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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Bucs' Release Week Four Depth Chart: New Looks for O-Line, D-Line

With Calijah Kancey, Cody Mauch and Luke Goedeke all hitting injured reserve in Week Three, the Bucs have had to do some shuffling in the trenches on their Week Four depth chart

DepthC

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, Luke Haggard

C: Graham Barton

RG: Elijah Klein, Dan Feeney

RT: Charlie Heck

WR: Emeka Egbuka*, Tez Johnson*

TE: Cade Otton, Payne Durham, Ko Kieft, Devin Culp

QB: Baker Mayfield, Teddy Bridgewater

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

The new lineup on the offensive is reflected in the latest depth chart, with Charlie Heck taking over at right tackle and Elijah Klein stepping up at right guard. Both played those positions for the Bucs for the first time in the team's Week Three win over the New York Jets, and all stayed on the field for 100% of the offensive snaps. Veteran guard Dan Feeney, signed last week off the Buffalo Bills' practice squad, has been slotted in behind Klein and could at some point factor into the Bucs' offensive alignment. Tristan Wirfs hasn't played yet this season but the Bucs have left him in his customary left tackle spot on the depth chart, hoping that a return is coming soon, perhaps as early as this week.

Despite suffering a hamstring injury with six minutes left in the game, Mike Evans played the most snaps among the Bucs' wide receivers against the Jets, with 52 of a possible 72. He had four catches for 33 yards and a touchdown. Rookie Emeka Egbuka logged 46 snaps to 44 for third receiver Sterling Shepard, and both had very productive games; the former finished with a team leading six catches and 85 yards while the latter added 80 yards on four grabs.

Cade Otton played all but six of the offensive snaps but did not have a pass thrown his way. In fact, the Buccaneers did not have a single target to a tight end in the win over New York. The Bucs beefed up their protection with a bit more two-TE snaps, as Payne Durham saw 23 plays and Ko Kieft saw 16. Bucky Irving took by far the heaviest share of the workload in the backfield with 53 snaps to 20 for Rachaad White, and Irving had 29 touches to six for White.

View the top images of Tampa Bay's 29-27 victory against the New York Jets on Sunday, September 21st, 2025 at Raymond James Stadium.

DEFENSE

DL: Greg Gaines

NT: Vita Vea, Elijah Simmons*

DL: Logan Hall, Elijah Roberts*

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 Morrison*, Kindle Vildor

CB: Zyon McCollum, Jacob Parrish*, Josh Hayes

S: Antoine Winfield Jr., Christian Izien, Rashad Wisdom

S: Tykee Smith, Kaevon Merriweather

With Kancey lost for the season, veteran Greg Gaines shifted from primarily backing up Vita Vea at nose tackle to seeing more action in the three-technique spot, staying on the field for 52% of the defensive snaps against the Jets. Gaines is now listed in the starting spot vacated by Kancey. Rookie Elijah Simmons, just signed off Arizona's practice squad last week, is now listed as the backup to Vea on the nose. Simmons played 11 snaps in his Buccaneers debut. Rookie Elijah Roberts saw increased action too, earning 39 snaps, or 57% of the total.

Lavonte David was briefly shaken up after recording a sack of Tyrod Taylor in the fourth quarter but was able to return to action after missing just one snap, which was taken by Deion Jones. For the second week in a row, the Buccaneers sliced off a portion of cornerback Jamel Dean's snaps to get rookie Benjamin Morrison some action. This time it was 18 snaps for Morrison, though Dean still used his time on the field to secure the first pick-six by a Buccaneers' defensive back since 2022. With the Jets frequently in three-receiver sets, rookie Jacob Parrish was on the field for 74% of the defensive snaps, playing in the slot.

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*

Sean Tucker and Kameron Johnson were the deep men for all of the Jets' kickoffs but Tucker was the only one of the two to actually field a kick, running it back five times for 124 yards. Johnson again got all the punt return snaps but was hit immediately on the two kicks he fielded, leading to a total of -1 yards.

Cornerback Josh Hayes tied for the most special teams snaps for the Buccaneers against the Jets, as he was on the field for 24 of the 32 plays. He turned in two tackles in kick coverage, as did tight end Ko Kieft, who also logged 24 special teams snaps.

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