Largent
Footballguy
sounds Smith Smith Jr - esque.....I'm kidding. But sure, some think he's role/system specific. Most of Ohio coaches and teammates think otherwise. I get the sense the league likes him more than pundits or Kipers of the world.
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WR Emeka Egbuka, TB (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Faust
- Start date
pinkstapler
Footballguy
Yeah, I think he crushes interviews. Basically a well spoken, high character guy who is constantly called out for having a high football IQ and great work ethic. Seen several profiles touting his blocking as a WR as well. So basically a coaches dream. I keep going back and forth between him and Burden as my WR1 of this class so I definitely am high on him. I think even landing on a poor offense or being utilized improperly he can still be a WR2 for fantasy. And he seems like a guy who will also be in the league contributing at a high level for a very long time.
rockaction
Footballguy
David Zach of FantasyPros has developed a sub-statistic within his main proprietary fantasy statistic called the "Z-score" that deals with a player's interview. He calls it none other than the "interview score" and claims that it is correlated with a player's performance in the pros (a heady claim). With regard to Egbuka he says,
"Listening to Emeka Egbuka speak for 10 minutes is equivalent to a year of therapy.
Profound insight in every answer.
(I) Forget that he's even talking about football half the time. Dude has it figured out."
I imagine Egbuka will rock the "interview score" portion of the Z-score.
If you want to know what that is, this is Zach over at Dynasty Nerds including interview scores into his overall score for the 2004 WRs.
Forecasting 2024 Running Back and Wide Receiver Rookie Success – Fantasy Z-Scores - Dynasty Nerds
@DavidZach16 is back with the 2024 Z-Score. Let's dive in and see how this draft class stacks up.
pinkstapler
Footballguy
Super interesting. I kinda gave up on Nerds a year or two ago, I just found Rich could become grating to listen to sometimes and that he'd ramble off course for like 10 minutes at a time in podcasts haha. But did enjoy their content between those things.
David Zach of FantasyPros has developed a sub-statistic within his main proprietary fantasy statistic called the "Z-score" that deals with a player's interview. He calls it none other than the "interview score" and claims that it is correlated with a player's performance in the pros (a heady claim). With regard to Egbuka he says,
"Listening to Emeka Egbuka speak for 10 minutes is equivalent to a year of therapy.
Profound insight in every answer.
(I) Forget that he's even talking about football half the time. Dude has it figured out."
I imagine Egbuka will rock the "interview score" portion of the Z-score.
If you want to know what that is, this is Zach over at Dynasty Nerds including interview scores into his overall score for the 2004 WRs.
Forecasting 2024 Running Back and Wide Receiver Rookie Success – Fantasy Z-Scores - Dynasty Nerds
@DavidZach16 is back with the 2024 Z-Score. Let's dive in and see how this draft class stacks up.www.dynastynerds.com
As hard as it is, if not impossible, to quantify some of these player traits like work ethic, football IQ, character; they definitely do seem to correlate to success and, I think even more so, longevity. Cool to see someone at least try to work it into their profile model.
Faust
MVP
Player Profiler
Emeka Egbuka is the top trending player on our website right now
Here's a deeper look at his impressive career
205 catches
(1st in OSU history)
(1st)
(7th)
Is Egbuka a top-3 WR in this class?
osubuckeyeman
Footballguy
I see Christian Kirk in his game.
I think he can be better, but the way they both move and play the game feels similar to me.
I think he can be better, but the way they both move and play the game feels similar to me.
JohnnyU
Footballguy
The ceiling is higher and so is the floor, but I get it.
King of the Jungle
Footballguy
Newer always seems better at first glance. I think a lot depends on scheme fit with the rookie. If Emeka hits over 84-1108-8 in a year I will be moderately surprised.
JohnnyU
Footballguy
I’m pretty sure he will be a very good WR2.
osubuckeyeman
Footballguy
Where all the rookies land matters in most cases, but his talent and ability to play slot and outside give him a chance to put up better-than-average numbers. I would be fine with 75/950/ 6 for a rookie. His path could be similar to JSN. If he put 60/750/5, I would be fine with those numbers for a rookie season. I imagine he plays the slot more than the outside.
