Emeka Egbuka Fantasy Football Start or Sit Advice for Week 5

The Week 5 edition of Thursday Night Football pits the Dallas Cowboys against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the latter of whom are still winless and are trying to get back on the right foot even in the absence of their starting quarterback. The offense has struggled mightily, including wide receiver Emeka Egbuka – who many fantasy football managers are counting on. Against one of the NFL’s worst defenses, should the wideout get one more week in fantasy lineups?

Here are the details on whether you should start or sit Emeka Egbuka in Week 5.

Emeka Egbuka Start or Sit Advice for Week 5

Emeka Egbuka burst onto the scene as a first-round rookie last year, but following an early season hot streak, he never really recaptured the magic he showed in those first few weeks. He averaged a whopping 22.78 FPPG over his first five games as a rookie but failed to reach double-digit points more than twice over the remainder of the campaign. Following the departure of Mike Evans this past offseason, the pathway to a resurgence by Egbuka seemed clear heading into year two. That certainly has not panned out, though.

So far in 2026, Egbuka is averaging just 9.00 FPPG over the course of four games. The good news is that he’s reached double-digit points in three of those four outings, but the bad news is that his ceiling has been capped with a high mark of just 11.20 PPR points. Overall, he has 15 receptions for 154 yards and one touchdown on 24 targets, far from the second-year breakout that was hoped for. To make matters worse, the Buccaneers still have Jalon Daniels at quarterback for now while Baker Mayfield remains sidelined due to injury. In Week 4, Daniels went 19-for-for-27 with just 148 yards and two interceptions to one touchdown; a poor first showing for the rookie UDFA.

There are some positives in Egbuka’s profile. He’s running 31.8 routes per game with an average of 6.0 targets, which is modest, but not bad volume. He’s yet to record a drop and ranks inside the top-40 wideouts in separation score and win rate, so he’s getting open more often than not, too. However, his target share of 19.0% is middling, his YPRR mark sits at just 1.21 and he’s dealt with poor quarterback play all season – those are the negatives. The latter is particularly concerning since Daniels didn’t impress in his first showing. It’s no surprise that Tampa Bay ranks dead last in EPA/dropback, too, given how poor Mayfield looked when active.

Some fantasy managers may assume that the matchup can get Egbuka right. After all, the Buccaneers are set to face the Cowboys, who rank dead last in EPA/dropback allowed and passing success rate allowed, also giving up the second-highest explosive pass rate at 13.3%. This secondary did just add Joey Porter Jr. to the mix, a standout cornerback, but he’s still getting used to the new system following the trade. Dallas is already down several defensive backs anyways, with two safeties on IR and a starting cornerback doubtful to play on Thursday Night Football.

All in all, the Cowboys are giving up 36.7 FPPG to WRs, which slots in as the 11th most around the NFL. They just allowed Nico Collins to erupt for 30.8 PPR points in Week 4 as he returned from injury, too. Is Egbuka positioned to be a starter this week and finally look like the best version of himself?

The Bottom Line

There are concerns about Egbuka’s outlook in Week 5 and beyond, especially for as long as Daniels remains under center. The quarterback may not possess an NFL-caliber arm and he targeted his top wideout just four times in their first game together last week. Even still, the upside of this matchup proves too tantalizing to sit the Bucs’ receiver.

Egbuka may not explode for a truly massive outing given the quarterback situation in Tampa Bay, but there are factors working in his favor. The Dallas defense is very weak and the team’s offense is strong, meaning the Buccaneers could easily wind up playing from behind in a pass-happy game script. While the Bucs aren’t likely to win this contest on Thursday Night Football, the environment could be right for Egbuka to have a get-right game and be peppered with opportunities against a secondary that struggles to contain the pass.

If he doesn’t produce in fantasy this week, we can have the conversation. For Week 5, though, he’s firmly a start with expectations of WR2/FLEX production, but room for much more.