The Bucs have lengthy had a robust receiving corps that has been headlined by Mike Evans and Chris Godwin Jr. Properly, Evans is gone and Godwin is coming off the worst season of his profession. That leaves alternatives for different receivers like undrafted free agent Eric Rivers to search out roles on the staff.
Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan will naturally see their roles and snap counts evolve. Rookie Ted Hurst’s profile ought to develop because the 12 months goes on additionally. However past the highest 4, the underside of the Bucs’ receiver room has room for non-expected gamers to search out alternatives to contribute with holdovers like Tez Johnson and Kam Johnson. Rivers could also be that non-expected participant.
Eric Rivers’ Path To The NFL
A former walk-on defensive again at Memphis he transferred to FIU in 2023 and moved to offense as a large receiver. In two seasons at FIU, he caught 93 passes for 1,509 yards and 14 touchdowns. His breakout season was 2024 when he posted a 62-1,166-12 line. It additionally prompted him to make the transfer to the ACC, transferring to Georgia Tech in 2025. His last 12 months in school soccer he logged 45 receptions for 649 yards and one other two scores.
Regardless of the modest receiving stats, Rivers’ manufacturing profile was sturdy however not elite virtually throughout the board in 2025. His stats from Professional Soccer Focus.
However Rivers went undrafted within the 2026 NFL Draft for a couple of causes. His lack of high-end manufacturing on the Energy 4 degree would give NFL evaluators some pause. However that, paired along with his small stature and lack of size, makes his NFL prospects a slender path. Listed below are his measureables rom Mockdraftable.com.
Top – 5-10Weight – 176 poundsArm Size – 30.5″Hand dimension – 9″40-yard sprint – 4.35s10-yard cut up – 1.52sVertical soar – 37″Broad soar – 127″
However a slender path isn’t a closed highway. The Bucs like Rivers. They wouldn’t have assured $225,000 of his wage on high of his $25,000 signing bonus in the event that they didn’t assume he may present one thing to the roster that they felt they wanted. What do they like? It must be the velocity.
Story of the Tape
I watched two full video games from Eric Rivers’ 2025 season, Georgia and BYU, together with some spotlight reels to get a extra sturdy pattern dimension of routes and catches. The headline: This man can weaponize his velocity, however the limitations in different areas of his sport are actual and supply a cap on what he might be on the subsequent degree. However that doesn’t imply there isn’t a task he can occupy for 3-4 years.
Getting Open
The 40-yard sprint time clearly pops off the display. However the extra spectacular a part of his velocity profile is how shortly he can decelerate. That’s what offers NFL cornerbacks essentially the most suits. Can they sustain with a receiver as he breaks down and transitions? For gamers lined up in opposition to Rivers, that reply will typically be, no.
Rivers stops at such a violent charge that he throws defensive backs off steadiness and creates simple separation proper on the high of the route. It’s each bit the weapon his acceleration is, and it’s the motive he’s so harmful on whip and return routes, the place he forces a nook to cease, redirect, and re-explode, after which leaves him behind earlier than the nook can do it. He used that precise transfer twice close to the purpose line in opposition to BYU, considered one of them for a landing to the entrance pylon.
Going to guess Eric Rivers was actually good at tag. pic.twitter.com/Pt6bxG3mSL
The suddenness appears legit, however I don’t assume the double start-stop whereas by no means transferring off the road goes to play within the NFL. pic.twitter.com/lSEaGGS3KY
That motion ability lets him win in opposition to man protection with velocity and stop-start, and he isn’t misplaced in opposition to zone both, displaying the endurance to settle into smooth spots. In opposition to Georgia, the very best secondary he confronted all 12 months, the Bulldogs revered his velocity sufficient to hedge deep on his motions, conceding the beneath. Rivers took what they gave him on velocity cuts reasonably than forcing the vertical, and the deceleration nonetheless created separation in opposition to that degree of athlete.
The straight-line velocity is actual, and so is the half that separates a observe man from a receiver. But it surely’s extra than simply “go far, fast”. He can modulate his velocity, protecting defenders off steadiness and discovering further gears mid-route. And his ball monitoring expertise are a real plus.
Eric Rivers has actual sport velocity. Mailbox + ball monitoring. pic.twitter.com/agGz0N3F4k
The Catchpoint
That is the limiting issue. Rivers posted a ten.1% drop charge in 2024, centered by near-identical charges round 6% in 2023 and 2025. If given the chance within the NFL, I believe 2024 will likely be nearer to who he’s as a professional.
The fingers are an actual concern. A straightforward ball on a fast hitch hit him sq. within the fingers and fell to the turf. This wasn’t a tough seize or a physique catch. This was his small fingers displaying up as a difficulty on the sector, not simply the radar chart.
The center of the sector is the toughest projection. Heavy visitors, sturdy hits over the center, and the mix of a smaller body, shorter arms, and smaller fingers all level the identical route. His catches are going to wish to return with separation, not by means of our bodies, and that narrows the a part of the route tree you may ask him to run.
Bucs WR Eric Rivers – Picture by: Brett Davis – IMAGN Photographs
The one place his dimension doesn’t cease his effort is as a blocker, the place the tenacity is truthfully Herculean for a person this small. He works to shut on the defender and strikes with every thing he has. The outcomes don’t at all times match the hassle, and in opposition to Georgia a number of the size-related losses have been ugly, however the willingness is actual and it’s the form of trait that travels to particular groups and might endear him with coaches.
Talking of particular groups, he wasn’t given many alternatives in school to return punts and kicks, however he did break off a 46-yard punt return in opposition to Virginia Tech. Along with his velocity it doesn’t damage to place him in a contest with Kam Johnson and Tez Johnson to see who brings the very best edge within the third section of the sport.
Eric Rivers’ Trustworthy Path to Enjoying Time With The Bucs
Chris Godwin Jr. is way from the identical velocity risk he was popping out of Penn State. Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan and Tez Johnson are all clean movers who shock defenders as velocity gatherers. Ted Hurst has wheels and so does Kam Johnson. However Rivers beats all of them with regards to pure, adrenaline-seeking, Quick 5, velocity.
That’s his edge. He can get downfield sooner. And pairing that with the short breakdown deceleration it offers him a weapon and counter that may match right into a receiver room as one thing an offense can construct off of. Put him within the slot and let him threaten the seams and stretch the sector. That opens up slants, digs and crosses beneath – routes that Godwin, Egbuka, Hurst and McMillan can all thrive on.
In opposition to zone-heavy groups, the Bucs can put him out for a couple of snaps because the X in a 3×1 formation and pressure brackets in opposition to two-high appears or pull the put up security to his aspect to assist account for him as a downhill risk. He might be the nook/go man on Flood ideas. And when defenses attempt to hedge for him deep he can snap a couple of hitch/curl/comebacks to choose up yardage beneath.
Add in a couple of manufactured touches on end-arounds/jet sweeps and perimeter screens and you’ve got the profile of a sideline winner with house run potential who fills a bundle area of interest. For $250k assured it’s a protected wager with loads of upside.
