Saturday Prospect Spotlight: Plucking One From Wide Receiver U

We're back to discuss more wide receiver options in the 2025 NFL Draft and just down I-71 there is another in a long line waiting to impact an NFL franchise.

(Photo - Ohio State Athletics)

Look, I bashed the college football slate last weekend and then it turned into the “upset Saturday of the century,” so I will never do that again. However, we are now into, at least on paper, the best single weekend of college football games all season. You get the Red River Rivalry, Florida at Tennessee, Stanford at Notre Dame, Ole Miss at LSU, Penn State traveling out to USC, and then the biggest one of the day as Ohio State visits Eugene to take on the Ducks in a matchup of No. 2 vs No. 3. Whenever the Buckeye get into these premiere games, and the entire state stops to take it in collectively, then we should try to highlight the immense NFL talent on the team with a focus on who from the current edition of the Buckeyes would help the 2025 Cleveland Browns.

Reminder: As the Browns make a return to the first round of this year's NFL Draft, each Saturday we will highlight a player worth watching with the Browns’ prospect preferences in mind!

Obviously we will focus on the highest-ranked prospects this year because the Browns could have a wide range of outcomes for their pick, but we hope they select the 32nd overall prospect following a Super Bowl win but we will expand beyond that scope at times.

The Browns have to start solving their forward pass issues and while the quarterback options will be a heavy focus of the next several months, it is never a bad idea to see if there is a receiver worth stealing from the program producing them at a rate no other university can match. The Saturday Prospect Spotlight goes to Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka.

(Photo - Ohio State Athletics)

History

Egbuka was a premiere five-star recruit coming out of Steilacoom High School in DuPont, Washington. Some had him as the highest-rated wide receiver recruit in the 2021 class, and also was seen as a consensus top-ten prospect. He was the Washington Gatorade Player of the Year as a junior when he hauled-in 83 receptions for 1,607 yards and 25 touchdowns.

Egbuka chose Ohio State over Oklahoma, Clemson, Alabama, and many other premiere programs in the country. Enrolled early at Ohio State in January of 2021.

So far, Egbuka has earned a Second-Team All-Big Ten honor in 2022 and a Third-Team All-Big Ten honor following 2023’s injury-shortened season.

Stats

2021: 9 receptions, 191 yards

2022: 74 receptions, 1,1151 yards, 10 TDs — 11 rushes, 87 yards, 2 TDs

2023: 41 receptions, 515 yards, 4 TDs — 5 rushes, 25 yards

2024 (5 games): 30 receptions, 433 yards, 5 TDs

Scouting Report