Former Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the No. 19 overall pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft on Thursday night. He’s the first Buckeye taken in this year’s draft, and the second wide receiver selected overall.
His selection in the first round continues Ohio State’s streak of having wide receivers in the first round, which is now up to four straight years.
Egbuka enters the professional ranks as one of the more decorative wideouts in Ohio State history. In his four seasons in scarlet and gray, the Steilacoom, Wash., native set the program record in receptions with 205 while also totaling 2,868 receiving yards and 24 touchdowns, marks that also rank second and tied for seventh in program history.
Egbuka’s historic Buckeye career began in 2021 as a highly touted five-star freshman, when he totaled just nine receptions for 191 receiving yards and zero touchdowns in 10 games while sitting behind program greats Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, among others. But his career took off the next season when — alongside two-time All-American and 2023 Biletnikoff Award winner Marvin Harrison Jr. — he collected a career-high 1,151 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns on 74 receptions from quarterback C.J. Stroud, helping the Buckeyes finish No. 2 nationally in scoring offense that year at 44.2 points per game.
Egbuka had a bit of a down junior campaign in 2023 while battling a nagging foot injury, catching just 41 passes for 515 yards and four touchdowns in 10 games with his former college roommate Kyle McCord as his starting quarterback, a season that was made more difficult after Ohio State’s third straight loss to Michigan and uninspiring Cotton Bowl defeat to Missouri a month later.
These team and individual struggles compelled him to return to Ohio State for his senior season, where he finished his collegiate career in style. With Will Howard now under center — his third different quarterback in as many seasons — Egbuka was one of the Buckeyes’ more reliable pass catchers next to freshman sensation Jeremiah Smith, catching another 81 passes for 1,011 yards and 10 touchdowns.
His impact was perhaps most felt in the Buckeyes’ historic four-game national title run through the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff, where he caught 21 passes for 268 yards and one touchdown to help lead OSU to its first national championship in a decade. His most notable moment from the run may have been his impressive 42-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter of Ohio State’s blowout Rose Bowl win over Oregon, where he ran down the seam and lodged the ball onto his jersey and helmet with one hand before entering the end zone for the score.
He also set the program record for receptions in the national title game win over Notre Dame, catching six passes for 64 yards in the 34-23 win.
Now, Egbuka will start his next football chapter in the NFL on a high-powered offense that includes quarterback Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin among others. The Buccaneers went 10-7 last season.
