Each week I’ll be taking a closer look at the snap count distribution for the Bucs offense and defense, assessing what we can learn from who played the most and who played the least on Sunday.

Once again the Bucs starting five on the offensive line went the distance, playing perhaps their most complete game of the season. Donovan Smith missed one snap in Week 2, but it’s been 100 percent participation for the entire group outside of that singular rep.

O.J. Howard might have set a season-high in snap counts if not for a probable ruptured achilles, a devastating injury as he was on his way to a career year. As it currently stands Rob Gronkowski will continue to see a heavy workload, with very little chance his snaps decrease much at all as the season progresses. He’s the only legitimate blocker the Bucs have at the position right now. Can his body hold up?

More importantly, is Cameron Brate ready? We know he’s an adequate receiving option, but he’s not the big play threat Howard is at the position. He’s also not the blocker Howard is, especially as improved as the Bucs former first round pick was playing this season. For as much as the Bucs operate out of 12 personnel, it’s big shoes for Brate to fill.

At less than 100 percent, Scotty Miller’s 40 snaps were still more than half the team’s total, although rookie Tyler Johnson picked up plenty of reps as well in playing a career-high 25 snaps. Not even a single target for Johnson yet, however, as he continues to wait his turn in the pecking order. If Chris Godwin can’t go on Thursday night, Johnson should get plenty of burn.

Even if LeSean McCoy is healthy and Leonard Fournette remains out for Thursday’s game against the Bears, I wouldn’t expect the aging veteran to see much of a bump in snaps. Jones will clearly be the back the Bucs lean on in the run game until Fournette returns, while rookie Ke’Shawn Vaughn showed mild promise as a receiving option, at least compared to the rest of this drop-laden Bucs running back room. McCoy simply no longer has the juice that once made him special in space, and his struggles in pass protection aren’t helping either.

Ten of the Bucs defensive starters played 83 percent or more of the team’s defensive snaps, largely because the unit was only out on the field for a season-low 53 reps. Vea played just seven snaps more than a week ago against the Denver Broncos, but his snap share jumped 24 percentile points. Also an encouraging sign to see Sean Murphy-Bunting go the distance, even if it wasn’t his best game.

The biggest surprise on the defensive side of the ball is the decreased role of Rakeem Nunez-Roches and Anthony Nelson in Week 4. After playing 29 and 27 snaps in Week 3, respectively, Nunez-Roches dropped 15 reps to just 14 snaps, while Nelson played just eight snaps against the Chargers. Good to see Jason Pierre-Paul’s feeling 100 percent, but I’d still expect to see Nacho and Nelson get a slight bump on Thursday Night Football after a short week.