Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport X account this week in the Bucs Mailbag. Submit your question to SR each week via X using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are the Bucs questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: Is it Baker Mayfield, is it Zac Robinson, or a combination of both? Outside of the 58-yard catch by Tez Johnson and the 44-yarder by Kenny Gainwell, the next longest pass was 21 yards. It feels like when the routes aren’t screens, they take too long to develop. There were 11 catches and 16 targets to RBs and TEs and 7 catches and 16 to WRs. Make it make sense.

ANSWER: It’s all of the above. Baker Mayfield is not playing well at quarterback right now. Offensive coordinator Zac Robinson is not a gifted play-caller, and play-calling is an art form. The Bucs don’t have a very talented receiver corps right now without Mike Evans. Emeka Egbuka looks like a first-round bust, Ted Hurst III is buried on the bench and Chris Godwin Jr. is a shell of his former self at age 30.

It’s crazy to think but Tez Johnson is actually the most productive vertical receiver right now in Tampa Bay with 11 catches for 254 yards (23.7 avg.) and a touchdown. Yet he is not reliable and had a pair of drops to go along with his 58-yard reception in Chicago. It’s crazy to think that a former seventh-round pick who is maybe 160 pounds is the big-play artist of the offense.

Bucs WR Tez Johnson – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

I don’t get Robinson’s fascination for all of the quick hook and curl routes that have receivers and tight ends catching the ball with their backs to the end zone. This significantly limits any big-play ability in the passing game outside of the vertical routes that Johnson runs. Hurst is capable of running those routes too, but was benched after one play at Chicago where he dropped his only target. Where is that accountability among tight end Cade Otton and the other receivers that have had drops this year?

I also don’t understand the prioritization of Otton in the pecking order for targets in the passing game. He’s the least dynamic pass catcher in Tampa Bay and is not worth the three-year, $30 million contract extension he signed this offseason worth $10 million per year.

As crazy as it sounds, if you asked Bucs fans to switch out Robinson for Josh Grizzard, who was fired after one year as the offensive coordinator, I think most would do it in a heartbeat. At least Tampa Bay’s passing attack had a more regular vertical element to it and was more fun to watch in 2025.

QUESTION: The run game continues to impress but the pass concepts seem so bad. Can we not scheme people open to make it easier on the QB or WR? I get there were drops in Chicago and penalties, but it’s about much more than that. Do they make a change at offensive coordinator over the bye?

ANSWER: I asked Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles if he was considering making a change at offensive play-caller and he said he was not. So expect Zac Robinson to survive the bye week as the team’s offensive coordinator. Tampa Bay ranks 18th in scoring at 22.4 points per game this year, which is identical to the point production that got Josh Grizzard fired after the team went 8-9 in 2025.

It’s a shame that Robinson is not a more competent play-caller and schemer in the passing game because Tampa Bay has the league’s top-ranked run game right now, averaging 163.9 yards per game. But the Bucs aren’t able to run it at will every game. There has to be some balance on offense and I haven’t seen any reason to believe this passing game will improve through the first half of the season.

Bucs OC Zac Robinson – Photo by: Jeffrey Jones/PR

I don’t see any way that Robinson sticks around for the 2027 season, as Bowles has to fire him during the offseason – if Bowles doesn’t get fired himself. I know this wide receiver corps is not very talented, and tight end Cade Otton is not much of a weapon in the passing game, either. But the Glazers need to move on from Bowles – regardless of how good Tampa Bay’s defense turns out to be – as he can’t be trusted to hand-pick another offensive coordinator as both Grizzard and Robinson haven’t worked out.

Assuming this team still believes in Baker Mayfield in 2027, the priority has to be fixing him and pairing him up with an offensive-minded head coach that can unlock him the way Liam Coen did in 2024. Coen’s offensive coordinator in Jacksonville, Grant Udinski, is regarded as a super intelligent coach. Udinksi would be a risk as he doesn’t have any offensive play-calling experience, but he intrigues me and he would be on my short list in 2027.

QUESTION: At this point, I don’t think there should be any consideration for the draft other than taking a QB and giving up the picks that need to be given up. We have the entire ecosystem in place for a QB to thrive with a very young defense. We can’t continue with No. 6.

ANSWER: The Bucs absolutely must improve their passing game in 2027. Is Baker Mayfield the right guy, or do the Bucs need to add another quarterback in the 2027 NFL Draft – perhaps in the first round? That’s what general manager Jason Licht must ascertain this season and figure out during the 2027 offseason as teams don’t win unless they have good or great quarterback play.

Since last year’s loss to New England one calendar year ago, Mayfield has gone 4-12 as the starter in Tampa Bay with 13 touchdowns, 13 interceptions and three lost fumbles. The Bucs cannot win with that level of quarterback play from Mayfield.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles indicated that fixing Mayfield and the team’s sputtering passing game, which ranks dead last in the league, is the main priority during the upcoming bye week.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

“That’s definitely one of things that we got to look at at the bye week,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said when asked about Baker Mayfield’s struggles. “Are we comfortable with the calls that we’re calling – that he’s comfortable calling and playing with? Are we doing the right things for him schematically, and how his mechanics are and what he’s seeing on the field?

“We got to come to a decision on that, and we’ve got to come to that quick because it’s been a little bit of challenge lately. And we’ve got to make some changes there for the betterment of the team from a coaching and playing standpoint. We got to move forward after the bye.”

It will be interesting to see how Mayfield plays down the stretch as that will determine what Licht winds up doing at the quarterback position in 2027. Does he go out and get competition for Mayfield in the spring? Or does he simply surround him better talent, including an alpha No. 1 wide receiver instead?

QUESTION: With the trade deadline near, should the Bucs seriously consider acquiring a true WR1? Baker Mayfield struggles without a WR1. The division is open, and this defense is capable of winning games. Is Jason Licht committed to competing this season? Should he look to make a trade?

ANSWER: Should the Bucs consider adding a starting-caliber wide receiver at the NFL trade deadline? Of course. I’m just not sure which top wide receivers will be available, and what the compensation will end up being. It doesn’t sound like the Jets want to part ways with 1,000-yard receiver Garrett Wilson, and if they did it would take at least a first-round pick.

The Jaguars have been rumored to be looking to deal Brian Thomas Jr., the 23rd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-2, 209 speedster had 87 catches for 1,282 yards (14.7 avg.) and 10 touchdowns as a rookie. He then followed that up with a disappointing second season with 48 catches for 707 yards (14.7 avg.) and two touchdowns. This season Thomas has just 10 catches for 117 yards (11.7 avg.) and two scores.

Bucs GM Jason Licht – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

If he can’t find success in Liam Coen’s offense I would be scared to touch him for anything more than a late Day 3 pick, although some team would likely offer more. Outside of Thomas, who else is available? Indianapolis’ Josh Downs, a 5-foot-9, 171-pounder? Don’t the Bucs already have that kind of receiver in Tez Johnson? On Monday after Sunday’s 27-24 loss at Chicago I asked Bucs head coach Todd Bowles if the team had enough talent at wide receiver to work with this

“Chemistry-wise, I would say, yes, we have enough firepower,” Bowles said. “Talent-wise we’re probably not. Production-wise, we’re probably not doing what we’ve been doing in the past, so we can pick it up a little bit at that position.”

Obviously the Bucs miss Mike Evans’ size, production and experience this year, as neither Chris Godwin Jr. nor Emeka Egbuka seem to be even remotely close to being able to fill his shoes. Egbuka looks like a bust, as he has gone a full calendar year without a 100-yard performance and has just two touchdowns over that span. Expect the Bucs to address wide receiver next offseason either in free agency or the draft – or both.