Can Zac Robinson Re-Energize A Mike Evans-Less Offense?
July 15th, 2026
Key to passing game?
Joe wants to see someone at One Buc Palace build up enough courage to come clean about Mike Evans — legends that profess love for a franchise don’t just up and leave after 12 seasons to take a massive paycut and absorb insane costs of living ($5.56 for a gallon of gas in San Francisco) and crazy state taxes — and Joe wonders if the Bucs offense can thrive without one of the game’s greatest.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Evans had an awful year last year. And what again was the Bucs’ record?
Typing for The Athletic, Mike Jones wonders if new Bucs offensive coordinator Zac Robinson can find a way to have a thriving offense with Evans on the West Coast (and not on the East Coast).
Can [a Zac Robinson] attack thrive without a true No. 1 wide receiver?
Robinson helped revive Baker Mayfield’s career during Mayfield’s brief stint with the Rams (2022), so Robinson and the Bucs’ QB have a rapport already. But Tampa Bay’s offense has a big hole to fill with Mike Evans now in San Francisco. At 30, Chris Godwin owns the distinction of position room leader. But injuries have diminished his impact the past two seasons. Emeka Egbuka delivered an impressive rookie season, and fellow young targets Jalen McMillan and Tez Johnson seemingly have much to offer. Rookie Ted Hurst III aims to force his way into the mix as well. Robinson has said his goal involves spreading the ball around, but Mayfield certainly needs a go-to guy.
Joe thinks how Jalen McMillan plays could determine much the Bucs offense.
Joe isn’t sure Emeka Egbuka can handle being the No. 1 receiver. He struggled with that last year. But to be fair, multiple factors were involved, not the least of them being that, yeah, Egbuka was a rookie.
If Robinson keeps Chris Godwin at slot, then Godwin won’t be a No. 1. So if McMillan can carry his own weight this fall, that will certainly keep heat off of Egbuka.
And as Joe has typed, barring an emergency or one of the top three receivers playing terribly, the Bucs don’t need to rush rookie Ted Hurst onto the field. He can develop at his own pace.
Joe isn’t sweating the Bucs offense in mid-July.
July 15th, 2026 at 9:27 am
I truly was sadened to see ME go. Joe the Bucs are never going to reveal why he left because we all know why. He completely lost faith in the direction the Organzation was going. He is not going to say or embarass the team and neither are the Bucs going to admit it. It simply is there for all to see. He was right the Bucs are not pursuing winning over at least the next year. It is clear they are taking their time to fix the defense, which is the problem. ME only has a couple of years, so he left. The Bucs have to many ifs on defense.
However, I do think the Bucs have a strong receiver room and can recover well. I think with ME leaving you will see McMillian emerge and Ebucka as well. I think Godwin will have a huge year and Hurst appers promising. Yes the receiver room will be fine. The Defense, while it appears improved on paper, it has to many ifs and a long ways to go, especially the secondary, which seems to presently be one of the worst in the league.
July 15th, 2026 at 9:29 am
“Joe isn’t sweating the Bucs offense in mid-July.”
According to the title of this article, you are in fact a little worried about life without Mike Evans. As you should be.
Mike wasn’t just the alpha. He’s the alpha of alpha’s. One of one.
I guarantee when Tom Brady chose the Bucs that Evans was a huge reason why.
He knew Mike could be counted on in big moments. He wanted the ball with the game on the line.
Now Mike has a QB again that is capable of getting him the ball in those moments.
July 15th, 2026 at 9:37 am
Mike’s already rich. 5.75 a gallon, taxes etc. Not sure we’ll ever really know.
July 15th, 2026 at 9:48 am
I’m definitely gonna miss Mike and so will the Bucs. As I’ve said before the Bucs have 3 WRs who are basically the same.
Chris Godwin Jr. Ht: 6’1″ Wingspan: 76 ½” (6’4 ½”)
Emeka Egbuka Ht: 6’1″ Wingspan: 76 ⅝” (6’4 ⅝”)
Jalen McMillan Ht: 6’1″ Wingspan: 77 ⅜” (6’5 ⅜”)
And Mike Evans Ht: 6’5 Wingspan: 82″
The offensive playcalling and design is indeed important but if the QB is inaccurate, it won’t matter. Without that catch radius of Evans this offense will definitely struggle, especially if the run game stalls. We’ll see what he cooks up…
July 15th, 2026 at 9:51 am
Joe isn’t sure EE can handle being a number 1 receiver. We’ll, let’s do a little comp:
EE rookie year stats- 63 receptions, 938 yards, 6 TDs
A current number 1 receiver rookie stats – 63 receptions, 628 yards, 4 TDs
The other receiver is JSN, and I think he’s doing ok
July 15th, 2026 at 9:51 am
Yea, big question is how are we going to beat man coverage on a consistent basis without a coverage manipulator like Mike.
