Emeka Egbuka + Zac Robinson: What Puka and Drake London Tell Us About 2026

The basic Emeka Egbuka breakout argument is easy.

He had 938 receiving yards as a rookie.

Mike Evans is gone.

He's entering Year 2.

That's already interesting.

But Zac Robinson is what makes me want to dig deeper.

Robinson's recent receiver history includes two very different players:

Puka Nacua and Drake London.

I'm not saying Emeka Egbuka is either of them.

I'm interested in what Robinson's offenses have shown us about how they feature good receivers.

Start With Puka

Robinson spent 2019 through 2023 on Sean McVay's Rams staff.

By 2022, he had become Los Angeles' quarterbacks coach and pass-game coordinator.

He held that same role in 2023.

That happened to be Puka Nacua's rookie season.

Puka immediately produced:

• 105 receptions • 1,486 receiving yards • 6 TD

Those were historic rookie numbers.

Sean McVay was the offensive architect and play caller, so it would be irresponsible to say Zac Robinson "created Puka."

That's not the argument.

The useful information is that Robinson spent years inside an offense that excelled at:

• moving receivers around formations • creating favorable releases • using motion • attacking intermediate space • generating yards after the catch • creating concentrated passing-game roles

That's relevant when you look at what Tampa Bay says it wants to do with Egbuka.

Then Robinson Got His Own Offense

Atlanta hired Robinson as offensive coordinator in 2024.

Drake London's usage immediately jumped.

London entered that year after posting:

2023: 69 catches, 905 yards, 2 touchdowns

His first season with Robinson:

2024: 100 catches, 1,271 yards, 9 touchdowns

He received 158 targets.

Then London played only 12 games in 2025 and still produced:

• 68 catches • 919 yards • 7 TD • 112 targets

That's 9.3 targets per game.

Again, Egbuka isn't London.

London wins differently.

What matters is that Robinson has shown no hesitation about concentrating the passing game around a receiver he believes deserves the football.

Egbuka Already Proved He Belongs

This isn't a rookie projection anymore.

Egbuka's first NFL season:

• 63 receptions • 938 receiving yards • 6 touchdowns • 14.9 yards per reception

He led Tampa Bay in receiving yards and finished second among NFL rookies.

And he did that while being asked to learn multiple receiver positions because Tampa's injuries kept changing what the offense needed from him.

Now Robinson wants to simplify things.

The Z Role Is Important

Robinson has said Tampa plans to settle Egbuka primarily into the Z receiver position.

That doesn't mean he's going to stand in one place all game.

Quite the opposite.

Because the Z generally lines up off the line of scrimmage, the offense has more freedom to:

• motion him • create two-way releases • move him into the slot • change his alignment based on formation • keep defenses from simply pressing him at the line

Robinson has specifically said that Egbuka may look like the X or F depending on formation even though Z will be his home base.

That sounds like a good match for his strengths.

Egbuka wins through:

• route intelligence • leverage • change of direction • timing • versatility • finding space

I don't want Tampa trying to make him Mike Evans.

I want them making Egbuka easier to move and harder to predict.

That's what appears to be happening.

Mike Evans Leaving Matters

Evans leaving for San Francisco changes the entire receiver room.

Tampa still has Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan, so this isn't an empty target tree.

But Evans had occupied an enormous part of the offensive structure for years.

Somebody has to take on more responsibility.

Egbuka has already talked about the "passing of the torch" inside the receiver room.

I'm interested in betting that Year 2 is when Tampa begins treating him like one of the central pieces of its offense.

Current Injury Is the Risk We Have to Monitor

There is one thing I would not ignore.

Egbuka is currently dealing with a toe injury.

Todd Bowles has described him as day-to-day and also week-to-week, and as of this week Tampa had not guaranteed that his regular-season start would be unaffected.

That matters.

I'm not moving him completely off my board because of an August toe injury, but I'm also not pretending it doesn't exist.

This is exactly why our rankings should continue updating into draft day.

Current Price

Egbuka's Full-PPR consensus ADP has been sitting around the late 30s/early 40s.

That's approximately WR17-WR18 territory.

So we're not getting him at a sleeper price.

You're paying for a breakout.

The question is whether there's another level beyond that price.

I think there is.

My 2026 Range

If healthy, something in this neighborhood makes sense to me:

• 120-135 targets • 80-90 receptions • 1,100-1,250 yards • 7-9 touchdowns

That would put him in the WR1 conversation.

The ceiling becomes even higher if Robinson concentrates targets the way he did with London.

The FF Draft Boards Take

The argument isn't:

Puka was great, therefore Egbuka will be Puka.

And it isn't:

London got 158 targets, therefore Egbuka gets 158 targets.

It's this:

Zac Robinson spent years inside one of the NFL's best receiver-usage systems.

Puka immediately produced a historic rookie season while Robinson was the Rams' pass-game coordinator.

Then Robinson became an OC and Drake London's volume exploded.

Now Robinson gets a second-year receiver who already produced 938 yards as a rookie, and Tampa is specifically redesigning his role to make better use of movement and alignment.

That's enough historical evidence for me to take the breakout case seriously.

Monitor the toe.

If the health news improves, I'm willing to be aggressive on Emeka Egbuka.