NFL Analysis
10/28/24
6 min read
Emeka Egbuka 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For Ohio State Buckeyes WR
Height: 6-foot-1 (unofficial)
Weight: 205 lbs (unofficial)
Year: Senior
Pro Comparison: Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Scouting Overview
Ohio State Buckeyes WR Emeka Egbuka is a well-built, smooth slot receiver who offers reliable hands and toughness at the catch point.
Egbuka should be considered an underneath, chain-moving option at the NFL level who can provide value in 11p-heavy offenses. The Shanahan scheme and all of its branches across the league will likely find ample value in Egbuka’s game on targets that attack the middle of the field.
2025 NFL Combine Results
TBD
Positives
- Reliable hands that pop at the catch point
- Smooth body control to contort to the ball
- YAC demon with comfort in the middle of the field
Negatives
- Unlikely to offer vertical value at the NFL level
- Underwhelming blocking presence for a dense slot receiver
- Less success stacking defenders on the perimeter
Background
Egbuka was born in DuPont, Washington, and played his high school football for Steilacoom HS in Washington. There, he earned a 5-star recruitment ranking (247 Sports) and was listed as a top-10 overall recruit in the country and the nation’s No. 1 wide receiver while posting 61 total touchdowns in his high school career.
After the COVID-19 pandemic pushed Steilacoom’s 2020 season to the spring of 2021, Egbuka bypassed his senior season and became an early enrollee at Ohio State before becoming a productive member of the Buckeyes’ wide receiver corp as a true freshman via special teams.
As a sophomore, Egbuka posted his first career 1,000-yard season for Ohio State while catching passes from now-Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud. For his efforts that season, he was named Second-Team All-Big Ten. Egbuka’s junior season was injury-marred, and he disclosed he underwent a tightrope procedure for an ankle injury suffered that season. In all, he missed three games as a junior before returning for his senior season in 2024.
Tale Of THe Tape
The first thing that stands out about Egbuka is his proficiency, which allows him to transition from a pass catcher to a threat with the football in his hands. Egbuka has good instincts to feel and attack space with the ball in his hands on underneath targets.
He is capable of creating chunk plays with his initial burst and vision after the catch. This player thrives when given space to operate and has historically thrived as a slot option, where releases into routes are more free access, and he can attack his route stems based on leverage from nickel defenders, safeties, and linebackers.
Egbuka can also play through soft tackle challenges. He’s not a lightweight receiver and plays tough if defenders aren’t capable of squaring on his frame in the open field. It is easy to appreciate how he plucks and attacks the football to ensure he’s optimizing space at the catch point, preventing defenders from coming through his body to contest the throw.
Egbuka shows good concentration on targets through traffic, seeing the ball into his hands and willing to brace for contact at the hit. This quality is complemented by how he contorts his frame back to the football on throws that force him to flip his hips late in the stem.
This is a receiver with a strong track record with his hands, but it was notable that a handful of his few career drops have come on targets to his back hip. That and the occasional rep of taking his eyes off the football too early were the primary contributors to his infrequent drops throughout his college career.
Egbuka has been given opportunities to play on the outside, but he is much more successful working from the slot. I did not see the same success breaking across the face of defensive backs or stacking defenders vertically while playing on the outside and having coverage leverage the sideline against him. As such, I do believe he’ll be best served as predominantly an inside target at the next level.
From a route-running perspective, he’s frequently impactful on hitches, shallow crosses, slants, and out patterns. He’ll convert first and second-window targets into in-stride foot races. It is easy to appreciate how he will get on top of the toes of defenders before getting into his cuts — he understands the value of closing space and attacking defenders to force defensive positioning before breaking and looking for the football.
He does have room to grow with being a more impactful all-around player. I would love to see some more fire on running downs, particularly given that he is a thicker slot option. He clearly has the pop in his hands and contact balance to dictate terms and claim real estate against defensive backs playing as an apex defender.
More often than not, Egbuka was charged with playing out RPO routes or serving as a decoy on obvious running situations or short-yardage reps. He can take his game to the next level with more dynamic play away from the football, and he has the physical skill set to do it.
Egbuka can bring special teams value if needed. He’s an experienced kick returner who played that role primarily as a freshman in 2021. He averaged nearly 30 yards per return, and thanks to his smooth cuts and field vision, I could see him adjusting well to the dynamic kickoff rules in the NFL.
This is a player with good receiving instincts and ball-tracking capabilities. Timing-based offenses can maximize his run-after-catch capabilities, and pinpoint accurate quarterbacks should help maximize his catch radius and offer him opportunities to use his ball skills and body control to target away from defenders when he is targeted in tight coverage.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Primary slot receiver for a West Coast offense. Egbuka is primarily a passing game weapon with room to grow in the complementary areas of the position.
Grade: 79.50/100.00, Second Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
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