Emeka Egbuka is going to test your patience, but he could absolutely be worth the wait. Egbuka was selected 19th overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team that already had Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Jalen McMillan on the roster. On the one hand, it's a great sign that a team with that much talent at wide receiver thought Egbuka was worth a first round selection. On the other hand, it is hard to imagine Egbuka making a Fantasy impact as a rookie with this depth chart.
As a prospect, Egbuka came in with a sterling resume from Ohio State, a school that has produced numerous WR1s in the NFL over the past decade. As a 20-year-old he caught 74 passes for 1,151 yards and 10 touchdowns on a team that also had Marvin Harrison. Last year he played with arguably the best freshman wide receiver in NCAA history and again topped 1,000 yards and scored 10 touchdowns.
Dave Richard wrote Egbuka's prospect profile, you can read it here. In it, he notes that Egbuka enters the league ready to contribute, but this landing spot calls that into serious question. Dave also cites Egbuka's extensive route tree and mental game as strengths while acknowledging his limited YAC abilities in college. "Egbuka should be a regular part of an NFL team's offense, but it remains to be seen if he can overcome speed and power issues to be a No. 1-type. What he lacks in explosiveness he does make up for in nuance, know-how and savvy, giving him a platform to be a quality contributor to an offense."
In redraft leagues I am planning on dedicating a pick in the double-digit rounds to Egbuka, but he may be one of the first players I drop if Chris Godwin is healthy in Week 1. If something happens to Evans or Godwin I expect Egbuka will be productive in this system almost immediately. In Dynasty I am ranking him as WR30, but it is worth noting that Mike Evans is in the last year of his contract, so this could be a Year 2 breakout like fellow Buckeye Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
What does this mean for the rest of the Buccaneers?
First and foremost, you should feel even better about Baker Mayfield as a borderline QB1. No one has a receiving corps this deep and Mayfield in particular needs it with Evans at 32 years old and Godwin recovering from another leg injury.
The wide receiver I am downgrading the most after this pick is Jalen McMillan. He was a good sleeper to potentially cover for Godwin early in the year and then serve as a bench stash with upside. I would expect Egbuka to supplant McMillan on the depth chart with haste. I am also slightly concerned that the Egbuka pick signals some concern about Godwin's status at the beginning of the season, so I have slightly downgraded him. As for Evans, I see considerable risk, if not much change to his projection. Evans' target share suffered greatly when Godwin was healthy early in the year and now the Buccaneers have one more very good wide receiver. In redraft I would target Evans before Godwin, but neither before Round 5. McMillan should only be drafted in the deepest of redraft leagues.
