While in college, Emeka Egbuka not only played alongside four future first-round receivers at Ohio State, he studied them and tried to replicate various aspects of their game.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver broke down exactly what Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Marvin Harrison Jr., and Jaxon Smith-Njigba taught him during their time together. The star receivers helped shape different parts of his game and played a role in his development into one of the most exciting young wide receivers in the NFL.
How Ohio State’s Receiver Room Built Egbuka’s Complete Game
During an interview courtesy of USAA, the NFL’s official Salute to Service partner, Egbuka spoke about his various teammates before surprising a 20-year Air Force veteran (and diehard Ohio State fan) with two tickets to the Super Bowl.
“I learned so much from kind of all of them,” Egbuka told PFSN of his former Buckeyes teammates. “From Chris, it was kind of just the speed and the drive phase off the ball. You never know what Chris is running; everything looks the same when he comes off the ball.”
Olave’s release disguise has been one of the most underappreciated technical skills in the NFL since he entered the league with the New Orleans Saints. Egbuka identified this and tried to add this weapon to his arsenal as well.
As for Harrison, his Ohio State roommate, he learned a different valuable lesson.
“I learned a lot from Marvin,” Egbuka said.” We were roommates and everything, bounced a lot of ideas and stuff off each other. He helped me a lot with my route running.”
Egbuka says that Smith-Njigba taught him something “similar” while they were teammates: “Release game, route running.”
Then, there’s Wilson, whose YAC ability has been a hallmark of his game.
“And Garrett Wilson, I learned a lot from him about just running with the ball after the catch, seeing how he split defenses and attacked defenders with his eyes and just made stuff shake and just had that confidence with the ball in his hands,” Egbuka explained.
“I learned from everybody in that room.”
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Egbuka recorded 63 receptions for 938 yards and 6 touchdowns as a rookie. Entering his sophomore year, he may have to take on a larger role since Mike Evans is an unrestricted free agent in March.
Fortunately for Egbuka, he has all of the tools to become a superstar receiver in the NFL. He showed glimpses of this throughout his rookie season, as he scored 5 touchdowns in his first 5 games, including a monster 7-catch, 163-yard, 1-TD performance against the Seattle Seahawks’ dominant defense that went on to win the Super Bowl.
However, in the second half of the season, injuries and inconsistency slowed down Egbuka and Tampa Bay’s offense (and the team’s defense struggled mightily), so the Bucs ultimately missed the playoffs.
In his second year, Egbuka will be looking to take a leap in an offense with a ton of potential after the hire of new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson.
