The next Amon-Ra St. Brown? Ohio State's Emeka Egbuka has the tools to be an NFL star

When Emeka Egbuka first walked onto a football field at Steilacoom High School outside Tacoma, Wash., his athletic reputation preceded him to a point where coaches expected him to be a standout before hed ever played a varsity game.

He was 13.

A natural confidence runs through every great receiver, no matter the shape.

It shows in their willingness to do things others dont want to while being the most consistent person in every room they enter.

They make hard things look easy, whether theyre the oldest or youngest, biggest or smallest.

Theyre a quarterbacks best friend.

That is Egbuka.

GO DEEPER NFL Draft 2025 Big Board: Travis Hunter takes No.

1 spot, 4 QBs in updated top 50 The 2025 NFL Draft will feature bigger, faster and stronger receivers.

It will not feature a more complete one, however.

One of the highest-floor prospects in America, Egbuka will enter his final regular-season tilt, against Michigan on Saturday, having already established himself as one of the most productive players in the history of Ohio State football all while residing in the countrys most talent-crowded wide receivers group.

He has become the type of player whos so consistent for so long that casual fans tend to forget about him.

When hes actually gone, theyll wonder how their team ever survived without him.

Ohio States consistency as a program has been unmatched over the last 50 years maybe longer.

The Buckeyes havent had a true losing season since the Reagan administration.

And no team has delivered more players to the NFL Draft this century than Ohio State.

Right now, among the Buckeyes current group of standout prospects, the wide receivers stand out the most.

Advertisement In winter 2021, Ohio States WR group featured at least four future first-round picks (and one legitimate prodigy, Marvin Harrison Jr.

).

Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave were established stars, Jaxon Smith-Njigba was on his way, and, after a few months of watching the Harrison-led crop of incoming talent, Jameson Williams perhaps the fastest player in America transferred to Alabama for an expanded role.

When theyre all old men and gathered on someones porch looking back, though, theyll know not a single one of them gave more to the program on an individual basis than Egbuka.

GO DEEPER Stewart Mandel's 12-team Playoff projections after Week 13 Nicknamed Cool Breeze by his mother as a child, the calm and confident Egbuka enters Saturdays rivalry game at 2,549 career receiving yards on 180 catches.

Hes third on Ohio States all-time receptions list (ahead of every former classmate) and within reach (21 yards away) of matching the all-time mark, held by KJ Hill Jr.

Hes also just 65 yards from passing Harrison and 163 from Olave in the Buckeyes record books.

With 350 more yards, hed jump Michael Jenkins to become the leading receiver in Ohio State history.

Hes not the most athletic receiver the Buckeyes have ever had.

There have been flashier players whove made bigger splashes, to be sure.

But when the smoke clears, therell be no receiver in the storied history of Ohio States program who has been a more complete football player than Egbuka.

The NFL player Egbuka reminds me of most is Detroit Lions star Amon-Ra St.

Brown .

St.

Brown is a good athlete, but hes an elite receiver because hes a master of detail.

His routes are crisp; he adjusts to poor throws; he understands angles and leverage, knows how to read coverage, studies opposing defensive backs and rarely drops a ball.

For an even more recent college-prospect comparison, Egbuka shares many of the traits that made Ladd McConkey (now with the Los Angeles Chargers ) so valuable at Georgia.

Advertisement On all three of the above plays, Egbuka shows off his ability to not only track the football but also make difficult, late-play adjustments and make them look easy.

Hes great at plucking a throw off his hip or even slightly behind him while maintaining forward momentum.

His adjustments are so smooth theyre almost tough to spot.

Egbukas game is about so much more than touchdowns or long bombs, however.

Hes a chain mover who will absolutely embarrass a leaky defense.

Moreover, Egbuka is the type of receiver who will do anything his team asks him to, which means his play menu can run far deeper than anyone else on the team.

Egbuka is a trusted perimeter blocker who isnt afraid to work in tight formations against front-seven defenders.

Ohio State also will use him in pass-protection checks and out wide to pave the way on screens and sweeps.

Beyond merely being willing to handle those asks, Egbuka is a capable space blocker, too he often does a great job adjusting his punch/block on the move against smaller, quicker targets.

And the Buckeyes can scheme up some of their coolest big-play concepts because Egbuka is such a key part of their run game.

The first clip below is a fourth-and-1 play on which Ohio State lines up quickly in a tight, heavy formation that is screaming run something the Buckeyes have shown over and over from this exact set.

Only this time, in a critical spot, Egbuka just takes off and finds himself wide open for a huge chunk and a big conversion.

Part of the reason hes so open there is because Indianas defense essentially views him as a blocking tight end in that spot, respecting his potential role in the ground game to a point they almost forget hes capable of just running by them.

The second play there is an outstanding leak concept, with Egbuka again lined up tight to the line of scrimmage in what looks like a standard Ohio State run formation.

Egbuka even begins to crack down on the fake sweep which shouldnt look weird to a linebacker or a safety given how much he actually does it.

Only this time, he leaks out, and does it so effortlessly that hes got time to adjust to an underthrown ball and still walk in the end zone untouched.

Advertisement Egbuka is the type of player who can lull you to sleep with stuff underneath, snagging option routes and drags for moderate (but needed) gains over and over again until his offensive coordinator launches one of these shots and embarrasses somebody.

We see it with St.

Brown in Detroit all the time.

Cooper Kupp s made a career doing similar stuff, too.

Egbuka is the type of receiver who can turn a bunch of small wins into an ass-kicking, because, bottom line, hes just hard to cover for four full quarters.

A truly reliable receiver with tools to fix all problems is a quarterbacks dream, but its also the offensive coordinators security blanket.

If Ohio State is in a jam, it finds a way either to get the ball to Egbuka or use him to draw defenders away from another one of their uber-talented targets.

The Cool Breeze moniker Egbukas mother, Kim, gave him is genius if youre sweating, he isnt; if youre about to overheat, hell cool you down.

Emeka Egbuka is a first-round talent, and he can be the best friend an NFL offense ever had.

GO DEEPER Ohio State film study: What worked for the Buckeyes against Indiana (Photo: Gregory Fisher / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images).

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