Emeka Egbuka shouts out Ohio State coach after breakout weekend

Seven targets, seven receptions, 163 yards and one touchdown.

That's the stat line that the No. 19 overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, Emeka Egbuka, put up this past weekend in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' win over the Seattle Seahawks. He shot his stock upwards in hopes of being the Offensive Rookie of the Year with a near-perfect game.

The former Ohio State Buckeye is off to one of the most incredible starts in a rookie wideouts career.

He currently has 25 receptions for 445 yards and five touchdowns with a 65.8% catch rate. He's shown explosiveness with 17.8 yards per reception while also taking two handoffs for nine yards. Amid his impressive start to the year, he's the first player in NFL history to have 25 or more catches, 400 or more yards receiving and five or more touchdowns in his first five games in the big leagues.

When interviewed by the Pat McAfee Show after the weekend, Egbuka spoke to the impact of his former wideouts coach, Brian Hartline.

"Brian Hartline expects more out of you than you expect of yourself sometimes," he said. "...He put so much into coaching us and making us know what we need to know to go out there and execute."

"Brian Hartline expects more out of you than you expect of yourself sometimes..

He put so much into coaching us and he believed in all of us" ~ @EgbukaEmeka #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/3SUvCvQvUF
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 8, 2025

Hartline has recently been in the headlines with high praise for both his previous and current wide receivers at Ohio State. The NFL saw five former Buckeyes have excellent weeks, including Egbuka, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison Jr, Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave. In total, they hauled in a combined 32 catches for 523 yards and three touchdowns during Week Five matchups.

At the college level, Ohio State's Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith continued to find soft spots in opposing team's defense. Tate exploded against the Minnesota Golden Gophers as he brought down nine catches for 183 yards and one touchdown.

On the other hand, Smith, who nearly drew the entire defense his way, freed up space for Tate but still hauled in seven catches for 67 yards and two touchdowns.

"I think a lot of the success you see from Ohio State receivers is a reflection of coach Hartline's mentality," Egbuka said.

The success of these wideouts doesn't just appear out of thin air; it takes a coaching staff to be able to build them up and set them in a line for success. Since the 2018 NFL Draft, right after Hartline joined the coaching staff of the scarlet and grey, the Buckeyes have had eight wideouts taken on draft night.

Ohio State is currently undefeated on the young 2025 season, and with Hartline maintaining a positive image as the team's offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach, there is no doubt many recruits will be looking to call Columbus home.