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 Bucs leaned heavily on their receiving foursome of Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Emeka Egbuka and Jalen McMillan in Miami. McMillan took the fewest offensive snaps of the four of them but led the team with a career-high 114 yards on seven receptions. It was the first 100-yard game of his young career. Godwin added 108 yards on seven catches and caught the 41st touchdown pass of his career. He played the most snaps of the four, with 53 (out of a possible 67) to 50 for Evans and 39 for Egbuka.
The Buccaneers opened the game in a two-tight end formation with Cade Otton and Payne Durham on the field. However, they didn't end up using that package much; Otton played all but two of the 67 offensive snaps and caught all four of his targets for 33 yards, but Durham only logged nine snaps and was not targeted.
Despite being shaken up by a blindside hit on an interception return and subsequently being evaluated for a concussion, guard Michael Jordan did not miss an offensive snap. He and the other four starting offensive linemen each played a full 67 snaps.
Bucky Irving and Rachaad White had a nearly 50-50 split in the backfield, with 36 snaps for the former and 32 for the latter, though they were also on the field together for a handful of plays. Irving had 14 touches for 33 yards while White had 4 for 17. Sean Tucker only played four offensive snaps but ran twice for eight yards and was targeted on an incomplete pass at the goal line.
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, Rashad Wisdom
Christian Izien, who started at safety in place of an injured Tykee Smith against Atlanta in Week 15, got back into the game on Sunday in Miami, but this time not due solely to injury. Izien replaced Smith next to Antoine Winfield in the second half and ended up logging 29 defensive snaps to 26 for Smith. Head Coach Todd Bowles later said that Smith was a bit banged up and had had a rough start to the game, so he inserted Izien into the contest to try to get a spark in the secondary. Izien finished with two tackles, including one on tight end Darren Waller for no gain on a short catch deep in Carolina territory in the fourth quarter. Bowles also said that Smith remains the starter going forward.
Cornerback Kindle Vildor saw six snaps on defense as he was part of the solution after starting cornerback Jamel Dean left the game in the second half with a shoulder injury. Cornerback Benjamin Morrison started for the second game in a row in place of Zyon McCollum, who is on injured reserve, and contributed four tackles and a pass defensed.
Yaya Diaby played 37 of the 55 defensive snaps, the most for any of the players in the outside linebacker rotation. He finished the game with six tackles, including a sack and two tackles for loss. Defensive lineman Logan Hall played 36 defensive snaps and contributed the Buccaneers' other sack on the day.
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
The Dolphins put three of their kickoffs in the field of the play to be returned, and they all went to Kameron Johnson as opposed to the Bucs' other deep man, Sean Tucker. Johnson returned the three kickoffs for a total of 75 yards and also had 27 yards on two punt returns.
The Bucs' coverage units didn't have a lot of action. Of Riley Dixon's three punts, two were touched down by the Bucs and one was fair caught. The Bucs' only kickoff that didn't result in a touchback (not including the onside attempt at the end of the game), was returned 47 yards by Malik Washington, with Chris Braswell recording the Bucs' only special teams tackle of the afternoon.
Cornerback Josh Hayes was once again the Bucs' most active special teams player, taking the field for 21 of the 25 kick-and-coverage plays. Next were Braswell and linebacker Deion Jones, with 20 each.