King of the Jungle
Footballguy
I see JSN as a notch or two above him, hope I am wrong as I may have a shot at drafting him where I am slotted. I would be elated if he hits those numbers as a rookie.
osubuckeyeman
Footballguy
I'm just talking about how it could take a season or two. He might be a guy you can trade for in year two, and then he breaks out. You are most correct with the landing spot. That might be more important to him than your average rookie. JSN >Emeka.
JSN wins differently. He creates his own space with his route running. Emeka knows open spacing, if that makes sense. He is a better-than-average route runner but nowhere near JSN, and Emeka wins with his body and knowing open areas. He out-physicals defensive backs. Emeka knows how to use his body to shield himself between the ball and the defender.
titusbramble
Footballguy
Sounds like the exact sort of player that I'd target in dynasty, but I'm guessing with the draft capital I have he's off the table sadly
King of the Jungle
Footballguy
Hankmoody
Footballguy
Why not? Did you see Amon-Ra upside from Amon-Ra as a draft prospect?
Soulfly3
Footballguy
Of course not. But I see him now. That level of upside is hard to achieve as a (in my opinion) 2nd round WR. Of course MANY players reach that level in the later rounds, but it doesn't mean I see it based on where they are now.
I see it from Travis and Higgins in this draft. Emeka I see to a lesser degree.
farfromforgotten
Footballguy
This was my thought as well. It can’t be as simple as “because it’s a weak WR class”. NFL franchises aren’t FF teams, they aren’t (*shouldn’t* outside of maybe QB) going to reach based on need. At least not in the 1st round for a WR I’d hope. Amon’s been mentioned often, and he has been amazing, but he himself was a 4th rd pick coming into the league.
pinkstapler
Footballguy
He put up 2 seasons at Ohio State with 70+ receptions, 1000+ yards, and 10 TDs (he was injured and got surgery his junior season). Oh and he did it playing alongside JSN, Garret Wilson, and MHJ. And this may be early for some, but next year people will understand why adding Jeremiah Smith to that list is just as impressive as the other three.
Is he the next JJ or Chase? No. But IMO only because that is not his skill set. Could he be the next ARSB/Puka, I think yes, that is a very attainable ceiling. But anyone thinking he's only ranked highly because it's a poor class overall I think will be proven wrong quickly. He's been my WR1 since pre-combine (yada yada insert Travis Hunter paradox here).
Is he the next JJ or Chase? No. But IMO only because that is not his skill set. Could he be the next ARSB/Puka, I think yes, that is a very attainable ceiling. But anyone thinking he's only ranked highly because it's a poor class overall I think will be proven wrong quickly. He's been my WR1 since pre-combine (yada yada insert Travis Hunter paradox here).
Draft class, high character, you know what you are going to get/NFL ready and the WR pay scale has moved to now making it a premium position.
As for his real life and fantasy outlook I find it really hard to get a handle on right now. I feel like his range is Robert Woods to ASRB. Lean more to Woods right now tbh, think if ASRB had been drafted by 20+ something other teams he'd not be putting up the numbers he has put up, not close. Same for Puka, Kupp and even the best of Robert Woods who all got aligned with McVay who got the best out of them.
Hankmoody
Footballguy
I suppose this is my point - upside isn't something you see coming. All of these guys are elite football players - you don't get into the NFL if you aren't - and the margins are razor thin between good/great/elite/goat. More than anything work and preparation are what make the difference.
titusbramble
Footballguy
InDitkaWeTrust
Footballguy
Is he still projecting as a 2nd rounder? I've seen a ton of mocks throwing him into the lower 1st these days. Personally, if he falls to 39, I hope the Bears take him.
