Week 4 Snap Count Analysis: Bucs vs. Eagles

With all the talk this week leading up to the game about getting Bucky Irving more reps and balancing out the running back room, we did see a closer margin between Irving and Rachaad White in terms of their usage. White is still out-snapping Irving, but this it was much closer with White getting 45 snaps to Irving’s 32.

Each player was very productive in his own way. Both of them ran 10 times for exactly 49 yards. Irving had his first career touchdown and White made two catches for 35 yards in the game. Sean Tucker even got a little playing time, seeing the field for six snaps and having a three-yard run on one attempt and a 14-yard reception.

Stepping up in the wide receiver room was the veteran Sterling Shepard, who was elevated from the practice squad for the second game in a row. With Jalen McMillan out and Trey Palmer exiting the game early with a concussion, Shepard played 65% of the snaps, the third-most among receivers and made three catches for 50 yards, including a long of 30.

It was by far the most productive game the Bucs got from their third receivers after Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Although Palmer unfortunately suffered a concussion, he was very helpful in his 11 snaps, making three catches for 26 yards and scoring a touchdown.

Kameron Johnson saw the most snaps of his career at 25 snaps and 32%. Some of it likely had to do with Palmer and McMillan out. Johnson had a costly drop in the end zone that would’ve been another touchdown. It was his only target on the afternoon.

Left tackle Tristan Wirfs ended up missing three snaps. Backup Royce Newman was in for those three that Wirfs missed.

Bucs Defense

Do you think the Bucs missed nose tackle Vita Vea? He was an absolute menace for Tampa Bay in the middle of the trenches, pushing the pocket back and recording a sack. There was no easing Vea back into things after missing last week with a knee injury. He played 39 snaps, which was good for 68% of the time. That was the most among any Bucs defensive tackle.

Vea returning also allowed for the rest of the defensive line to play their typical scheduled amount of snaps in the rotation. Logan Hall, who notched his first sack of the year, still played a high amount at 36, but Greg Gaines went back down to 25 with Will Gholston and C.J. Brewer at 14. When the reserves aren’t asked to play at a higher volume they can be impactful, but we also saw what missing Vea for a whole game meant last week in a bad, 26-7 loss to Denver.

The rotation was relatively the same for the outside linebackers. Yaya Diaby and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka played the most at 63% and 60%, respectively, while Anthony Nelson and Chris Braswell were at 40% and 37%, respectively. This was a much better game for the edge rushers and Diaby and Nelson recorded their first sack of the season. Markees Watts was in for literally one play.

A big adjustment the Bucs had to go through was losing inside linebacker SirVocea Dennis early in the game with a shoulder injury. Dennis was in for just five snaps and K.J. Britt played the rest of the way going for 51 snaps and 89%. Dennis and Britt had been platooning at inside linebacker, so Britt was playing more than any other game he had during this season.

A tip of the cap should also go to Lavonte David. He played 100% of the time like he always does, and just put on a masterclass performance. David led the Bucs with eight tackles while also recording two sacks and a forced fumble. Just a fantastic performance by a future Bucs Ring of Honor member and hopefully a future Hall of Famer.