After an up-and-down rookie season, Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka is expected to provide more stability in his second season. So much so that he could lead all wide receivers in touchdown receptions, Connor Orr of Sports Illustrated listed his biggest bold predictions and cited Egbuka being the top receiver in touchdown catches as one of his.
“With the loss of Mike Evans, the Buccaneers will be able to better spotlight Egbuka in the offense, and he won’t get swallowed up by the offense as he did toward the end of last season,” Orr wrote. “Egbuka had seven or fewer targets in each of the last four games of the 2025 season, after having six touchdowns, three 100-plus-yard games and three 10-plus-target games over the first nine weeks.”
Egbuka produced six touchdowns in his rookie season, but none of them came in the second half of the season. So, while it looks like he would need a massive step forward to lead the NFL in receiving touchdowns, he mostly would just need to continue his first-half pace into year two.
What Emeka Egbuka Needs to Lead the NFL in Receiving Touchdowns
GettyEmeka Egbuka #2 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Over the past five seasons, the leader in touchdown receptions has ranged from 13 to 17. Last year, and in 2022, Davante Adams led all receivers with 14 touchdowns. In 2024, it was Ja’Marr Chase with an impressive 17.
Mike Evans and Tyreek Hill tied with 13 in 2023, and Cooper Kupp had 16 in 2021. In total, the group averaged 14.8 touchdowns. So, in most seasons, he would need 15 touchdowns. If he maintained his pace from last year, it would have left him with 12.
With Evans hitting 13 touchdowns as recently as 2023 and hitting 11 in 2024, it shows that if Baker Mayfield has a red zone target, he is not afraid to feed him at a high-level. So, Egbuka could continue his pace and earn that red zone trust, causing him to lead the league in touchdowns.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Must Understand Why Egbuka Finished So Quietly
It was quite noticeable how different Egbuka looked in the second half of the season. He produced 40 catches and 677 yards with six touchdowns in the first half of the season. That was an average of 4.4 catches for 75 yards.
In the second half of the season, he averaged 2.9 catches for 32.6 yards. That produced just 23 catches and 231 yards. His production essentially split in half, and the touchdowns vanished.
Some of this can be attributed to Baker Mayfield and the health of the offense. Mayfield was playing through injuries, and every receiver saw their stats plummet. The offensive line had a lot of shuffling and never settled in. With an offensive coordinator who got fired on top of that, Egbuka was not the only issue late in the year.
Mayfield and the offensive line are healthy. The expectation is for the coordinator to be better. So, if Egbuka does not continue at his first-half pace, he will be under the spotlight. Still, all of those factors make it easy to see Egbuka performing even better in 2026.
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