The Bucs offense has largely been awesome this year. They rank ninth in points per game, ninth in EPA/play, 10th in EPA/pass, and are now 13th(!) in EPA/rush. Things are clicking.

Part of the reason for this is that offensive coordinator Liam Coen has been so open to applying new information into his gameplans to the benefit of the offense. One of the wrinkles that has helped create explosives for Tampa Bay has been Coen’s use of 21 personnel. For clarification, 21 personnel is when the offense has two running backs and one tight end on the field.

It’s called the “pony” package.

Bucs OC Liam Coen – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs have been nearly unstoppable in 21. By my count, Coen has used 21 on 20 plays this year. Outside of a holding penalty that brought back an eight-yard run, they have averaged 11 yards per play, generated a success rate of 65% and an explosive rate of 25% on those plays. Those are efficiency metrics Andy Reid and Kyle Shanahan would be jealous of.

On pass plays, Baker Mayfield is 8-of-9 for 94 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 10.4 yards per pass and 9.6 yards per drop back after accounting for a sack. On run plays, Bucky Irving and Rachaad White have combined to carry the ball 10 times for 119 yards while averaging 11.9 yards per carry.

And the Bucs three longest runs of the year, runs of 56, 32 and 31 yards, have come out of this personnel grouping.

A 56-yard gain for Rachaad White 👀#TBvsATL on Prime Video
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— NFL (@NFL) October 4, 2024

Given that both running backs are plus players in the pass game, defenses have yet to figure out how to best match up with the Bucs’ unique package. And this has yielded incredible results. But how far can they push it?

Thus far most of the Bucs’ plays out of these sets has involved one or more of the backs in the backfield with the other motioning into the backfield or at the snap. But could Coen create even more chaos out of this grouping by putting both backs in non-traditional places on the field? I thought about building out a package of plays with just this thought in mind.

Pushing The Envelope Out of 21p

Quick note to help understand this play is each player’s number.

• Rachaad White – 1
• Baker Mayfield – 6
• Bucky Irving – 7
• Mike Evans – 13
• Chris Godwin – 12
• Cade Otton – 88

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

This play would have the Bucs come out in a standard 2×2 pre-snap look but with Irving and White split out wide to the left together and Godwin in the backfield with Mayfield, lined up to the strong side of the play. The primary concept of the play is Flood with Evans, Otton and Irving creating a three-level read for Mayfield to the right. Godwin would have a choice route coming from the backfield releasing from the B gap against an under front and the C gap against an over front.

Starting with the Flood, this play should set up Otton for some leveraged throws against a linebacker or safety picking him up from the box or layering in between the corner and the safety against cover-2. If the corner deepens his drop for Otton, Irving would be an easy flat option for a catch-and-run.

Working back to the middle of the field Godwin would have a choice to carry a seam to hold the middle-of-the field safety against single high and give Evans single coverage deep or cut inside on a slant/dig against man coverage against a linebacker or work under the pole runner in cover-2. White would have a hitch route as his primary on the backside of the play with a sight adjustment to run vertical when the defense has two high safeties. He would not be a part of the true read progression but be responsible for trying to prevent the backside safety from rolling to the concept side of the play.

Building Layers For Bucs

From this initial concept there are plenty of counters and layers that can be built in. There are multiple options to layer in screens, which the Bucs are very good at.

This is a simple backside screen that can take advantage of a defense over-pursuing Bucky Irving’s motion. The left tackle and center would creep out to form the screen. There are several variants that can be applied to this play.

• The motion could be adjusted to a jet where Irving comes in front of Baker Mayfield for a fake handoff.
• There could be a play-action tag for Chris Godwin that would create more hesitation for the play-side edge and corner.

Play Side Screen

The Bucs could also get to a screen to Bucky Irving from this look.

This play would have to be run against a strong zone indicator so you will see that here Rachaad White is initially set to the play side in a 3×1. He would motion back to Irving’s side to try and get a man/zone indicator. Then if they get the zone indicator Bucky Irving would go into his orbit motion.

This would involve a play action fake to Chris Godwin to try and hold linebackers and give some time for the center and right guard to climb and cut off the strong and middle linebackers. And from there the Bucs could even use Godwin in a Deebo Samuel-like role and build out RPO’s into this look to really create mismatches.

Bucs Receiver RPO

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: USA Today

This would again try to exploit a defense that is either in man or overaggressive when they scrape in response to the motion by running an outside pull back against the motion. It takes the poorest blocker, Bucky Irving, out of the blocking scheme. It would also leverage Rachaad White’s excellent blocking skills by asking him to crack the play side edge to spring the left tackle and center out in front on their pulls with Chris Godwin. If Baker Mayfield were to see a favorable look on the backside, he would have both a quick option in Mike Evans’ slant and a deep shot play built in on a fade to Cade Otton.

With high-level talent playing from a niche personnel grouping, paired with a creative play caller the sky can truly be the limit for the Bucs offense. And I would love to see Liam Coen push the limits of what this grouping can do, both in volume and formation.

Can he leverage this personnel grouping from four plays a game to eight or 10? By layering in non-traditional alignments can he keep up this incredible success and explosive play rate? I am excited to find out.

Let the “pony” out of the barn.