Robinson brings Rams, Falcons experience, but can he solve the Bucs' red zone woes and reignite Baker Mayfield's offense?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a new offensive coordinator.
ESPN's Adam Schefter first reported the Bucs are finalizing a deal to hire Zac Robinson, until now the OC for the Atlanta Falcons.
The Bucs also are expected to hire Ken Zampese, Atlanta's senior offensive assistant, and Falcons' passing game coordinator, T.J. Yates, multiple sources reported.
Robinson was up for grabs after the Falcons fired Raheem Morris at the end of the regular season. He spent two years on Morris' staff, with mixed results. On the one hand, Robinson helped players to fantastic individual seasons. Running back Bijan Robinson had more than 1,400 yards in each of Zac Robinson's two seasons, and the Falcons nearly had two 1,000-yard receivers in 2024, with Drake London totaling 1,271 yards and Darnell Mooney 992.
The Falcons had reason to let Morris go, and making Robinson available.
At the end of the day, the only thing that matters about an offense is how many points it scores, and Atlanta didn't score nearly as much as it should have given the skill players on its roster.
In 2024, Atlanta was sixth in the NFL in total yards per game, but finished 13th in scoring -- and punching it home in the red zone was an issue.
This past season, Atlanta's offense regressed across the board, going from sixth to 14th in total yards per game, fifth to 19th in passing yards per game, and 13th to 24th in points per game.
To be fair, starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. only played in nine games before suffering a season-ending injury.
Before Atlanta, Robinson made a name for himself with Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams. He was in L.A. for five seasons as the team's passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the last two.
In 2022, Robinson coached Baker Mayfield. Although Mayfield only started five games for the Rams, coming over in the middle of the season, Rapoport reported on Good Morning Football that Robinson made enough of an impression on Mayfield that it played a factor in the hiring.
Mayfield recently called out new Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski on social media. Mayfield has a gripe because of the way things ended for him with the Cleveland Browns, where Stefanski had been the coach. Robinson may have a gripe because Stefanski didn't keep him around.
In any case, Bucs-Falcons will be a lot more interesting next season.
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