The Buccaneers hire Zac Robinson as OC, reuniting him with Baker Mayfield and aiming to fix Tampa Bay’s struggling offense with improved efficiency and QB stability.
Now that the search for the next offensive coordinator is over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can look forward to what’s next for quarterback Baker Mayfield and the offense. On Jan. 22, the Buccaneers hired Zac Robinson who was previously the offensive coordinator for NFC South rival Atlanta Falcons in 2024 and 2025.
Robinson will be Mayfield’s fourth different OC since joining Tampa Bay in 2023. The former Oklahoma State Cowboys quarterback will be tasked with reviving a Buccaneers’ offense that struggled under fired OC Josh Grizzard in 2025. Last season Tampa Bay finished No. 21 in the NFL in total yards per game (320.4) and No. 18 in scoring (22.4 points per game).
Coming from the Sean McVay coaching tree, Robinson is known as an innovative play designer and utilizing pre-snap motions to create matchups for his skill players. The Falcons were No. 14 in total yards per game (333.0) last season and were No. 6 in 2024, averaging 369.8 total ypg.
The familiarity with Mayfield from their time in Los Angeles in 2022 will be a positive for the offense that will be in transition once again. Robinson will also help the Buccaneers improve in several important offensive categories.
Conversion Rate
Last season Tampa Bay regressed considerably in the most important opportunities—third down, fourth down and in the red zone. Under Liam Coen in 2024, the Buccaneers converted on 50.9 percent on third down, 64.3 percent on fourth down and scored touchdowns on 66.7 percent of their trips to the red zone. In 2025 the Bucs were just 41.2 percent on third down, 44.8 percent on fourth down and scored touchdowns on 54 percent of their red zone opportunities.
Despite the Falcons converting on just 33.3 percent of their third downs in 2024, the offense under Robinson converted 50 percent on fourth down and scored touchdowns on 62 percent in the red zone. Interestingly, prior to the Week 9 bye, the Buccaneers were converting just 38 percent on third down and 50 percent on fourth while also scoring red zone touchdowns 50 percent of the time, but were 5-2. After the bye the Tampa Bay offense improved in all three categories (45 percent on third down, 41 percent on fourth down, 57 percent red zone touchdowns), but went 2-7 to finish the season.
Quarterback Stability
While Robinson might provide some improvement to the offense, his new quarterback could help improve some of his numbers when it comes to quarterbacks. In his two seasons with the Falcons, Robinson never got a full season out of either of his signal callers in Michael Penix Jr. and Kirk Cousins. After starting just three games in his rookie season in relief of Cousins in 2024, Penix was given the starting job in 2025 but started just nine games before partially tearing his left ACL.
In his nine starts the 25-year-old Washington product completed 60.14 percent of his passes and had a QBR of 57.8. He was No. 28 in the league in total EPA (4.94), 0.02 in EPA/Play and had a success rate of 44.84 percent. In eight starts Cousins completed 61.71 percent of his passes and had a QBR of 47.8. The 37-year-old was No. 33 in the NFL in total EPA (-6.09), -0.02 in EPA/Play and had a success rate of 44.26 percent.
In Mayfield, Robinson gets one of the most durable quarterbacks in the NFL. Mayfield has started every game for the Bucs all three seasons he has been in Tampa Bay. Although he threw for less than 4,000 yards for the first time as a Buccaneer and only threw 26 touchdowns compared to 41 in 2024, Mayfield battled numerous injuries throughout the season and improved his QBR from 58.4 in 2024 to 61.2 this season. Mayfield was No. 16 in the league in total EPA (33.88), 0.05 in EPA/Play, had a success rate of 44.48 percent and completed 63.17 percent of his passes.
Despite his Atlanta offense struggling to find the answer at quarterback, Robinson showcased his ability to use his weapons with the emergence of players like Bijan Robinson, Drake London and Kyle Pitts. Along with young offensive talent like Bucky Irving, Emeka Egbuka, Jalen McMillan and Tez Johnson, finally having a sturdy quarterback could give Robinson what he needs to take his offense to the next level.
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