{"id":250255,"date":"2026-04-28T22:06:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T22:06:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/250255\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T22:06:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T22:06:31","slug":"tampa-bay-buccaneers-sign-wide-receiver-with-elite-speed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/250255\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sign Wide Receiver with Elite Speed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Tampa\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> signed Georgia Tech wide receiver Eric Rivers<\/a> in undrafted free agency after the NFL Draft on Saturday. While the Buccaneers already have an incredibly deep wide receiver room, another addition can never hurt especially a player like Rivers who can break open a defense with his speed.<\/p>\n

Rivers<\/a> played three years of college football as a wide receiver. He originally entered college as a defensive back at Memphis, but he converted to wide receiver and transferred to Florida International University. At FIU, he performed as the best receiver in the conference, especially in 2024 where he totaled 1172 yards and 12 touchdowns. He became the first All-American in school history.<\/p>\n

In 2025, he transferred to Georgia Tech, where he had a solid but unspectacular season compared to the impressive statistical season of 2024. He produced 658 yards and 2 touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Eric Rivers Split Draft Analysts\"Tampa\"Tampa<\/p>\n

GettyEric Rivers could\u2019ve been a day three pick, but somehow he fell to undrafted free agency.<\/p>\n

PFF ranked<\/a> Rivers as the 177th overall prospect in the NFL<\/a> Draft. He received<\/a> respectable grades throughout his college career. In 2025, PFF gave him a 72.8 receiving grade and a 63.8 grade against man coverage.<\/p>\n

PFF said, \u201cRivers\u2019 build may limit his appeal, but there are flashes where he looks uncoverable. He offers depth potential with added value as a returner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dane Brugler of the Athletic<\/a> ranked Rivers as the 45th best receiver in the NFL Draft and graded him as an undrafted free agent. Brugler lauds Rivers\u2019 speed and footwork, but his concerns come from the sudden drop in production when transferring to Georgia Tech, especially when it came to touchdowns and deep plays (20+ yards). That explosive play total declined from 20 to 7 from 2024 to 2025.<\/p>\n

Brugler said, \u201cRivers is undersized and still honing his receiver skills, but he has the jets<\/a> and professional approach that give him a chance to make it. Proving himself in the slot and as a punt returner will boost his NFL chances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eric Rivers Athletic Profile\"Tampa\"Tampa<\/p>\n

GettyRivers has elite speed and explosiveness despite his size.<\/p>\n

Eric Rivers received a 8.69 RAS Score<\/a> after testing at the NFL Combine and the Georgia Tech pro day. His height (~5\u201910\u201d) and weight (~177 lbs) are concerning for a wide receiver. Despite being undersized, his speed and explosiveness are elite. He ran a 4.35 40 yard dash, 2.55 20 yard split, and a 1.52 10 yard split. His broad jump was 10\u20197\u201d and his vertical jump was 37\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Buccaneers need more field stretchers in their wide receiver room, so Rivers has a chance to break camp to make the squad. The team also drafted Ted Hurst<\/a> in the third round of the NFL Draft. With Mike Evans<\/a> leaving for the San Francisco 49ers<\/a>, the Buccaneers still have Emeka Egbuka<\/a>, Chris Godwin<\/a>, Jalen McMillan<\/a>, and Tez Johnson<\/a> as experienced wide receivers. However, injuries to Evans, Godwin, and McMillan tested the Buccaneers depth last season, so an aggressive approach to the position makes sense for the organization.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tChris Lewis<\/a> is a freelance sports writer based in Gig Harbor, Washington. He focuses on NFL, MLB (with an emphasis on the Mariners), and professional golf. More about Chris Lewis<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Georgia Tech wide receiver Eric Rivers in undrafted free agency after the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-250255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}