INTRO: The Bucs have finally made their offensive coordinator hire with former Falcons play-caller Zac Robinson taking over for Josh Grizzard. Robinson’s arrival in Tampa Bay comes with many questions. He’ll meet with the media on Tuesday, but prior to that press conference, here are some questions to ponder with the Bucs finally having an experienced play-caller at the helm of the offense in this week’s SR’s FAB 5. Enjoy!

FAB 1. Can Zac Robinson Successfully Incorporate All Of Bucs’ Weapons?

If you are fretting over the hiring of Zac Robinson as the Bucs’ new offensive coordinator because of the Falcons’ back-to-back 8-9 seasons, let me help give you a reason for some optimism. While Atlanta had some weapons in Pro Bowl running back Bijan Robinson, wide receiver Drake London and tight end Kyle Pitts, Zac Robinson will have far more weapons to work with in Tampa Bay, especially at wide receiver.

Here’s a quick look at both team’s depth charts in terms of talent from the 2025 season.

Bucs WR Depth Chart

Mike Evans
Chris Godwin Jr.
Emeka Egbuka
Jalen McMillan
Tez Johnson
Sterling Shepard

Falcons WR Depth Chart

Drake London
Darnell Mooney
David Sills V
Casey Washington
KhaDarel Hodge
Ray Ray McCloud

The talent Tampa Bay has at wide receiver far surpasses what Robinson had to work with in Atlanta. The Bucs wide receiver corps scored 16 touchdowns last year, and that’s with Godwin missing eight games, Evans missing nine games and McMillan missing 13 games. By comparison, the Falcons wide receiver corps scored just 10 touchdowns with London missing five games.

Bucs WRs Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Granted, Robinson had a far better tight end in Kyle Pitts, who led Atlanta with 88 catches for 928 yards and five touchdowns, than Tampa Bay had in Cade Otton. But it’s clear that the Bucs’ aerial arsenal was better stocked overall.

Throw in the fact that Robinson had to deal with not just one QB change during his time with the Falcons, but two, and it’s easy to see why Atlanta struggled offensively at times.

Robinson began the 2024 season with 36-year old Kirk Cousins, the team’s big free agent signing, as the starter. Cousins was coming off a torn Achilles tendon injury from the previous season in Minnesota and his mobility was limited. The veteran struggled with interceptions and wound up tied for the league lead at 16 with Baker Mayfield in 2024 – except Mayfield threw 41 touchdowns to Cousins’ 18.

Bucs OC Zac Robinson and Falcons QB Kirk Cousins – IMAGN Images – Mark J. Rebilas

After going 7-7 under Cousins, the Falcons inserted first-round pick Michael Penix Jr. at quarterback for the final three games, in which the rookie went 1-2 to end the season. Penix was named the starter for the 2025 season, but struggled before tearing his ACL, posting a 3-6 record in the first nine games. The 37-year old Cousins replaced him and went 5-3 down the stretch in 2025.

The 30-year old Mayfield hasn’t missed a start over the last two seasons and is a better quarterback than either Penix or Cousins at this stage of his career. So in addition to having a far better wide receiver room in Tampa Bay, Robinson will also have an upgrade at quarterback in 2026.

Robinson was the Rams quarterbacks coach when Mayfield spent the final five games of the 2022 season in Los Angeles, and Mayfield gave Robinson a ringing endorsement in the interview process in Tampa Bay. The Bucs hope that Robinson’s offense is closer aligned to Coen’s system than Grizzard’s was.

Bucs OC Liam Coen, QB Baker Mayfield and HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Mayfield completed a franchise-best 71.4% of his passes for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns under Coen in 2024 and the Bucs would love to see their quarterback get back to that type of production in 2026, especially as he enters a contract year.

But as Coen found out trying to get Bucky Irving, Rachaad White and Sean Tucker touches in 2024, and Grizzard found out trying to get Evans, Godwin, Egbuka and McMillan targets down the stretch last year, it’s easier said than done to spread the ball around to that many playmakers.

Even with two years worth of play-calling experience, how will Robinson effectively spread the touches around to all of the Bucs weapons? It’s easier said than done. But if Robinson can figure a way to do it and get the offense to be more efficient, especially in the red zone and score more touchdowns, Tampa Bay will return to its winning ways in 2026 – and perhaps finish atop the NFC South once again.

For more on Zac Robinson, check out my latest Pewter Pulse video on our PewterReportTV YouTube channel.

FAB 2. Can Zac Robinson Help Lure Mike Evans Back For One More Year?

Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans turns 33 in August and is coming off the worst statistical season of his future Hall of Fame career. A hamstring injury, a broken clavicle and a concussion forced him to miss nine games and snapped his streak of 11 straight seasons with 1,000 receiving yards. Evans finished 2025 with 30 catches for 368 yards (12.3 avg.) and three touchdowns.

Evans will be a free agent in March, but is expected to either re-sign with Tampa Bay or possibly retire. Having No. 13 retire before playing his 13th season in red and pewter would seem cruel to Bucs fans and hard to fathom. I’m sure one thing Evans wanted to know before committing to another year in Tampa Bay is who would be replacing Josh Grizzard as offensive coordinator.

Now that question has been answered with the hiring of former Atlanta offensive coordinator Zac Robinson.

Former Falcons OC Zac Robinson – Photo by IMAGN Images – Brett Davis

So can Robinson play a role in luring Evans back to the Bucs for another season? It should be an easy sell for the team’s new play-caller. All Robinson needs to do is point to the statistics that 6-foot-4 wide receiver Drake London – the Falcons’ version of Evans – put up over the last two seasons in Atlanta.

London had his first 1,000-yard season and his best statistical year under Robinson in 2024. He was targeted 158 times that year, catching 100 passes for 1,271 yards (12.7 avg.) and nine touchdowns. Last year, despite missing five games due to injury, London caught 68 passes for 919 yards (13.5 avg.) and scored seven TDs.

Falcons WR Drake London and Bucs NCB Tykee Smith – Photo by: USA Today

Those numbers should be appealing to Evans, who would almost assuredly love to end his career with a final 1,000-yard season – whether that’s in 2026 or perhaps even 2027.

Evans began his Bucs career as a split end, or X receiver, isolated on the weakside of the formation. But as his career has progressed, Evans has been used more inside to create size mismatches against smaller nickelbacks in the slot and give him freer releases out of bunch formations.

This really began under offensive coordinator Liam Coen during the 2024 season when he brought his Rams-based attack to Tampa Bay. In 2024, Evans played 526 snaps outside at wide receiver and 181 snaps in the slot. A total of 26% of his snaps that season were inside. Last year in Grizzard’s offense, Evans played just 19% of the time in the slot with only 68 snaps inside and 289 snaps out wide.

Bucs WRs Emeka Egbuka and Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Like Coen, Robinson, who also came from L.A. where he was a Sean McVay disciple, was fond of using his big X receiver inside as a big slot receiver to create mismatches. London played outside 60% of the time in 2024, Robinson’s first season in Atlanta, with 609 snaps there as opposed to 406 snaps in the slot (40%). Last season, that number in the slot decreased slightly to 36% with 251 snaps inside as opposed to 454 snaps outside (64%).

Evans thrived in Coen’s offense, catching 74 passes for 1,004 yards and 11 touchdowns despite missing three and a half games due to a severe hamstring injury. This should be an easy sell for Robinson to make with Evans.

FAB 3. Will Bucs Use More Shotgun And Pistol Under Zac Robinson?

Some Tampa Bay fans are apprehensive about the arrival of new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson due to the excessive use of shotgun and pistol formations in Atlanta over the past two seasons. The Bucs took far more under center snaps over the last couple of seasons than the Falcons did.

According to data from Sumer Sports, Atlanta led the league in pistol usage with 412 plays in 2024 and again in 2025 with 387 pistol snaps. Factoring in heavy shotgun usage, and there were some games where the Falcons quarterbacks went under center only 5% of the time. That’s a far cry from the Bucs’ usage of shotgun vs. under center snaps.

Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Bob Donnan

The reason why the Falcons used so much shotgun and pistol formation was tri-fold. First, quarterback Kirk Cousins, a high-priced free agent addition in 2024, was coming off an Achilles injury the previous season and had mobility issues. Having him drop back from under center would have been more taxing on his surgically-repaired ankle.

Second, quarterback Michael Penix Jr., the team’s first-round pick in 2024, operated out of shotgun or pistol at Washington approximately 70% of the time. Penix also lacked some mobility after suffering multiple ACL tears in college, and he wound up tearing his ACL again in 2025 in the ninth game of his second season with the Falcons.

So both Cousins and Penix had a high degree of comfortability operating in shotgun or pistol and Robinson played to the strengths of the quarterbacks he had to work with. And third, former Falcons head coach and play-caller Arthur Smith had implemented the pistol formation to run the ball out of, and Bijan Robinson, the team’s first-round pick in 2023, had a lot of success as a result.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Sam Navarro

But given the fact that Baker Mayfield is a very mobile quarterback and operates very effectively under center, expect Robinson to keep that up in 2026 and adapt to what his quarterback does well in Tampa Bay.

