Baker Mayfield’s success hinges on Zac Robinson’s ability to overhaul a stagnant scheme. After the offense collapsed last year, this Sean McVay disciple faces immense pressure to perform.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are still reeling from how the wheels entirely came off their offense in 2025 under Josh Grizzard. The void that Lian Coen left behind at the OC position clearly hurt the Bucs, to say the least.
This season, they have taken another gamble with Zac Robinson, which may or may not work for them. QB Baker Mayfield has the least margin of error among all, given his all-out campaign to get Robinson the job out of their brief stint with the Los Angeles Rams.
Finding answers that Grizzard couldn’t is vital for the offense this season. If Mayfield fails yet another season, the system running him will just as much be under the gun.
That is what will perhaps be the biggest concern for Mayfield heading into the 2026 season.
Baker Mayfield and Zac Robinson will be seriously tested
The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen emphasized just how bad the Bucs need Robinson’s play-calling to work out for Mayfield.
“After losing Liam Coen, who has proven to be one of the league’s best play callers, the Buccaneers' offense fell apart. Injuries were an issue, but they never looked like the well-oiled machine they were under Coen. They’ll try to recapture their form by going back to the Sean McVay tree, having hired former Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson this season,” Nguyen wrote.
“With Mayfield, the Buccaneers have been a balanced offense using under-center concepts and play action. Robinson went under center at the second-lowest rate in the league in the last two seasons, opting for heavy pistol usage. He also called play action at by far the league’s lowest rate (9.8 percent). It’s even more baffling why the offense was called this way, given how strong the Falcons’ running game was: third in the rushing success rate in the last two seasons. Their running game also didn’t offer much variance. The Falcons were almost exclusively an outside-zone team, whereas the Buccaneers running game is at its best when it’s multiple.”
Robinson gets the benefit of the doubt with the Falcons, though, with Kirk Cousins’ lack of mobility and other injuries riddling the team. But under Todd Bowles, the OC will have zero excuses.
“Robinson may have been limited by Kirk Cousins’ lack of mobility coming off an Achilles injury and Michael Penix, but there is no question that Robinson must completely overhaul his formation variance, run game and passing game to get the best out of Mayfield and Tampa Bay’s offense.”
What Baker Mayfield needs this season
“If Robinson can’t create easy buttons for Mayfield, the quarterback could resort to some of his worst habits, such as overrelying on scrambling, which can lead to injuries given his physical style.”
The Bucs offense needs built-in, on-time answers for their QB. Without them, Mayfield ends up holding the ball longer, leading straight to his worst traits: hero ball, turning the ball over, and absorbing massive hits, the three things that significantly worsened his performance last season.
Even his low-grade AC joint sprain in his non-throwing shoulder late in 2025 was also due to unnecessary scrambling.
If Robinson doesn't overhaul his formation variance to give Baker quick, rhythmic throws, the cumulative toll of off-script hits is going to compromise his durability. And that’s exactly the area Bowles needs Robinson to work out.
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