Everybody is quick to jump on stats, age, his hammys and all this other stuff, but nobody is addressing how teams played us without Mike and how that also played a massive role in our struggles offensively.
2-high shell, man underneath, make’em earn every yard in front of you and don’t even let’em think they can beat you deep.
We’re going to be faced with this at some point this upcoming season. Just being healthy isn’t going to beat it consistently.
July 15th, 2026 at 9:52 am
Mike wasn’t even THAT big a part in ’24, barely scraped a thousand yards. I think his biggest contribution was to draw double coverage away from the other guys
July 15th, 2026 at 9:54 am
Mike Evans left? I didn’t know…..well at least we still have Jamel Dean!!!
July 15th, 2026 at 9:58 am
Disagree Joe, Hurst needs to hit the field running. The Bucs lost one of the best X receivers in football. Fair, or not Hurst was drafted to fill that spot. He’s Evans replacement, and needs to step into that role right away. For this offense to work best, the sooner you get Hurst on the field as the X, the better.
July 15th, 2026 at 10:32 am
“I think his biggest contribution was to draw double coverage away from the other guys”
Pretty big deal, no? Ensures single coverage for everybody eligible to catch a pass and can make you pay(still) when you gamble and leave him with no help over top.
Guys are talking like Evans is some geriatric player who’s hobbling around, and if that were truly the case I’m pretty sure Licht wouldn’t have tried to throw the entire Glazer family checkbook at him to stay.
July 15th, 2026 at 10:34 am
6 months and counting until Todd is fired and the fans can have hope again.
Funny how Joe keeps on harping on Evans being gone when anyone paying attention knows why he left
July 15th, 2026 at 10:36 am
“I think his biggest contribution was to draw double coverage away from the other guys”
That was a perk to having him on the field, which worked pretty well for us and also played a factor in Egbukas’ fast start. His first NFL TD come off a route with him filling in the wake behind Evans’ route while Mike carried his corner and the playside safety upfield.
So to be valuable even when you do not have the ball in your hands is kind of valuable. There’s no amount of spin toward slighting Evans that changes the real fact that particular part of his game is no longer an asset. The week 7 & 8 games were clear indicator of us missing that presence.
July 15th, 2026 at 10:52 am
I’m not that excited about Robinson. Will he be an improvement over last year? Maybe. But I think most of that will be from a healthy offensive line, QB and RB. Which, of course, is fine. These guys will get open. I’m not worried about that. And Jose, we have a “number one” (not sure why you’re obsessed with numbering them) and you know who he is.
July 15th, 2026 at 11:02 am
The Bucs got about as much out of Mike Evans as they could’ve possibly dreamed for and much more. Great player and even better guy in the community. Fantastic career here in Tampa Bay.
Would’ve been nice to have him play his last season or 2 here, but time to move on.
The Bucs and JL have stocked the WR room with a great vet and leader in Godwin and a bunch of very talented and capable young guys in Emeka, J Mac, Tez and Hurst.
July 15th, 2026 at 11:07 am
Bee … ‘As I’ve said before the Bucs have 3 WRs who are basically the same.’
Chris Godwin Jr. Ht: 6’1″ Wingspan: 76 ½” (6’4 ½”)
Emeka Egbuka Ht: 6’1″ Wingspan: 76 ⅝” (6’4 ⅝”)
Jalen McMillan Ht: 6’1″ Wingspan: 77 ⅜” (6’5 ⅜”)
You nailed it a tad later in your comment Bee when you wrote … ‘if the QB is inaccurate, it won’t matter.’
The key to help Baker is for the receivers to GET OPEN. Look at the speeds of those 3 at their Combines. Godwin – 4.42 secs. Egbuka – 4.45 sec (at his Pro Day). McMillan – 4.47 secs.
They’re all fast, but they’re all also the same. So who do we use to ‘stretch the field’ and get defenders spread out? My choice? Ted Hurst or Tez Johnson, although for different reasons. Ted Hurst is fast (4.42 sec), but more importantly he’s TALL (6’4″) & has a decent verticla leap (36.5″).
Tez Johnson is also reasonably fast (4.51 secs) but not all that tall (5’10”) or big (165 lbs). Interestingly though, he does seem to have the ‘gift’ of being able to get open (in his 28 receptions last year were 5 TDs & 16 first downs). Those 21 of 28 catches (75% top productivity IMO) tell me that he has a unique ability to get open.
July 15th, 2026 at 11:21 am
I was sorry to see Mike go, but he’s gone. The king is gone but he’s not forgotten. Honestly, he wasn’t on a pace to keep his 1000 yard streak intact anyway. People complained about Dean, but Evans was constantly battling hamstring issues himself. We are gonna be just fine in the receiving room.
July 15th, 2026 at 11:41 am
Mike left because of baker !
July 15th, 2026 at 11:57 am
Mike left because hamstring injuries are much more likely and subtropical climates. That is it pure and simple. He’s missed time, significant time both of the last two years. My guess is that at least two of our receivers will have better years than he had and he was no longer going to be the focus of the offense.
July 15th, 2026 at 12:03 pm
I think the offense will be good. Way more WR weapons than the Falcons had
July 15th, 2026 at 12:04 pm
I am more interested in hearing why the team quit on the coach after the bye week. Maybe that would shine some light on Evans, too.
Spreading the ball around is best. Baker is at his best that way, too.
July 15th, 2026 at 12:40 pm
not sure why you think godwin cant be a #1 from the slot lol…rams do a great job with Puka operating from the slot and he’s their #1…Zac learned under Mcvay so he should know how to craft an offense with your #1 WR operating primarily out of the slot
with that said, if Zac was as good as folks think he is, he would be the HC in ATL
GO BUCS!!!!
July 15th, 2026 at 12:55 pm
813bucboi Says:
“with that said, if Zac was as good as folks think he is, he would be the HC in ATL”
Plenty of great coordinators are bad head coaches.
July 15th, 2026 at 12:57 pm
Larrd Says
“I am more interested in hearing why the team quit on the coach after the bye week. Maybe that would shine some light on Evans, too.”
That’s easy: The injuries added up so that the backups were in for the most part. They are backups and not starters for a reason. And then Bowles had his presser where he through them under the bus. The backups turned on him.
July 15th, 2026 at 1:00 pm
4 and 4 with Mike 4 and 5 without Mike with a rookie play caller bucs will be fine, this a tired subject already. Really isn’t important why he left he is gone, this parasocial aspect of a single player is really getting weird.
July 15th, 2026 at 1:35 pm
No.
Defense is horrible
Now offense is worse
July 15th, 2026 at 1:55 pm
Is it true Mike left because of marital issues or are the people who said that who claim to know actually blowing smoke?
July 15th, 2026 at 2:09 pm
Mike who?
At what point do we stop dwelling on a guy that turned his back on us? Enough of the ship jumper already!
July 15th, 2026 at 2:44 pm
DR
I like your thinking. I’m picturing lots of crossing, slant routes and some pick plays to get things moving. Gotta open it up wide, not deep to improve QB accuracy and use our WRs speed to get YAC. I like what I’ve heard about Hurst, but I need to see him against other teams corners. I don’t trust the Bucs corners. He’s got the height this team needs, especially in the redzone.
July 15th, 2026 at 3:07 pm
Stpetematt, I think it doesn’t actually matter why he left. I’m sure he had his reasons. He is closer to home now, maybe that’s why. Or maybe he wanted to step aside so that the young guys here could get their chance. Or maybe he wanted to try something new.
It really doesn’t matter. He moved on and so should we. 😉
July 15th, 2026 at 3:32 pm
I was just thinking of this – and I’m being fair and balanced with my thought process here and putting in some effort… but was there a single thing the Bucs, on offense, did better in 2025 compared to 2024?
I can’t think of anything, even trying to think of minor stuff, nothing comes to mind. I’m open to any suggestions.
Anywho, with that said, the best thing Zac can do is completely ignore the 2025 tape, unless it’s a “what not to do” compilation. Just focus on 2024, and the amazing job Coen did with misdirection and not being predictable. Also note how the offense really took off once Coen switched up the offense a bit when Luke got hurt and Sucke was at tackle and couldn’t hold a block for more than 0.03 seconds and Coen had Baker get the ball out quickly. That is where Baker excelled, and that’s where Zac should be putting in his effort.
July 15th, 2026 at 3:52 pm
Munchestoandfro. Our offense hugely improved in the interceptions department. In 2024 we threw 16, as opposed to 2025 when we threw just 11.
I remember in 2025 preseason Coach made a production out of that had to be improved for us to be better. I knew with him getting involved like that it was gonna be ringing in our rookie OC’s ears. Baker’s too.
So the Super Bowl champion QB led the league in interceptions. Hope Zac has the autonomy he needs to shake off that conservative stench that permeated our offense the last 7 games last year.
I’m starting to get what they mean when they say it’s a Bucs life.
July 15th, 2026 at 4:16 pm
“Yea, big question is how are we going to beat man coverage on a consistent basis without a coverage manipulator like Mike.”
Mike caught less than half of the balls thrown his way last year. 48.4 % catch rate.
True, he drew extra attention @ times but his effectiveness as a reciever was negligible.
We’ll be fine – defenses will have to pick their poison at some point and we have 5 guys with better hands than Mike
J-mac, Tez, Hurst – these look to be our man beaters.
July 15th, 2026 at 4:26 pm
@Bee and @DR:
Hursts wingspan 79-7/8 inches vs ME 82-1/4, and 4.42 forty vs ME 4.53.
ME’s 4.53 40 time equates to an average of 26.5 feet per second vs Hurst 4.42 40 time which equates to 27.15 feet per second.
So, Evans has a wingspan advantage of 2-3/8 inches, but Hurst has a speed advantage of 7.8 inches per second in a straight run.
That would seem to be advantage Hurst on a straight go route.
But, there is a lot more to that – acceleration vs top line speed, selling fakes, making your breaks, route precision, strength vs press, etc.
Still, Hurst vs an aging ME dealing with increasingly frequent leg and back issues – I would keep ME if I could, but only time will tell if Hurst plus cap space to spend is worth more than Evans on the downside.
July 15th, 2026 at 4:27 pm
These national media guys don’t do their homework. Godwin was one of the best and most productive WRs under Coen until the cheap shot by the Ravens put him down. Any WR would have been hurt badly, yet these national idiots think Godwin is brittle – bullspit! Chris will dominate this year under Robinson because Coen gave him intel about how good Chris is.
July 15th, 2026 at 4:39 pm
Most teams do not have Evans.
July 15th, 2026 at 4:39 pm
This Joe has Evansitis,
July 15th, 2026 at 5:41 pm
I became a bucs fan in 1977 while going to school in Tampa. My wife has asked me so many times on Sunday afternoon; Why do you keep doing this to yourself.and I just tell her I can,t explain it. I am just a life long BUC FAN!I have gone thru so many bad Sundays and so many bad draft nights, I have to say when Hurricane Bain fell in the Bucs lap Iwas so excited about this years draft.when number 2 came I just knew they were going to pick Anthony Young Jr., out of Texas. That young man is gonna be a star! We got Jeremiah Trotters son who can learn the position over time. I will have to watch the two of them to see which was the better pick. I also want give my opinion on the Evans exit. As soon as the pick was made, I thought it was a slap in the face to Evans to select Egbuca, cause he and everyone else knew they needed defensive help!I love Egbuca but, was not a priority in my eyes. I am excited about the next 50 years.GO Bucs Go BUCS!!!
July 15th, 2026 at 7:18 pm
Replacing a player that missed 12 games in 2 seasons, and no spring chicken anymore ,not to mention he was disgruntled ..ABSOLUTELY! Next hungry younger man up! …SteveV knows!
July 15th, 2026 at 8:28 pm
Evans keeps getting inserted these days in every article practically and it’s getting old.
July 15th, 2026 at 8:31 pm
I’ll really miss Evans having 5 YAC per week. Dude was good at posting up. Goodbye.
July 15th, 2026 at 8:54 pm
You beat man coverage by running the football!
July 15th, 2026 at 10:38 pm
Still mad about Evans leaving. How the heck is he going to be wearing any other jersey than a Bucs jersey this coming season?? What the heck happened to drive him to leave?? I don’t care how much they say it’s gonna be ok. There’s no way there replacing a Mike Evans this season. Im rooting for Evans to have a good year with Sam Fran though. Go Bucs!!
July 15th, 2026 at 10:50 pm
Only glass has full I see is Baker plays significantly better overall without having to feed a star wideout. Especially one trying to meet a yards per season quota each year.
July 15th, 2026 at 11:59 pm
Kenton Smith Says:
July 15th, 2026 at 3:52 pm
Munchestoandfro. Our offense hugely improved in the interceptions department.
———–
I read your full comment – but, going back to the beginning, you are correct, the INT rate went from 2.8 to 2.0. However the TD rate dropped from 7.2 to 4.8, which was obviously the bigger difference, which more than offset the lower INT rate.
With that said, I don’t know if I agree on being more aggressive – as I don’t think Coen was all that aggressive. He mostly just ran that short passing game offense, and veered away from downfield passes, outside of taking shots just to keep the defense honest. Baker excelled in that, and I really hope Zac sees that on tape. The thing that annoyed me most about Grizz last offseason is the opposite of your point, Grizz said they were going to take more shots down the field – a place where Baker struggled in 2024 – meanwhile he did everything else pretty well. I don’t know the numbers, but it sure seemed like the Bucs took more shots down the field last season, they just kept missing on them, which killed drives. Again, you need to take a few shots, but Baker was clearly at his best in 2024 when he was making quick reads and quick throws, and have very good short accuracy even on the move. None of that is a negative – but it’s a trend, that if noted, and repeated, should lead to very good results again.
July 17th, 2026 at 11:24 pm
I don’t know – Emeka in the slot at Ohio State was poetry in motion, can Godwin function as number one? Maybe they’ll see how it shakes out?
Either way, there’s plenty of talent in the WR room.