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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Bucs' Release Week Eight Depth Chart: Cade Otton Playing Iron Man Role

Tight end Cade Otton is once again filling a role on the Bucs' offense that has him on the field for virtually every snap, and in Detroit on Monday night he turned that into seven catches for 65 yards

Cade

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, Ryan Miller

WR: Chris Godwin, Sterling Shepard, Kameron Johnson

LT: Tristan Wirfs, Benjamin Chukwuma*

LG: Ben Bredeson, Elijah Klein

C: Graham Barton

RG: Luke Haggard, Dan Feeney

RT: Charlie Heck

WR: Emeka Egbuka, Tez Johnson

TE: Cade Otton, Payne Durham, Devin Culp

QB: Baker Mayfield, Teddy Bridgewater

RB: Bucky Irving, Rachaad White, Sean Tucker, Josh Williams*

Michael Jordan was elevated from the practice squad for Monday night's game and took over at right guard with Luke Haggard sidelined by a shoulder injury. That was Jordan's third and final elevation after he had come up to start at left guard in the first two games of the season.

Tight end Cade Otton continued to be an iron man; one week after playing every offensive snap in the Bucs' win over San Francisco he was on the field for all but two of the team's 69 snaps against the Lions. Otton finished the game with a team-high seven catches for 65 yards. The Buccaneers used a heavy dose of two-TE sets, with Payne Durham also getting 24 snaps, though he was not targeted in the passing game.

Even with the return of both Mike Evans and Emeka Egbuka, rookie wide receiver Tez Johnson continued to see a significant role in the Bucs' offense, taking 47 snaps (68% of the total) and emerging with four catches for 58 yards and a touchdown. Only Egbuka, with 52 snaps, played more among the Bucs' receivers, though that was obviously impacted by Mike Evans leaving the game with a broken clavicle after just 14 snaps.

The Buccaneers didn't bother with a backfield committee in Detroit, keeping Rachaad White on the field for 62 of the 69 offensive snaps. Sean Tucker saw just seven snaps. White finished with 38 yards on 10 carries and six yards on four catches.

DEFENSE

DL: Greg Gaines, Elijah Roberts*

NT: Vita Vea, Elijah Simmons*

DL: Logan Hall, C.J. Brewer

OLB: Yaya Diaby, Chris Braswell, Markees Watts

ILB: SirVocea Dennis, John Bullock*

ILB: Lavonte David, Deion Jones

OLB: Haason Reddick, Anthony Nelson

CB: Jamel Dean, Benjamin Morris*, Kindle Vildor

CB: Zyon McCollum, Jacob Parrish*, Josh Hayes

S: Antoine Winfield Jr., Christian Izien, Sebastian Castro

S: Tykee Smith, Kaevon Merriweather

View the top images of Tampa Bay's game against the Detroit Lions on Monday, October 20th, 2025 at Ford Field.

Cornerback Zyon McCollum returned from missing one game to a thumb injury and played all 68 defensive snaps. The Buccaneers continued to rotate in rookie cornerback Benjamin Morrison with veteran Jamel Dean at the other outside spot, though it was Dean who secured the Bucs' lone interception in the second quarter, giving him three on the season. Dean played 45 snaps and Morrison played 22. After filling in at outside corner the past two weeks, rookie Jacob Parrish returned to his role in the slot and had 30 snaps and four tackles.

Rookie defensive lineman Elijah Roberts continued to see his role on defense grow, as he made his first career start, replacing Greg Gaines next to Vita Vea. Roberts played 68% of the defensive snaps and turned in two tackles, a quarterback hit, a pass defensed and his first career fumble recovery.

SPECIALISTS

P: Riley Dixon

PK: Chase McLaughlin

KO: Chase McLaughlin

H: Riley Dixon

LS: Evan Deckers

PR: Kameron Johnson, Tez Johnson, Emeka Egbuka, Rachaad White

KR: Sean Tucker, Josh Williams, Emeka Egbuka

KR: Kameron Johnson, Rachaad White, Tez Johnson*

For the third game in a row, outside linebacker Anthony Nelson played 100% of the special teams snaps, in the process recording a kick-coverage tackle. He maintained that role despite seeing an uptick in defensive snaps following an injury starting outside linebacker Haason Reddick. Nelson had four tackles and a sack while playing defense.

Cornerback Josh Hayes was next on the special teams crew with 23 snaps out of a possible 24, and he also had a stop in kick coverage.

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