The Buccaneers also have all their tight ends back from last year’s team, plus an intriguing addition in sixth-round draft pick Bauer Sharp. Cade Otton, who signed a lucrative new deal in March, will surely remain the main innings-eater as he is ultra-reliable in all aspects of his position and has averaged about 50 catches a season. Payne Durham was quietly one of the best blocking tight ends in the league last season, particularly when asked to chip and then climb to the next level. Sharp adds another potential pass-catching weapon who impressed during offseason workouts and may be capable of making plays at all three levels of the defense.
As for the scheme, Robinson’s play-calling tendencies and preferred personnel groupings will be revealed over time, but there are some clues from his past two season as the Atlanta Falcons’ offensive coordinator. Over the 2024-25 seasons combined, Robinson’s attack ranked in the top in the NFL in yards, yards per play, rushing yards, yards per carry, passing yards, yards per pass attempts, sack percentage allowed and first downs.
It seems likely that a top priority for Robinson and company will be to restore a rushing attack that dipped considerably in 2025 after its back 2024 season. Robinson obviously had a premier backfield talent to work with in Bijan Robinson (not to mention Tyler Allgeier), but Atlanta was 12th in rushes per game last year despite having a losing record and quarterbacks that did not run much. Zac Robinson was also not shy about throwing the ball to Bijan Robinson, who had 79 catches for 820 yards in 2025.
Robinson has indicated that the Bucs will still utilize the gap and duo running schemes that they did so successfully in 2024 but will likely also introduce a higher reliance on wide-zone plays. It is here in which that aforementioned athleticism of the Bucs’ offensive line would seem to be an advantage, and both Irving and Gainwell have the skills to thrive in lateral, one-cut plays. Tucker, in the occasional opportunities he’s had to get a higher dose of carries, has also looked at his best when running wide. Last year, the Falcons ran their backs outside the tackles a little over 20 times a game and were very successful when doing so, racking up 99.1 yards per game, 4.8 yards per carry and 13 touchdowns.
Buccaneer fans might also see more “12” personnel in 2026 under Robinson’s direction. Those are packages that feature two tight ends, two receivers and one running back. Atlanta ran the second-most plays in the NFL out of 12 personnel last season with 400, roughly double what the Buccaneers did under Grizzard. The Falcons’ average of 6.1 yards per play out of two-TE packages ranked third in the NFL behind Seattle and Indianapolis.
Robinson has tended to favor pre-snap motion, as well. The Falcons were in motion before the snap on 69.1% of their offensive plays last year, the sixth-highest percentage in the league, and they had a player in motion at the time the ball was snapped a league-high 59.9% of the time. Godwin and Egbuka, in particular, appear to be candidates to move around the formation a lot.
One other tendency to keep an eye on from Robinson’s time with the Falcons was his heavier-than-usual usage of the “pistol” formation, in which the quarterback is not under center but he’s only three to four yards behind the center, with the running back behind him. The Falcons used the pistol on a league-high 37.5% of their snaps, nearly double that of the second team on the list, but that approach may have been specifically designed to suit young quarterback Michael Penix. That said, Robinson liked the pistol because it tended to give away the play’s tendency less than the shotgun and helped him get run-pass balance in the offense.
Overall, Robinson will seek to mirror the sort of run-pass marriage that the Rams featured under Sean McVay while Robinson was on their staff. However, as much as we’ve discussed his tendencies from the past couple seasons of play-calling, this process in training camp will be a two-way street. Robinson doesn’t intend to simply lay his system and play-calling on top of whatever personnel is on hand; rather, he has said he will work to shape the offense around the specific skills of the players at his disposal. Figuring that out will be a big part of training camp and the preseason, and it will likely be a process that continues on into the early part of the regular season.