Emeka Egbuka: There’s a passing of the torch post-Mike Evans, it needs to be received by someone

For many years, Mike Evans was the leader of the Buccaneers' receivers room.

But that is no longer the case, with Evans electing to sign a three-year deal with the 49ers in March.

Tampa Bay still has plenty of talent at wideout, including 2025 first-round pick Emeka Egbuka. In an interview with Up & Adams this week, Egbuka noted that while the Bucs feel the loss of Evans, they have the players to fill the void.

"Obviously, I think there’s a passing of the torch, and it needs to be received by someone," Ebguka said. "I think that our management — our G.M., our owners, and everything like that — they’ve done a great job of bringing guys in who are up to the task. So, obviously, they drafted me last year. But we have Chris Godwin, we have Jalen McMillan, and we have a bunch of guys who are ready to make an impact. We just drafted a wide receiver [Ted Hurst out of Georgia State], so we’re really excited to see what he can do.

"But obviously, we’re feeling the effects of Mike being gone. He’s so loved within the building, within the Tampa community. There’s nothing but love for him. There’s no hard feelings or anything. We all believe he’s going to do amazing things in San Francisco. But, yeah, there’s a little bit of a passing of the torch, and handoff, and I think everybody in our room is up to the task."

Egbuka, in particular, seems up to the task of leading Tampa Bay's wideouts, telling Kay Adams that he feels leadership is "always something that’s come very natural to me."

"I remember in draft prep and everything like that, when the Bucs were evaluating me, that was something that they put a lot of high emphasis on, was me being a leader, and stepping into leadership roles," Egbuka said. "I was a captain at Ohio State — been a captain on pretty much every football team I’ve been a part of. So, it’s definitely something that’s always come naturally to me when I was younger."

Egbuka, 23, caught 63 passes for 938 yards with six touchdowns as a rookie in 2025.