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, Charlie Heck
LG: Ben Bredeson, Elijah Klein
C: Graham Barton
RG: Cody Mauch
RT: Luke Goedeke, Benjamin Chukwuma
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*
With Tristan Wirfs, still sidelined, the Buccaneers went with the same offensive line alignment as in Week One. That meant moving center Graham Barton to left tackle and left guard Ben Bredeson to center, with Michael Jordan playing left guard after being elevated from the practice squad. All three of those linemen played all 80 offensive snaps but unfortunately starting right tackle Luke Goedeke did not. After being limited for much of the practice week with a foot injury, Goedeke aggravated that issue in the first quarter and veteran Charlie Heck took the last 68 snaps in his place. The Buccaneers did struggle some against Houston's ferocious pass rush, allowing four sacks and six quarterback hits, but the rushing attack was strong, gaining 169 yards.
Rookie Emeka Egbuka again played the most snaps of any Tampa Bay receiver, as he was on the field for 74 of the 80 plays. He scored his third touchdown in two weeks in the second quarter, taking a screen pass upfield for a 15-yard score that gave the Bucs a 14-10 lead. Mike Evans (63 snaps) and Sterling Shepard (60) also were in for most of the game as the Bucs went primarily with three-receiver alignments.
Running back Rachaad White saw an uptick in his usage rate after logging just 14 offensive snaps and getting two carries in Week One against Atlanta. While Bucky Irving remained the lead back and took 71% of the snaps while leading the team with 121 yards from scrimmage, White got in for 25 plays and added 65 yards on 10 carries, including the game-winning touchdown with six seconds left.
View photos of the Buccaneers arriving for their 2025 Week 2 Game against the Houston Texans
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DEFENSE
DL: Calijah Kancey
NT: Vita Vea, Greg Gaines
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 Morris*, Kindle Vildor
CB: Zyon McCollum, Jacob Parrish*, Josh Hayes
S: Antoine Winfield Jr., Christian Izien, Rashad Wisdom
S: Tykee Smith, Kaevon Merriweather
The Buccaneers played the second half of Monday's game with only four defensive linemen in their rotation, following a pec injury suffered by Calijah Kancey. Rookie Elijah Roberts earned 13 snaps and combined with Lavonte David on a third-quarter sack. Nose tackle Vita Vea took on a heavy load, playing 41 of the 49 defensive snaps and leading a run defense that held Houston to 84 yards.
Rookie cornerback Benjamin Morrison made his NFL debut after missing Week One with a quad injury. Morrison didn't start the game, but he did replace cornerback Jamel Dean for several drives, eventually taking 13 defensive snaps. The Bucs' other starting corner, Zyon McCollum played every defensive snap despite dealing with neck and shoulder injuries during the week.Do-everything defensive back Christian Izien also made his 2025 debut but all of his action was on special teams.
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*
Second-year wideout Kameron Johnson continued to handle the punt return duties, getting six yards on one runback, but he also logged his first kickoff returns of the season, gaining 42 yards on two attempts. He and running back Sean Tucker serve as the two deep men on the Bucs' kickoff return team, and Tucker had one return for 26 yards.
The Bucs continued to get a lot of different players involved in the tackling efforts on special teams, with six different coverage men combining for nine total special teams tackles. Cornerback Josh Hayes was the team's busiest special teamer, taking part in 22 of the 25 playsand contributing one tackle. Safety Kaevon Merriweather and linebacker Deion Jones had two kick-coverage tackles each while playing 18 and 10 special teams snaps, respectively.
