Each week during the regular season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' communications department publishes a "Game Release" to aid the media in coverage of their upcoming game. Within that release are a number of documents regarding the player roster, including a depth chart, which lists the pecking order at every position on offense, defense and special teams.
Each game week, we will be taking a closer look at that depth chart, pointing out any changes or relevant notes from the previous game and which players saw notable action in that game. Let's start on offense. Rookies are marked with an asterisk. Players we will be discussing in depth are highlighted in bold text.
OFFENSE
WR: Mike Evans, Jalen McMillan
WR: Chris Godwin, Sterling Shepard, Kameron Johnson
LT: Tristan Wirfs, Benjamin Chukwuma *
LG: Michael Jordan, Elijah Klein
C: Graham Barton
RG: Dan Feeney, Luke Haggard
RT: Luke Goedeke, Charlie Heck
WR: Emeka Egbuka *, Tez Johnson *
TE: Cade Otton, Payne Durham, Devin Culp
QB: Baker Mayfield, Teddy Bridgewater, Connor Bazelak *
RB: Bucky Irving, Rachaad White, Sean Tucker
The Buccaneers continued to utilize their top four receivers in a variety of packages, with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan all seeing between 34 and 42 snaps against Carolina in Week 16. Evans had the most snaps, with 42, and finished the game with five catches for 31 yards and a touchdown. The Bucs' offense also got starting tight end Cade Otton back from a one-game injury absence and he went right back to his full-time role, playing 60 of the 64 offensive snaps and catching two passes for 15 yards.
All five of the Bucs' starting offensive linemen played every snap but the offense did make use of some jumbo packages, with extra tackle Charlie Heck drawing five snaps and rookie lineman Benjamin Chukwuma and nose tackle Vita Vea getting one each near the goal line. Bucky Irving drew the most playing time in the backfield with 40 snaps and produced 71 yards on 19 carries. Rachaad White played 25 snaps and turned his seven touches into 60 yards. Running back Sean Tucker was on the field for just five offensive snaps but he took handoffs on four of them and scored on a one-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
DEFENSE
DL: Elijah Roberts *, Greg Gaines
NT: Vita Vea, Elijah Simmons *
DL: Logan Hall
OLB: Yaya Diaby, Chris Braswell, Markees Watts
ILB: SirVocea Dennis, Deion Jones
ILB: Lavonte David, Anthony Walker, John Bullock *
OLB: Haason Reddick, Anthony Nelson
CB: Jamel Dean, Benjamin Morrison *, Josh Hayes
CB: Jacob Parrish *, Kindle Vildor, J.T. Gray
S: Antoine Winfield Jr., Christian Izien
S: Tykee Smith, Kaevon Merriweather
With Zyon McCollum landing on injured reserve early last week, rookie cornerback Benjamin Morrison stepped into his starting spot opposite Jamel Dean and played every defensive snap. It was the first career start for the 2025 second-round pick and he contributed seven tackles, one of them for a loss. Fellow rookie Jacob Parrish, who earlier this season had been used in a dual outside/slot role when McCollum or Dean was unavailable, stayed strictly in his slot role against the Panthers and had five tackles and two pass breakups, one of them in the end zone.
Both safety Tykee Smith and linebacker SirVocea Dennis returned to action after missing one game due to injury and Smith played every snap while Dennis was on the field for all but one of them. Dennis finished the game with eight tackles, added an eight-yard sack and had multiple quarterback hits in a game for the first time in his career.
Veteran outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul, who was elevated from the practice squad for the game, saw action for the Buccaneers for the first time since the 2021 playoffs. It was also his first NFL game since December of 2023. Pierre-Paul got in for 12 defensive snaps, working both on the edge and on the interior line. Yaya Diaby was the most active of the team's edge rushers, playing 42 snaps and logging two quarterback hits plus nine pressures on 28 pass-rush snaps, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
SPECIALISTS
P: Riley Dixon
PK: Chase McLaughlin
KO: Chase McLaughlin
H: Riley Dixon
LS: Evan Deckers
PR: Kameron Johnson, Tez Johnson *
KR: Sean Tucker, Rachaad White
KR: Kameron Johnson
Return men Kameron Johnson and Sean Tucker were busy, with five of Carolina's six kickoffs fielded in the landing zone. Johnson rang up 101 yards on three kickoff returns, including the team's two longest runbacks of the year for 44 and 39 yards. Tucker added two returns for 36 yards.
Outside linebacker Anthony Nelson, who generally plays most of the special teams snaps, missed much of the game due to a knee injury and only had five such appearances. Second-year outside linebacker Chris Braswell picked up the slack, logging 21 snaps and recording one of the team's four kick-coverage tackles. Safety Christian Izien and cornerback Josh Hayes led the team with 22 special teams snaps each, while rookie linebacker John Bullock had 16 snaps and one kick-coverage stop.