It’s not impossible to run an RPO game or play-action from pistol or shotgun, but it’s easier to sell defenses on it when it’s coming from under center. Last year, the Bucs (10.1%) and the Falcons (11.3%) ranked low in play-action usage last year – well below the league average of 15.4%, according to SFdata9ers on X.

That needs to increase – and should increase – in 2026 with Mayfield under center more, and I think Robinson will realize that given Mayfield’s mobility. Tampa Bay used more play-action successfully in Coen’s offense in 2024 and was closer to middle of the pack league-wide.

FAB 4. Can Zac Robinson Help Todd Bowles Focus On The Defense?

Todd Bowles has done yeoman’s work in preparing his last three offensive coordinators, who have had little to no play-calling experience, for the regular season by spending a lot of time with them in the offseason and in training camp. Dave Canales and Josh Grizzard had not called plays in college or in the NFL, and Liam Coen had two years worth of play-calling experience at Kentucky and a few games late in the 2022 season in Los Angeles.

With Bowles on the hot seat entering the 2026 season after a collapse down the stretch led to a disappointing 8-9 record and the surrendering of the NFC South title to Carolina, he wanted to hire a proven offensive coordinator with experience calling plays in NFL games. Zac Robinson comes from the Sean McVay coaching tree out in L.A. like Coen did, and spent the last two years calling plays in Atlanta.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today

Because of Robinson’s experience, Bowles won’t have to dedicate as much time in meeting rooms, film rooms and on the practice field during OTAs, mini-camp and training camp looking over his new OC’s shoulder. That’s a good thing because over the last two seasons, Bowles’ defense has been the weak link (outside of special teams, of course). Last offseason, he would have coordinators George Edwards and Larry Foote call plays during practice while Bowles worked with Grizzard.

Facing a make-or-break season in 2026, Bowles needs to spend as much time as possible – every waking minute – fixing his defense, especially if he’s going to call plays again, as expected, in 2026. Tampa Bay’s defense ranked 18th in yards allowed and 16th in scoring defense in 2024, and 19th in yards allowed and 20th in scoring defense last year.

Falcons TE Kyle Pitts and Bucs CB Kindle Vildor – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

And hopefully Bowles will be open-minded enough to sit down with Robinson during the offseason and ask why the Falcons have been the most effective offense against his defense over the last years.

Under Robinson’s direction, Atlanta averaged 29 points per game against Tampa Bay as the Falcons went 3-1 versus the Bucs. Bowles’ defense surrendered 12 passing touchdowns and recorded just one interceptions in those four contests. In the last meeting, a 29-28 Falcons’ win over the Bucs on Thursday Night Football in Week 15, Tampa Bay blew a 14-point lead with 10 minutes remaining in regulation.

FAB 5. SR’s Buc Shots

• Pewter Report’s first 2026 7-Round Bucs Mock Draft debuts on PewterReport.com at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, January 25. At the same time, Josh Queipo and I will break down each pick on a live Pewter Report Mock Draft 1.0 Show podcast Sunday afternoon prior to the NFL championship games. You can watch the show live on our PewterReportTV YouTube channel or catch it streaming live on our @PewterReport X or Facebook channels.

• For those of you that were upset that the Bucs missed out on former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel coming to Tampa Bay to be the team’s offensive coordinator, maybe Zac Robinson will wind up being the better option. WDAE’s Nick Wize presents the statistical comparison between Robinson’s offense in Atlanta and McDaniel’s offense in Miami over the two previous seasons.

Advantage: Robinson and the Falcons.

• When listening to some of Zac Robinson’s press conferences and media interviews, it’s clear that he has some of the same offensive beliefs and philosophies that former Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen has – likely from their days together working under Sean McVay with the Rams. Coen was famous for saying that he favored “players over plays” in Tampa Bay, and here’s a clip of Robinson saying the same thing last year in Atlanta.

• New Bucs offensive coordinator Zac Robinson heaped a bunch of praise on quarterback Baker Mayfield in a recent press conference prior to the Falcons beating the Rams on Monday Night Football in Week 17. Robinson was asked about 44-year old Philip Rivers returning to play quarterback in Indianapolis on short notice, and how he was able to prepare Mayfield to beat the Raiders on Thursday Night Football in 2022 with just two days to prepare once he joined the Rams.

Former Rams QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Kirby Lee