Who was the Most Valuable Player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2025? This could be really easy or really hard, depending upon whether we add in one specific restriction. And you know what? Who needs easy? An unsatisfying end to what had been a promising season means the Buccaneers have to answer some tough questions, such as who to hire as the new offensive coordinator? Why should we have it any different.

So here's that restriction: We have to identify the Buccaneers' 2025 MVP, and we can't pick the quarterback. Baker Mayfield would be the easy answer based solely on the fact that he was the only 17-game constant for an offense that had to overcome a disturbing number of injuries at virtually every other spot. And to be honest, it is the rare playoff-contending team (the Bucs were still in the hunt even a day after they had played their last game, so they qualify) that wouldn't name its quarterback as its MVP.

The Buccaneers have begun their transition from the end of the 2025 season to the start of what is already an eventful 2026 offseason thanks to the changes already made and still coming to the coaching staff. Staff Writer/Reporter Brianna Dix, Buccaneers.com Contributor Gabriel Kahaian and I have decided to tackle a number of topics about both seasons in a series of our weekly Roundtable articles between now and the start of the NFL's new league year in March. We'll start with a few looks back at the 2025 campaign before turning our attention to a variety of topics regarding what lies ahead as the Bucs try to climb back to the top of the NFC South mountain.

Bri, Gabe and I have lined up eight topics we will be debating over the next two months, one on each Monday. Here's the whole schedule, with links to the ones we've already completed:

• Monday, January 12: What was your most pleasant surprise regarding the Buccaneers' 2025 season?
• Monday, January 19: Who was the Buccaneers 2025 MVP (non-quarterback division)?
• Monday, January 26: What was the Bucs' single most exciting play of the 2025 season?
• Monday, February 2: Who is your most intriguing under-the-radar player on the 2026 roster?
• Monday, February 9: What is the most pressing roster need the Bucs' need to address in the offseason?
• Monday, February 16: If the Buccaneers were to make a big free agency splurge, who would you want?
• Monday, February 23: What position would you like to see Tampa Bay target in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft?
• Monday, March 2: Give us one specific statistical prediction for the Bucs' 2026 season?

So, that's our debate for this week, as we continue to take a quick look back at the season just finished: Who was the team's most valuable player in 2025 (non-quarterback division). We will each go by whatever criteria we identify as the reasons for our choices. We also are not allowed to duplicate answers, so the order in which the three of us get to attack these question could matter. This week, it almost surely does. Gabe is first for this one, I'm second and Bri is third, and we'll rotate the order from week to week. So you have the lectern, Gabe.

Gabriel Kahaian: WR Emeka Egbuka

After weighing all my options, I ultimately landed on the Buccaneers' first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, Emeka Egbuka. Without him, the outcome of several games could have been different.

Throughout training camp, we saw story after story of how Egbuka did not look like a rookie in the slightest. He fit right in, handling himself like a veteran on the field and in the locker room. Todd Bowles, Baker Mayfield and national media alike were singing his praises. However, how were we to believe these reports were accurate? Many mock drafts had other wide receiving prospects over Egbuka. Everybody wants to hype up their favorite team's rookies early in the season. After all, that is the time for hope and optimism, isn't it? How good could he really be? Well, sometimes seeing is believing.

Egbuka made a name for himself right out the gate in the season opener vs. the Atlanta Falcons. In hostile territory, he recorded four catches for 67 yards and two, clutch go-ahead touchdowns in his NFL debut. Egbuka's hot start continued with big performances in Week Three against the Jets and Week Four against the Eagles. He pulled in a mesmerizing one-handed catch while being covered by former Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner. He followed that up by setting a Buccaneers' record for the longest touchdown reception by a rookie with a 77-yard score against Philadelphia. His magnum opus was his Week Five game in Seattle, where he caught seven passes for 163 yards and a touchdown. Egbuka's 163-yard performance ranked as the third-highest single-game receiving total by a rookie in franchise history.

Egbuka went on to become one of the most productive rookies from the 2025 draft class, finishing the season with 63 receptions for 938 yards and six touchdowns. He consistently stepped up when multiple pass catchers were sidelined by injury, emerging as a reliable offensive focal point. His production played a major role in the team's success this season, which is why he deserves to be crowned the Buccaneers' MVP during the franchise's 50th campaign. It was a bright and promising start to what looks to be a special career.

Scott Smith: NT Vita Vea

This is really tough and, honestly, there may not be one good answer to this question. I don't think I can pinpoint anyone on offense – Baker is off limits; Emeka has already been chosen; the team's leading rusher, Bucky Irving, missed a good chunk of the season and finished with 588 yards and one touchdown on the ground; the offensive line was banged up and in constant flux.

So I turn to defense, where the Bucs ranked 19th overall and 27th against the pass. One thing Tampa Bay's defense did do consistently well, however, was stop the run. The Buccaneers ranked fifth in rushing yards allowed per game, at 99.1. And I think it's pretty clear that the massive nose tackle in the middle of that defense, Vita Vea, is key to that run defense. That's evidenced in Vea getting double-teamed on 51.2% of his snaps, according to Next Gen Stats.

On top of that, Vea was one of the team's most effective pass-rushers. His 4.5 sacks and 13 quarterback pressures were both second on the team to Yaya Diaby's figures. According to Next Gen Stats again, Vea also had 43 QB pressures, which is a pretty gaudy number for a player who is also the linchpin to your run defense. Sixteen of those 43 pressures came when he was double-teamed, which is remarkable. Merely getting double-teamed on a QB dropback helps the pass rush by pulling a blocker away from another defender. When you do that and still pressure the passer, that's an incredible asset for your defensive front.

The Buccaneers had an up-and-down season on both sides of the ball, and with the quarterback off the board it's hard to find one player whose production was clearly head and shoulders above the rest of the candidates. With that said, I'll take the player whose presence was probably most critical to what the Bucs were trying to do on defense in 2025.

Brianna Dix: OLB Yaya Diaby

Yaya Diaby had the sixth highest pressure rate (16.3%) in the NFL in 2025 among all players with a minimum of 350 pass rush snaps, per NextGen Stats, and he made a home in opposing backfields. He led the Bucs with 7.0 sacks in 2025 and accumulated 19 quarterback hits and 62 pressures (14th). Diaby, a power rusher, is quick out of his stance and has the lateral agility to burst through the A-gap on twists/stunts. He separates at the point of attack with a sharp strike into his full extension.

Diaby showcased the ability to chase down targets with acceleration in pursuit and often overwhelmed blockers with a punch-and-pull technique. He rushes from both a two and three-point stance and as Diaby continues to enhance his arsenal of moves and his mechanics/footwork on rushes, he will ascend.

"He was clearly our best pass rusher up front," described Todd Bowles. "I thought he had a heck of a season, especially in the second half of the season. He was one of our best players. He plays hard, he plays with a lot of energy, and we just have to help him out with the other guys up front."

Diaby was not always able to get the quarterback on the ground but he became a constant nuisance for opposing quarterbacks, speeding up their progressions. He took advantage of advantageous matchups and helped spark the defense in 2025 by his disruption in the trenches.