JohnnyU
Footballguy
I believe he gets drafted in the first round
Absolutely
I haven't seen that. It's interesting
Soulfly3
Footballguy
I'm not arguing that he isn't a good WR, he absolutely is. But playing alongside those names makes what he did a bit easier... He's basically never lined up v a true #1 corner.
No one needs to wait til next year for J Smith, he's already a phenom and will be the best college WR perhaps we've ever seen
pinkstapler
Footballguy
Where do you get that he never lined up against a true #1 corner? Not trying to blast you here, but is that something you found through a resource? Did you chart who he lined up against each week? Or just an assumption? Because IMO it's kind of a wild thing to hold against someone without even knowing the corners this team played against and who was lined up on who week over week for 3 years.
Regardless; assuming that's true. That every single game he played in college, some with WRs who of course went on to become superstars but at some points in their careers opposing teams coaches and defenses assuredly knew of and were more worried about Egbuka (who wasn't a nobody, he was a 5 star recruit from HS) than the kids they had no tape on, he was always the second look at best and matching up against the inferior corner (also assuming he never played against zone defenses); couldn't we say it's just as much as a positive that he managed two years of 70+/1k+/10TDs? As a tertiary receiver in a high powered offense in the big 10 with future top NFL WRs? I'd agree with that point more if he was putting up 50 for 600, not the numbers he did.
I know I'm pretty much on an island having Egbuka as WR1 in this class. Wouldn't expect to change any minds on it either. But I've heard this a few times over the years dinging college guys who played opposite other WRs who went on to become NFL studs and that their stats are discounted as coming "easier". But I don't think even once I've seen it backed up with actual data. It can be a logical assumption, but that's all it really is IMO, an assumption. And even if correct, how correct is it? Certainly not 100%. And how did they perform when lined up against the "inferior corners" vs the top ones? Did it even effect their performance? Just seems like poor process to include something like that in a player assessment, especially drawing such large conclusions like discounting his entire production profile or others stating he couldn't be a WR1, based on absolutely 0 data.
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Soulfly3
Footballguy
Completely fair, and I'd have to look for it... But I did see a report somewhere on twitter about him lining up more often than not vs. #2 and/or #3 corners in the past 2 seasons.
That said, thoughhe only logged 10 games to marvin's 12 in 2023, the difference was huge. Emeka only had 515yds/4tds to Marvin's 1200/14. - 51yds/game
Emeka's 2024 season stats are for 16 total games played. 1011/10 - that's 63yds/game.
His best season came 3yrs ago, at 88yds/game
Listen I love a man who plants his flag on a guy who is ranked lower by the masses... That's almost always me. Hell, I have higgins as my #2 WR of this class.... But a guy whose last 2 seasons consists of 51 and 63yds per game, is a touch uninspiring. Especially on THAT team w THAT offense.
Guys like amon-ra were putting up 80 a game, and went in the 4th (and I know ypg isn't the sole measurement of success)
pinkstapler
Footballguy
2023 was when he was playing (limping) through a high ankle sprain and then wound up getting tight rope surgery mid season. He came back (IMO) sooner than he should and was just never himself. Think that's mostly why he stayed for 2024, though I'm sure Championship aspirations were part of it. Probably be disingenuous to not also think some of his camp were in his ear about coming out with MHJ/Odunze/Nabors off a down season vs putting up a full healthy season and coming out with.... Tet? Lol.
Otherwise agree and solid points on his YPG, not the be all end all, but there is some correlation there for sure.
Also, I have to say over the past 5 years or so I've started having my own (non-data driven) tendency in drafts that pretty much boils down to "Is this WR from OSU or LSU? If yes, bump up grade."
Appreciate the candor as always! This draft can't come soon enough!
Godwin just re upped for a 3 year deal. bit late to poo poo his health
barackdhouse
Footballguy
Is that profile that of a slot-only receiver going into 2024? Did he run more routes outside his first 3 years and people are pigeonholing him as a slot-only option? That is the mistake people made with Justin Jefferson and it turned out he had run plenty of outside X receiver stuff prior to his last season.
️ 9.7 ADOT
