Who Should I Start? Calvin Austin III or Emeka Egbuka

Wednesday, June 11, 5:17 PM

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni likes Calvin Austin III to be the team's No. 2 wideout behind DK Metcalf in 2025 after George Pickens was traded to the Dallas Cowboys this offseason. Azzanni said that Austin is being overlooked and that he is a "legit NFL receiver" that "gets separation all over the field." Roman Wilson and others will be working as a committee behind Metcalf and Austin to open the 2025 regular season. Austin, a former fourth-rounder (138th overall) in 2022 out of Memphis, caught 36 of his 58 targets for 548 yards and four touchdowns in 17 regular-season games (eight starts) in his second season in the NFL last year. He is definitely going to have a bigger role in 2025, but in what is expected to be a run-heavy offense with quarterback Aaron Rodgers likely in the last season of his career, we'd expect Austin to struggle for volume on a week-to-week basis.

Friday, May 9, 12:17 PM

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed first-round rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka to a four-year, $18.1 million contract on Friday, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Despite the fact the Bucs still have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin (ankle), they elected to take Egbuka out of Ohio State with the 19th overall pick in this year's NFL draft. The 6-foot-1, 202-pound 22-year-old is versatile and can move around the field, but he could struggle for volume in his rookie season in 2025 as long as both Evans and Godwin stay on the field. The addition of Egbuka is bad news for second-year pass-catcher Jalen McMillan. Egbuka was highly productive for the Buckeyes, setting a school record of 205 career catches for 2,868 yards and 24 touchdowns in 49 games. He should be the favorite to be Tampa's WR3 this season and will be a very attractive dynasty/keeper draft pick for the long term.