Buccaneers' Emeka Egbuka is hero of NFL debut with special rookie stats in Week 1 out of Ohio State

Billy Heyen

Buccaneers' Emeka Egbuka is hero of NFL debut with special rookie stats in Week 1 out of Ohio State image

Emeka Egbuka is as advertised.

There was a reason the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took him in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft: This dude is good.

And on Sunday, in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons, he was great.

Egbuka caught an early touchdown, and then he caught the game-winning score.

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His final stats:

  • 4 catches
  • 67 yards
  • 2 touchdowns

On a bit of a bumpy day for QB Baker Mayfield, Egbuka was the hero. He led the Bucs in receiving yards on the day.

He also made sure a late, confusing non-fumble call that would've stopped the Falcons from taking the lead didn't matter.

That's because Egbuka came out and caught his second TD to go back ahead with the final points of the day.

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The Bucs missed their extra point, which set the Falcons up to have a chance at a game-tying field goal. But Younghoe Koo missed wide right, and that was that.

Egbuka will surely have ups and downs in his NFL career. But he'll never forget his debut. This was special.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle