Not much has gone right for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2026.
The team is 0-3, Baker Mayfield is hurt, and head coach Todd Bowles is feeling more heat than any other coach in the league. There’s still time for things to get turned around, especially considering the state of the NFC South, but alarms are officially blaring.
This is the first season of Zac Robinson as offensive coordinator, and the offense has looked a little disjointed. Whether it was Mayfield trying to do too much or just underperformance, it hasn’t been easy sledding for Robinson so far.
One noticeable thing is the lack of balance in the running game. Last year, Sean Tucker and Bucky Irving both featured prominently, but this year, Tucker hasn’t even gotten a single carry through three weeks.
Robinson recently addressed that and knows he needs to get Tucker more involved.
Robinson Wants to Mix Tucker in More
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In 2024 and 2025, Tucker played in all 17 games for the Bucs. The running back had at least 300 rushing yards in both seasons and had nine touchdowns over that span.
It was expected that Tucker would play a sizable rotational role again this year, but that hasn’t been the case. The team has instead given opportunities to Kenny Gainwell, but Gainwell hasn’t been very impressive this season.
As a result, it makes plenty of sense to get Tucker back involved in the gameplan.
“100%, we’ve got to get Tuck going,” Robinson said. “He is special with the ball in his hands, as you guys have seen from his time here. That’s on us as coaches to find spots to mix him in.”
It’s not like the Bucs’ rushing attack has been elite or anything either. Only eight teams in the league are averaging fewer rushing yards than the Bucs so far in 2026, so there’s no reason why the team can’t get Tucker involved.
With the Bucs set to roll with a backup quarterback, the team will have to lean more on the run game, which means opportunities for Tucker.
