Scouting Profile: Emeka Egbuka - WR - Ohio State
Sales Pitch: Fluid controlled route runner with excellent hands. Lacks WR1 traits but his high floor playstyle should translate to early WR2 duties.
*Gold Numbers Indicate NCAA T-25 for 2024*
Scouting Report
Emeka Egbuka is a former 5-Star from the state of Washington where he was a standout baseball and football player. He was a staple for the Buckeyes offense over the past three years with a straight All-Big 10 selections. Egbuka also finishes his career as the Ohio State all-time catches leader with 205 grabs.
Egbuka is a compact receiver with fluid movement skills. He is a quicker than fast player who easily gets in and out of his breaks as a receiver. Egbuka was primarily a slot receiver in college who excelled at getting open versus man coverage on intermediate and underneath routes. He does an excellent job using his releases and route stems to manipulate defenders leverage and give himself space to work. His ability to quickly sink his hips and break out without losing speed allows him to create separation after he gains leverage. Egbuka is adept at identifying and recognizing zone coverage. He is excellent at finding the soft spots in zones and sliding to space. He has strong dependable hands to secure tough catches over the middle. Egbuka’s balance and body control translates to difficult catches as well. He is a good ball tracker with the ability to adjust and secure difficult catches. His late hands allow him to secure routes down the sideline and seam without having to play through bigger defenders. Egbuka is a willing and capable blocker as well. He has the size and foot quickness to attach and seal DBs out in space. He also has the toughness and effort to insert into the box from condensed and wing alignments to dig out safeties.
Egbuka isn’t the biggest receiver, his size and length come in around average for the position. Bigger, longer CBs are able to dictate his releases when they get hands on and is why he mostly played from the slot in college. Egbuka also lacks the burst to quickly stack defenders off the line of scrimmage. His long speed is closer to solid than great and doesn’t threaten defenses vertically. Egbuka will struggle to consistently separate on the outside when DBs can get up close and personal and negate his route running polish. The same lack of explosiveness hurts him with the ball in his hands. Egbuka struggles to make defenders miss or break tackles in space. A majority of his YAC is either schemed up or comes from him quickly getting upfield after the catch.
Egbuka projects as a high-floor Z who spend a large amount of time in the slot. He lacks the ideal tools to be a true WR1 but his IQ, route running and blocking are important tools in any offense. Egbuka projects as a late first, early second round pick who should be an instant starter.