastly, he pointed to Evans taking away his targets when he was on the field, and that not being a problem anymore.
“Egbuka’s target share also jumped from 18.5% to 28.5% without Mike Evans,” Winks added.
Egbuka is in a Much Better Spot With Buccaneers in 2026
Beyond the situation being worse last year, there are also positives coming to the Buccaneers that make Egbuka more appealing.
Winks points to the addition of Zac Robinson at offensive coordinator, and that Robinson compared Egbuka to Cooper Kupp, whom Robinson coached with the Los Angeles Rams.
“In 2022, 19% of Kupp’s receptions were screens, and he had a lot more quick-design receptions on top of that, while largely avoiding press man coverage,” Winks pointed out. “None of that happened with Egbuka last season when he was forced onto the line of scrimmage in a downfield role. I think he can do it now.”
This is a strong closing argument, and everything makes sense for Egbuka to have a strong season. Mayfield is healthy, and so is he. Evans is gone, which will open up more targets. Robinson has entered the picture, so the targets should be higher quality.
All of this points to Egbuka being a steal in fantasy football. It is hard to argue with any of the logic here. The Bucs defense might be better this year, but there are still enough questions that the team should get into some higher-scoring affairs.
We will if Egbuka can live up to this potential.
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