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: Mike Evans, Trey Palmer

WR: Sterling Shepard, Ryan Miller

LT: Tristan Wirfs, Justin Skule

LG: Ben Bredeson, Royce Newman

C: Graham Barton *, Robert Hainsey

RG: Cody Mauch, Elijah Klein *

RT: Luke Goedeke

WR: Jalen McMillan *, Rakim Jarrett

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

QB: Baker Mayfield, Kyle Trask

RB: Rachaad White, Bucky Irving *, Sean Tucker

(On the practice squad: WR Marquez Callaway, OL Luke Haggard, WR Dennis Houston, WR Tanner Knue, OL Lorenz Metz, T Raiqwon O'Neal, QB Michael Pratt, TE Tanner Taula, RB D.J. Williams)

Rookie wide receiver continues to emerge as the Buccaneers' clear number-two receiver alongside Mike Evans in the absence of Chris Godwin. Against the Chargers in Los Angeles he started and played only one fewer snap than Evans (47 to 46) and was also second on the team in receiving with five grabs for a career-best 75 yards and his third touchdown in the past two weeks. Veteran wideout Sterling Shepard also started the game as the Bucs seem to have settled on an "11" personnel package that most commonly features Evans, McMillan and Shepard, the lattermost of whom logged 30 snaps and had one catch for 16 yards.

Tampa Bay also continued to make increased use of the "12" personnel package, which features two tight ends. Cade Otton played 66 of the 72 offensive snaps – representing a "light" workload for the Bucs' most-used skill-position player – and had two catches for 24 yards. Payne Durham also got on the field for 30 offensive plays and in the last four games has averaged 27.5 snaps, nearly doubling his usage from the first 10 contests. Durham was not targeted on a pass.

Rookie running back Bucky Irving was not limited by the back ailment that kept him out of most of the Bucs' Week 14 game against Las Vegas and most of practice leading up to the Los Angeles trip. He played 30 offensive snaps and ran for 117 yards on 15 carries. Starter Rachaad White out-snapped him, however, with 37 plays and contributed 81 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown.

The Buccaneers used all of their active offensive line backups on the game's last drive, with Justin Skule, Elijah Klein and Robert Hainsey all getting the final three snaps. Quarterback Kyle Trask also played the last four snaps.

DEFENSE

DL: Calijah Kancey, C.J. Brewer, Earnest Brown

NT: Vita Vea, Greg Gaines

DL: Logan Hall, William Gholston

OLB: Yaya Diaby, Anthony Nelson

ILB: K.J. Britt, Vi Jones, Antonio Grier

ILB: Lavonte David, J.J. Russell

OLB: Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Chris Braswell *, Jose Ramirez

CB: Jamel Dean, Josh Hayes

CB: Zyon McCollum, Tyrek Funderburk *

S: Antoine Winfield Jr., Christian Izien, Tavierre Thomas

S: Tykee Smith *, Mike Edwards, Kaevon Merriweather

(On the practice squad: S Marcus Banks, CB Dallis Flowers, DL Mike Greene, OLB Daniel Grzesiak, LB Deion Jones, S Ryan Neal, S Rashad Wisdom)

The Buccaneers cycled through a wide variety of defensive personnel packages in the absences of both starting safeties and starting off-ball linebacker K.J. Britt, with 15 different defenders getting at least nine snaps. That included safety Ryan Neal, who was elevated off the practice squad in Week 15 and put into action for nine plays, on which he collected three tackles.

Safety Kaevon Merriweather started and played all 52 defensive snaps, contributing one tackle and a fumble recovery. Christian Izien and Tykee Smith, both of whom can play either safety or in the slot, each had 43 defensive snaps.

The Buccaneers used a variety of tactics at linebacker next to Lavonte David, including Neal, J.J. Russell (31 snaps) and Vi Jones (one snap). Jones made the most of his one snap, forcing the fumble that Merriweather recovered on the Chargers' last offensive snap.

The Buccaneers didn't go as deep into their defensive line rotation, thanks in part to limiting the Chargers to just 52 offensive snaps. They leaned primarily on the starting trio of Calijah Kancey (42 snaps), Vita Vea (40) and Logan Hall (29). Hall recorded 1.5 sacks in the game to push his season total to 4.5. Meanwhile, Will Gholston and C.J. Brewer each only had one snap each.

SPECIALISTS

P:

PK: Chase McLaughlin

KO:

H:

LS: Zach Triner

PR: Trey Palmer, Jalen McMillan *

KR: Bucky Irving *, Rakim Jarrett

KR: Sean Tucker, Trey Palmer

(On the practice squad: P Jack Browning)

The Buccaneers continue to roll with no punter on the active roster, though Jack Browning only has one elevation option left from the practice squad, so something will need to change soon. The Buccaneers went the entire game in Los Angeles without punting, which is obviously a positive development but it deprived them of a second opportunity to evaluate Browning, who had made his NFL debut the week before.

The Buccaneers also continued to use wide receiver Rakim Jarrett opposite Sean Tucker deep on kickoff returns. Tucker had the only kickoff return of the game, getting 37 yards.

Chase McLaughlin was good on all eight of his placekick attempts, with four field goals and four extra points. Tight end Ko Kieft logged the most snaps on special teams, getting into 22 of a possible 27 plays. Wide receiver Ryan Miller played 14 special teams snaps and had two kick-coverage tackles. Cornerback Josh Hayes returned from a one-game absence due to a hamstring injury and also had two stops during his 13 special teams snaps.