The Ohio State Swiss Army Knife would bring needed versatility to a specialized receiving corps.
The single biggest issue with the current crop of Green Bay Packer wide receivers is that they are all confined to specific roles. Christian Watson may never play another down for the team, depending on his recovery from injury, but he’s an outside burner and gadget player more than anything. Romeo Doubs is a solid outside possession receiver. Dontayvion Wicks separates like Davante Adams but can’t hang onto the ball. And Jayden Reed is confined exclusively to slot duty.
This is all extremely against the overall philosophy of both Matt LaFleur, and mentor Kyle Shanahan, who prefer players to flip from diverse pass-catching phenoms to power-run-blocking road-graders.
Enter Emeka Egbuka, surely the strangest and most underrated Ohio State wide receiver of the last five years. Ohio State recruits and develops receivers better than any other university, and almost every receiver who enters the NFL is at worst above average, with stars routine, including Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Marvin Harrison, and current phenom Jeremiah Smith still in school. Outside of Egbuka, every one of these players has served as the primary alpha dog at some point, and his peers have always excelled to an absurd degree. But, while he’s never been the best player on his team, Egbuka has always been there; he’s been instrumental to the success of Ohio State, and at a position that almost demands some level of “alpha-dogness,” Egbuka is perhaps the ultimate standout for his focus on team over personal.
As a freshman on a team with JSN, Wilson, Olave, Harrison, and a host of other great college players, Egbuka (in a small sample size) dominated the lesser competition he faced, catching 9 of his 10 targets for over 21 yards per catch. As a sophomore, called on to be more of a deep threat with CJ Stroud at quarterback, he averaged over 15 yards per catch and scored 10 TDs, second on the team to Marvin Harrison. He was injured off and on for the 2023 season, and missed some time, but in 2024 with Jeremiah Smith dominating outside, he played more of a slot role, gaining over 1000 yards at a higher volume, but lower Y/R.
While Egbuka has never been the star, he has done everything else. He’s played every position a receiver can play in order to highlight the skills of his teammates. He can play a dominant outside game as a deep threat or a possession role making tough grabs over the middle. He can dominate the slot, and at the NFL level, would be one of the biggest and best athletes at the position when playing inside. His blocking could use some work, but it’s hardly a disaster, and he’s willing to get his hands dirty.
The main case against Egbuka seems to center around his selflessness. Most receivers insist upon themselves, and his sidekick role at Ohio State will be seen by many as a weakness. That’s a mistake. While the Packers could, perhaps, use one of the bigger outside receivers like Jayden Higgins or Tet McMillan, Matt LaFleur could also use a Swiss army knife like Egbuka to move around when formations shift without losing effectiveness. The only real dual threat on the Packers at the moment is Tucker Kraft, and adding a player like Egbuka would open all sorts of interesting possibilities. Even his RAS, which adds up to a dominant 9.72 is sort of underwhelming when you go category by category.
Always remember that when scouting receivers, Ohio State doesn’t take B-level guys. Everyone who gets on the field for the Buckeyes is elite. That Egbuka made his role with the team more of a support player to his elite teammates could, in certain circumstances, reflect poorly on his leadership or “alphaness.” But just look at how he succeeded. His counting stats are great, his efficiency stats are great, he’s a champion, and he made all of his teammates better. He’s a late first rounder on the consensus board and Dane Brugler has him as WR 4. He’s underrated, and if he lasts into the second round, every team that passes on him has made a mistake.