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: 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
The Buccaneers started their Week Six game against Pittsburgh in a relatively uncommon "31" personnel package, with tight ends Cade Otton, Payne Durham and rookie Bauer Sharp on the field along with Emeka Egbuka as the only wideout. It marked Bauer's first NFL start, and while he only played four offensive snaps in the game he did record his first reception, a 21-yarder that was the longest play in a 70-yard field goal drive in the third quarter.
Wide receiver Emeka Egbuka played 64 of the team's 74 offensive snaps and for the third time in Jalon Daniels' three starts at quarterback was the most targeted player on offense, Daniels threw in Egbuka's direction 16 times, which resulted in seven catches for 48 yards and a touchdown, his second score in the last two weeks and third of the season. Rookie wide receiver Ted Hurst played exactly 50% of the offensive snaps and caught three passes for 40 yards, including a game-best 22-yarder as he continues to be the one Bucs' pass-catcher who is turning in long plays downfield. Hurst is one of six Tampa Bay players with 10 or more receptions but the only one who is averaging 10 or more yards per catch, as his figure stands at 15.3.
DEFENSE
DL: Calijah Kancey, Elijah Roberts
NT: Vita Vea, Rakeem Nuñez-Roches, Elijah Simmons
DL: A'Shawn Robinson, DeMonte Capehard*
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., Ifeatu Melifonwu
S: Tykee Smith, Miles Killebrew
The Buccaneers also started the game on defense with what was a different look than has been typical. Christian Rozeboom joined Josiah Trotter and Alex Anzalone to form a trio of off-ball linebackers, in what was essentially a 4-3 look with Yaya Diaby as the only outside linebacker. Rozeboom played 25 snaps, his highest figure other than Week Three when Trotter was not available, and had four tackles and, for the second week in a row, a pass defensed. In this alignment, the Buccaneers also at times moved interior defensive lineman A'Shawn Robinson out to the edge of the defensive front, which Head Coach Todd Bowles later explained was to provide a stouter lineup against the run.
Robinson turned in the Bucs' one takeaway in the game, intercepting an Aaron Rodgers pass after it had been deflected by outside linebacker Rueben Bain Jr. Robinson now leads the team with two interceptions after picking off just one pass in his first 10 NFL seasons. Bain played only 38% of the offensive snaps, as compared to 59% for Diaby, but he registered his first NFL sack, as did fellow rookie Keionte Scott. Scott also contributed a season-high eight tackles and was a critical cog in the team's run defense.
Outside linebacker David Walker continued to see his play time increase incrementally. He played a season-high 28 defensive snaps against the Steelers and turned those into five tackles, two sacks and three quarterback hits. Walker is now tied for 10th in the NFL with his 4.0 sacks on the season.
SPECIALISTS
P: Riley Dixon
PK: Chase McLaughlin
KO: Chase McLaughlin
H: Riley Dixon
LS: Evan Deckers
PR: Tez Johnson, Kameron Johnson
KR: Kenny Gainwell, Sean Tucker
KR: Kameron Johnson
Tez Johnson continued to handle the Bucs' punt return duties but also got his first shot at kickoff return. He joined Kameron Johnson on the field for the game's opening kick and took it back 25 yards. The team also later used running back Kenny Gainwell on kickoff return and he had two runbacks for 51 yards. Kameron Johnson had two returns for 64 yards and also made two tackles on special teams, as did Walker, safety Miles Killebrew and cornerback Kevin Knowles.
Walker played 23 of the team's 36 special teams snaps and continued to make a two-way impact on the team as he now has six kick-coverage stops on the season. The players with the most special teams snaps for the Bucs in Week Six were Sharp, Killebrew, Knowles and linebacker SirVocea Dennis.
