Cole Pepper
Baker Mayfield has another weapon.
With the 19th pick of the NFL draft, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka. Egbuka received all-conference honors in all four years with the Buckeyes, including honorable mention All-Big Ten as a kick returner as a freshman. He was named second-team All-Big Ten as a sophomore and third-team as a junior and senior.
In his final year in Columbus, he served as team captain and caught 81 passes for 1,011 yards and 10 touchdowns. He ended his career with a school record 205 receptions and a national championship.
He will have the opportunity to step into the No. 3 receiver role with Tampa Bay behind Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. The Bucs spent a third-round pick on a receiver last year when they selected Jalen McMillan. McMillan caught 37 passes for 461 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie.
Tampa Bay has five picks remaining in the draft, one in each round except the sixth. Friday’s selections could focus on adding to the pass rush and depth in the secondary.
Two intriguing pass rushers are still on the board: Marshall’s Mike Green and Donovan Ezeiruaku from Boston College. Green started his career at Virginia before transferring to Marshall, where he led college football with 17 sacks and was second in the nation with 22.5 tackles for loss. He was projected as a first-round pick by many draft analysts.
Ezeiruaku is one of the most athletic edge rushers in the draft. He won the Ted Hendricks award as the nation’s top defensive end and was a first-team All-American as a senior. As a team captain, he ranked behind only Green with 16.5 sacks and was third in the nation with 20.5 tackles for loss.
If the Buccaneers choose to address the secondary, they could target Michigan cornerback Will Johnson, thought by some to be the second-best corner in the draft. He went undrafted in the first round. All of the top safeties are still available except Georgia’s Malaki Starks, who was selected with the 27th pick by the Baltimore Ravens.
