Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season is finally here and opening weekend will continue on Sunday with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visiting the Atlanta Falcons for an NFC South showdown at 1 p.m. ET on FOX.
Emeka Egbuka start or sit: Week 1 fantasy football advice
We break down the fantasy football outlook of Emeka Egbuka ahead of the Buccaneers’ Week 1 opener against the Falcons.
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The Bucs are coming off a 10-7 campaign where they took the NFC South crown for a fourth straight year and head into the new season looking to extend the streak to five. Several playmakers from their explosive offense last season are back in the mix, but new to the team is first-round rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka. He enters the year as a top-40 WR in all fantasy formats according to FantasyPros, so there are expectations for him to be a contributor immediately.
Below, we’ll go over Egbuka’s outlook in fantasy football for Week 1.
Fantasy Football analysis: Buccaneers WR Emeka Egbuka
The Bucs took Egbuka with the No. 19 pick of the 2025 NFL Draft this past April, adding firepower to a loaded receiver room that had to deal with with injuries to stars Mike Evans and Chris Godwin last season. The rookie wideout is the latest product to come out of the Ohio State receiver factory and he helped the Buckeyes win the national championship that season by hauling in 81 receptions for 1,011 yards and 10 touchdowns.
With both Godwin and Jalen McMillan set to miss the first part of the season due to injury, Egbuka will be called upon to immediately step up as the No. 2 option behind Evans right out the gate. He’s entering an offense that had four different pass-catchers record at least 50 receptions last season, so he should get plenty of targets from Baker Mayfield. And if the praise that he received during training camp is any indicator, he could be a breakout star in 2025.
Start or sit in Week 1 standard/PPR leagues?
Start. Believe the hype and let it rip with the rookie in Week 1. As mentioned before, he’ll immediately be a major player in an attack that finished near the top of the league in almost every statistical offensive category last season and will go up against a Falcons D that gave up the second-most passing touchdowns in the NFL at 34. Get Egbuka into your lineups.
