Pros and Cons of Buccaneers Hiring New OC Zac Robinson

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have officially brought in Zac Robinson to be their new offensive coordinator, replacing OC Josh Grizzard after a lackluster offensive performance in 2025.

Robinson, previously with the Atlanta Falcons over the last two years, brings playcalling experience and a similar system to Tampa Bay, but his offenses have also had a few areas of concern during his time in Atlanta. As with any hire, there are some pros and cons to Todd Bowles' choice, and we'll break them down for you below:

Pro: He brings continuity

If you wanted continuity and a similar offense, Robinson was the best candidate of the bunch. Working with quarterback Baker Mayfield in 2022 with the Los Angeles Rams, Robinson runs a similar offense to the one that Dave Canales, Liam Coen and Josh Grizzard have all run in Tampa Bay over the last three years. The terminology likely won't be too different and the concepts will be very similar, making Robinson the most plug-and-play option of the bunch.

Mayfield vouched for Robinson's hire, and it makes sense why. If Mayfield is comfortable, he plays better football, and Robinson could put him on track to shake off his dreadful end of the year in 2025 and get him playing more like he did throughout all of 2024.

Con: He's a bit predictable

Robinson has had his tendencies over his two years in Atlanta, and he's rare to break them.

Falcons fans will tell you all about how often Robinson ran the pistol, and they're right. He ran it about 40% of the time in both years as a Falcons OC — among the highest in the NFL — and his playcalling usage was generally predictable in those formations. He ran 67.9% of the time in the pistol in 2024 and 69% of the time in 2025, per SumerSports, showing that he was heavily committed to the run in a formation he used quite frequently.

It gets worse across different formations. The Falcons passed on 87% of their shotgun plays and ran around 75% of their plays under center, showing a distinct lack of mix-ups in Robinson's playcalling tendencies. If Robinson wants to run a successful offense in Tampa Bay, he'll have to break things up a bit more.

Pro: He has more to work with at QB in Tampa Bay

Robinson's quarterback play in Atlanta over his two years there wasn't great. He got Kirk Cousins off an Achilles tear in 2024, rendering him mostly immobile, and he had to deal with Michael Penix Jr. in his rookie season with similar mobility problems after a lot of injuries during his college career. These limitations arguably hampered Robinson quite a bit, limiting under-center plays due to Cousins' mobility and Penix's inexperience.

Mayfield, however, can move well and has experience working under center, too. In theory, he should open up the playbook for Robinson and can run a more modern NFL scheme, which could create those mixups Robinson is looking for. Mayfield's play in 2023-4 and at the beginning of 2025 was better than anything Robinson got in Atlanta, so he could run a more successful offense as a result.

Con: His third down game needs work

The Atlanta Falcons were 10th in red zone scoring but just 23rd in points per game at 20.8 in 2025. How could that be? Because they were just 30th in third down conversion rate.

His short-yardage prowess particularly needs work. He went with the run on 75.0% of short yardage plays over two years in Atlanta (three yards or less for a first down or touchdown), but had a -0.15 EPA/play on those plays and converted 65% of the time. He passed much less on these downs, but was way more successful, converting on 70.8% of attempts and netting a +0.40 EPA/play. He used the pistol the most in these situations in 2024 (38.7% of the time) and the second most in 2025 (35.4% of the time), but he had a negative EPA in that formation both years (-0.21, -0.08).

His tendency to stick with what he likes, regardless of whether or not it is working, is something he'll have to work on in Tampa Bay, because it caused his drives to stall out before the red zone often in Atlanta.

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