Each week after every Bucs game, we’ll take a closer look at the snap count distribution for the Tampa Bay offense and defense. We’ll assess what we can learn from who played the most and least from the game.

Here is a closer view of of which players received the highest and lowest number of snaps in the Bucs’ 16-13 win on Sunday afternoon against the Rams in Week 9.

Bucs Offense

We saw a big mix in the usage at wide receiver outside of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin in this game. Part of that had to do with what looked like an apparent injury to Julio Jones, who did not play much in the second half after he slipped and fell on a route. Jones has tried to play through a PCL injury and has looked hobbled even when available over the last two weeks. Jones played in 30 out of 84 snaps, good for 36%.

Bucs WR Julio Jones – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The highest out of wide receivers 3-5 on the depth chart behind Evans and Godwin was Scotty Miller, coming in at 35 snaps (42%). Although he had a painstaking drop in the end zone that could have cost the Bucs the game, Miller more than made up for it with huge contributions on the game winning drive, making two receptions for 21 yards. He tied for the team lead with seven receptions and had 53 receiving yards. Miller showed he could make plays that weren’t just on go routes down the field, which is what a lot of had been looking for in recent seasons.

Rounding out the receivers, Breshad Perriman was on for 29 snaps. He had an egregious drop that hit right in the hands and his only catch went for one yard.

Once again there was a gigantic gap in the amount of snaps between Leonard Fournette and Rachaad White. I’m still wondering why the Bucs don’t want White on the field more. Tampa Bay’s offense is just better when White gets the ball. The running game overall is still an issue, but White led the way with eight rushing attempts for 27 yards, coming out to 3.4 yards per attempt.

Fournette had one more opportunity than White and totaled 19 yards. Fournette was much more of a factor in the passing game, though, recording five receptions for 41 yards, while White made three catches for seven yards. Maybe we’ll see Tampa Bay divvy up their reps evenly. Ke’Shawn Vaughn also got his first three offensive snaps of the season. He even got to run it twice for four yards on those plays.

Bucs Defense

It was a welcoming sight having Carlton Davis III back in the lineup and he played in 55 out of a possible 59 snaps. He would’ve played every single snap but he briefly left the game after getting hurt on a play in the first half. Sean Murphy-Bunting also returned to action and was involved in 54 plays, the most for him this season.

Bucs Rakeem Nunez-Roches – Photo by: USA Today

Tampa Bay relied heavily on Joe Tryon-Shoyinka at outside linebacker as he received 51 snaps. There was a rotation for the rest of that positional group as Anthony Nelson got the start and finished with 30 snaps.

What was interesting is that Carl Nassib had 17 snaps and fourth-string outside linebacker Genard Avery was in for 16. Maybe the Bucs saw a matchup that they wanted to exploit and have Avery involved, as he received the most playing time during his tenure with the Bucs. Avery recorded a sack in the game and also had an offsides penalty.

With defensive tackle Akiem Hicks back for the first time since Week 2, the defensive line could get back to their regular rotation. It kept more players fresh and led to Rakeem “Nacho” Nunez-Roches recording his first sack as a Buccaneer.

The player that suffered the most with Hicks in the lineup was rookie Logan Hall, who only received nine snaps all game. We’ll see if that continues next week in Germany against the Seahawks or if this was just a change for this one specifically.