Performance Preview: Will Emeka Egbuka or Tykee Smith Shine Brightest Against the Patriots?
Brianna Dix: WR Emeka Egbuka
With the Patriots coming into town with the league’s top-ranked run defense, I am thinking this game has the makings of a pass heavy script for Tampa Bay. With that being said, Emeka Egbuka is primed for a breakout game. With injuries to Mike Evans, Chris Godwin Jr. and Jalen McMillan, he has emerged as the No. 1 receiver on the team’s depth chart and has begun commanding double teams (Eagles, Lions) for his contributions between the hash marks. After a prolific start in 2025, where he became the only player in NFL history with 25-plus receptions, 400-plus receiving yards and five-plus receiving touchdowns through his first five games, Egbuka’s numbers dipped against the Lions and Saints as he drew additional attention and Offensive Coordinator Josh Grizzard stressed the team’s need to scheme him open regardless of coverage down the stretch.
Egbuka has been an ignitor on offense and Baker Mayfield’s go-to target through the first half of the season. He has the versatility to play all three receiver spots and I like the size matchup he presents inside against Patriots’ nickel corner, Marcus Jones. Egbuka can win at all levels of the field, selling deep routes, which provides opportunities underneath when defensive backs take the bait and open their hips. He plays with a rare understanding of how to con the leverage of coverage for a rookie and runs routes with surgical precision. He is due for another breakout game and I am manifesting that it comes in Week 10. Utilizing his frame to box out defenders, Egbuka gets back on track in the Offensive Rookie of the Year hunt.
Scott Smith: S Tykee Smith
Darn it! I think this is the first time that our order of picking really has mattered, because I absolutely was planning on choosing Egbuka this week. If he is the game’s star, I think I should get a half-point or something.
Anyway, with that option off the table, I’m going to the other side of the ball. Patriots fans have to be ecstatic with second-year quarterback Drake Maye and the state of their offense. Maye leads the NFL in passer rating and completion percentage and he’s doing so while both pushing the ball downfield and picking up key yards on scrambles. It’s a surprising well-rounded game for a quarterback so early in his career.
If there has been one struggle for that offense, it’s in pass protection. I’m sure that Maye’s mobility and desire to extend plays has been responsible for some of the hits he has taken but 34 sacks in nine games is a lot. Only Tennessee rookie Cam Ward has been sacked more often than Maye so far this season. So who is going to get those sacks? Well, I picked Yaya Diaby last week, Haason Reddick is out for this game and I’m not taking Anthony Nelson the week after he went bonkers. So I have to look to another position, and specifically I’m looking at safety Tykee Smith, who like Maye is having a breakout campaign in his second season.
Maye is still fairly inexperienced and this will be his first game against a Todd Bowles-directed defense. It seems like the kind of game in which Bowles will get creative and mix in a wide variety of blitzes and simulated pressures. I could see Smith and/or Antoine Winfield Jr. and/or Jacob Parrish and/or SirVocea Dennis being sent into the backfield, and I’m rolling the dice on Smith.
And it doesn’t have to all come down to sacks. Smith could be heavily involved in keeping Maye from breaking off long scrambles, and while the Patriots’ quarterback has not been particularly turnover-prone this year, the Bucs’ defense is on a bit of a run in that department. A takeaway and a sack? That’s what I’m looking for from Smith on Sunday to get me back in the win column.
