Each week following every Bucs game, Pewter Report will take a close look at the snap count distribution for Tampa Bay on offense and defense. We’ll assess what we can learn from who played the most and least in the game.

Let’s get a closer look at the Bucs players who received the highest and lowest number of snaps in their 33-27 underwhelming loss to to the Cincinnati Bengals on the road in the season opener.

Bucs Offense

The Bucs went with a ton of 11 personnel, also known as three wide receivers with one tight ends set and one running back, as Emeka Egbuka and Chris Godwin Jr. each tied at 49 snaps and 86%, while rookie Ted Hurst III wasn’t far behind at all, finishing up at 75% and only six less snaps. Egbuka was heavily involved from the beginning and Godwin had contributions, but it took a while for Hurst to get it going. Eventually he started formulating a rhythm with quarterback Baker Mayfield, and was efficient in the second half recording 36 yards on three catches, all taking place on the same drive in the fourth quarter.

Tampa Bay didn’t really stray from the plan of Egbuka, Godwin and Hurst. Other receivers Tez Johnson and Kameron Johnson were used seldom, coming in at 13 snaps and five snaps. Tez Johnson’s game will be remembered for dropping a touchdown in the end zone, but the Bucs eventually scored anyway, so no harm, no foul.

Bucs WR Emeka Egbuka – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

The running back duo of Bucky Irving and Kenny Gainwell was hyped up a lot going into the season. Each were played often with Irving at 61% and Gainwell at 46%, but they weren’t on the field together all that often. The hope was to see much more of the Pony package, which has both running backs in the backfield at the same time. That didn’t come into play all too much, and typically one would come in to replace the other.

Irving was efficient, recording 45 rushing yards and scoring a rushing touchdown while also recording seven catches for 48 yards on the afternoon. He and Egbuka were the focal points of Tampa Bay’s offense during the game. Gainwell didn’t have as much of an impact, recording 15 rushing yards and making just one catch.

Other than Cade Otton playing all but one snap, there wasn’t much to see from the tight ends. Payne Durham played seven snaps while Ko Kieft and Bauer Sharp played one each. Tampa Bay doesn’t have the most formidable group, so seeing less of them is fine. Plus, the Bucs were down early and often, so having to throw more required putting in wide receiver that have more catching and play-making abilities.

Bucs TE Cade Otton – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

Bucs Defense

The star of the game for the Bucs was rookie inside linebacker Josiah Trotter, who had a pick-six, recorded a sack and led the team with 10 tackles. And yet somehow, he did not play 100% of the snaps. In fact, the only player that played all 64 defensive snaps was fellow inside linebacker Alex Anzalone, who had the worst game out of anyone. By next week there’s no way that Trotter shouldn’t be on the field for every snap. SirVocea Dennis got in the game sparingly, but it’s Trotter’s show to run.

Bucs ILB Josiah Trotter – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

I was very intrigued to see how much Vita Vea was going to play considering he held in for most of training camp and didn’t have many reps. That didn’t stop the Bucs from playing him more than any other defensive tackle at 69%. He’s got the new contract, so might as well play him. There wasn’t too much of rotation after Vea, Calijah Kancey and A’Shawn Robinson. Next up were Elijah Roberts and Rakeem Nunez-Roches, but they were only in for 16 snaps apiece.

The revamped outside linebacker room saw Rueben Bain Jr. play one more snap than Yaya Diaby at 41 to 40. Tampa Bay paced it well with the backups Al Quadin-Muhammad and Anthony Nelson playing 26 and 23 snaps respectively. The problem was that Bain and Diaby were ineffective at their positions, and Muhammad played the best out of anyone in that group. It was severe let down to see how uninvolved the edge rushers were.

The Bucs had to make some moves after starting cornerback Jacob Parrish had to leave the game early with a back injury. This inserted Benjamin Morrison into the game and he played really well. Morrison wound up playing 67% of the snaps, the second-most among outside corners after Zyon McCollum at 98%.

It’s official that Keionte Scott in the nickelback for Tampa Bay, as he played in 73% of the snaps in the game. At safety, Miles Killebrew was able to get in at the end for two snaps as the Bucs tried to force a fumble when the game was close to out of reach. Besides that it was often Antoine Winfield Jr. and Tykee Smith as expected, playing all but three snaps on Sunday.

Bucs S Antoine Winfield Jr., CB Benjamin Morrison – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

Tampa Bay’s secondary stood out in the game, making good tackles and breaking up some passes. If the unit can continue this and hopefully the pass rush picks up, Todd Bowles’ defense will be in much better shape moving forward.