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. 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: Jalen McMillan, Ted Hurst*
WR: Chris Godwin, Kameron Johnson
LT: Tristan Wirfs, Benjamin Chukwuma
LG: Ben Bredeson, Billy Schrauth*
C: Graham Barton, Dan Feeney
RG: Cody Mauch, Luke Haggard
RT: Luke Goedeke, Justin Skule
WR: Emeka Egbuka, Tez Johnson
TE: Cade Otton, Payne Durham, Ko Kieft, Bauer Sharp*
QB: Baker Mayfield, Jalon Daniels*
RB: Bucky Irving, Kenny Gainwell, Sean Tucker
After playing the vast majority of their snaps in "11" personnel, with three receivers on the field, the Buccaneers opened Week Three against Minnesota in a "13" package, which means they had only one receiver in the game along with three tight ends. That led to the first starts of the season for both Payne Durham, who ended up playing 55% of the snaps, and Ko Kieft, who got two total snaps. Durham also had his first target of the game but did not finish with a reception. The Bucs made use of all four of their tight ends, with Bauer Sharp also drawing three snaps on offense.
Rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels saw his first NFL regular season action, of course, when Baker Mayfield was knocked out of the game by a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand late in the fourth quarter. Daniels played four snaps on the final drive and recorded a nine-yard rush, the longest of the game for the Buccaneers. While Daniels is ticketed to start while Mayfield is out, the Buccaneers typically do not adjust the depth chart for an injured player if he does not go on injured reserve.
Rookie Ted Hurst actually drew the most playing time of all six of the Buccaneer receivers, with 52 snaps out of a possible 65, one more than Emeka Egbuka and nine more than Chris Godwin. Hurst scored his first NFL touchdown in the first quarter on a 40-yard reception. Hurst likely sawmore action than was originally intended after Jalen McMillan left the game on the Buccaneers' first drive with a knee injury.
DEFENSE
DL: Calijah Kancey, Elijah Roberts
NT: Vita Vea, Rakeem Nuñez-Roches, Elijah Simmons
DL: A'Shawn Robinson, DeMonte Capehart*
OLB: Yaya Diaby, Anthony Nelson, David Walker
ILB: Josiah Trotter*, SirVocea Dennis
ILB: Alex Anzalone, Christian Rozeboom
OLB: Rueben Bain Jr.*, Al-Quadin Muhammad
CB: Zyon McCollum, Benjamin Morrison, Ayden Garnes*
CB: Jacob Parrish, Keionte Scott*, Kevin Knowles
S: Antoine Winfield Jr.
S: Tykee Smith, Miles Killebrew
With first-round pick Rueben Bain Jr. sidelined for Week Three with a groin injury, veteran outside linebacker Al-Quadin Muhammad saw a significant uptick in his stats. Muhammad started the game opposite Yaya Diaby and played 42 of 59 defensive snaps (71%), only five fewer plays than he had logged in the Bucs' first two snaps combined.
The Buccaneers' second pick in this year's draft also sat out the game, as linebacker Josiah Trotter was dealing with a shoulder injury sustained in Week Two. Trotter is the Buccaneers' leading tackler, with 21 stops. To replace him, the Buccaneers employed both SirVocea Dennis and Christian Rozeboom. Dennis started the game but Rozeboom, seeing his first action on defense since joining the Buccaneers as a free agent in the offseason, finished with the higher snap count, 30 to 19. Both linebackers recorded three tackles in the game.
Defensive lineman Elijah Simmons also got his first chance to play this season, earning nine snaps on defense and turning them into two tackles, one for a loss. Rookie defensive lineman DeMonte Capehart was also active for the first time thanks to a pregame ankle injury suffered by Rakeem Nuñez-Roches, but Capehart did not get on the field for any snaps.
SPECIALISTS
P: Riley Dixon
PK: Chase McLaughlin
KO: Chase McLaughlin
H: Riley Dixon
LS: Evan Deckers
PR: Tez Johnson, Kameron Johnson
KR: Sean Tucker, Kenny Gainwell
KR: Kameron Johnson
Running back Kenny Gainwell was one of the two deep men, along with Kameron Johnson, for all of the Buccaneers' kickoff returns and he ended up taking back all six of the team's returns on the day, gaining 160 yards, including a long of 40. Tez Johnson continued to handle the puntreturn duties, with three runbacks for 40 yards.
Even after starting on defense, Dennis pulled nearly ever-snap duty on special teams, taking part in 32 of the 37 plays in that phase of the game and making one kick-coverage tackle. Kieft tied Dennis for the most special teams snaps and also had one stop in kick coverage. Sharp, safety Miles Killebrew and cornerback Kevin Knowles all got 28 special teams snaps each. Killebrew had two tackles and Sharp had one.
