GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected the Steilacoom legend and College Football Playoff champion out of Ohio State with the 19th pick in Thursday’s 2025 NFL Draft, adding Emeka Egbuka to an illustrious list of first-round Buckeye receivers.
The 6-1, 203-pound wide receiver and Steilacoom native tallied 2,868 career receiving yards and 24 touchdowns across four seasons at Ohio State, capped by the Buckeyes’ 34-23 win over Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff National Championship last Jan. 20. Egbuka had six receptions for 64 yards with a 13-yard carry in the title game.
A walking highlight reel at Steilacoom High (2017-2021), Egbuka was a two-time 2A SPSL MVP after piling up 2,240 all-purpose yards and 35 total touchdowns throughout his junior season. He guided Steilacoom to the school’s first-ever 2A state championship appearance, a 48-34 loss to Tumwater in 2019, and made national headlines with an unbelievable one-handed touchdown grab in the title game. He was the Washington 2019 Gatorade Player of the Year.
There are also people in Sequim who remember Egbuka well. In a district playoff game between Sequim and Steilacoom in 2018, Egbuka, then just a sophomore, had five catches for 226 yards, including a trio of touchdown catches of 40, 44 and 80 yards.
In Tampa, he’ll join a wide receiver room headlined by Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and former Washington Huskies wideout Jalen McMillan.
“Fluid athlete with good size and quality ball skills who works primarily from the slot,” NFL Analyst Lance Zierlein wrote for NFL.com, who compared Egbuka to Seattle wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba. “Egbuka runs his routes with tempo and pace. He does a nice job of influencing coverage when needed. … He’s not elusive or sudden after the catch but is competitive and can squeeze out additional yardage.”
