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'sstart 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, Luke Haggard
C: Graham Barton
RG: Elijah Klein, 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*
Chris Godwin made his 2025 debut in Week Four against Philadelphia, returning from the severe ankle injury he sustained in Week Seven of last season, and immediately stepped back into a major role. Godwin started the game and played 58 of a possible 72 offensive snaps. He finished the game with three catches on 10 targets for 26 yards. Rookie WR Tez Johnson saw his highest snap share of the season so far, starting in a three-receiver set with Godwin and Emeka Egbuka and playing 23 offensive snaps. Johnson recorded both his first NFL reception, for eight yards on the first play of the game, and his first NFL carry, gaining five yards on an end-around.
Running back Rachaad White also saw his largest share of the backfield workload this season, playing 30 snaps to the 44 logged by Bucky Irving. Irving still led in touches, 20 to 10, and produced 165 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown.
The Buccaneers have not yet adjusted their depth chart at right guard, though it looks like that job currently belongs to Luke Hagard, who made his second straight start in Week Four. With the 2025 debut of Tristan Wirfs, the Bucs moved three players back to their original positions, with Wirfs at left tackle, Graham Barton at center and Ben Bredeson at left guard. All five offensive line starters, including Charlie Heck at right tackle, played every offensive snap against Philadelphia.
Prior to Week Four, the Buccaneers had a 25-25 split between offense and defense on the 53-man roster (the other spots belonging to specialists). However, the move of tight end Ko Kieft to season-ending injured reserve and the promotion of DL C.J. Brewer from the practice squad have that split now at 26-24 in favor of the defense.
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, Rashad Wisdom
S: Tykee Smith, Kaevon Merriweather
Rookie cornerback Benjamin Morrison, who was inactive in Week One and then played a total of 31 defensive snaps in Weeks Two and Three, saw an uptick in his playing time in Week Four, with 39 snaps on defense. While he had been occasionally subbing in for Jamel Dean at one of the outside corner spots, he took over the main job against Philadelphia when Dean left the game with an injury after 14 snaps. Morrison tallied three tackles and a pass defense before he too left the game late with an injury.
On the edge, Yaya Diaby soaked up 47 defensive snaps, or 82% of the total and tallied three tackles, but Haason Reddick left the game early to be evaluated for a concussion and was limited to 31 snaps. That led to a season-high 18 defensive snaps for Chris Braswell, who had two tackles and a tackle for loss, one of 11 TFLs produced by Tampa Bay's defense against the Eagles.
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*
WR Kameron Johnson continued to take all the punt return reps as the deep man, in this case producing 100 yards on six returns, including jaunts of 46 and 27 yards. His 15.9-yard punt return average this season leads all NFL players with at least 10 returns.
Chase McLaughlin made all five of his kicks, including three field goals and two extra points. His 65-yard field goal at the end of the first half set a new franchise record for longest field goal and was tied for the second-longest one in NFL history. It was the longest field goal ever made outdoors.
Outside linebacker Anthony Nelson played all 33 of the team's special teams snaps, meaning he was part of the units for kickoff, kickoff return, punt, punt return, field goal and field goal block.He recorded one solo tackle on special teams while also playing 19 snaps on defense. Rookie linebacker John Bullock played 21 special teams snaps and had two kick-coverage tackles.
