Bucs vs. Bengals Week 15 Snap Count Analysis

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

Here’s a closer look at which players received the highest and lowest number of snaps in the Bucs’ 34-23 loss at home on Sunday afternoon against the Bengals at week 15.

Bucs attack

The biggest discrepancy you’ll see on offense is that Leonard Fournette played in 43 of 74 snaps, while rookie Rachaad White only had 29. Fournette was solid with 10 rushes for 44 yards and four catches for 30 yards, but to play that much more than White? I do not know. The duo had split the shots almost 50-50 since Fournette returned from injury, but this was one of the most lopsided numbers since White came on the scene weeks ago against the Seahawks.

At wide receiver, Russell Gage saw much more playing time with Julio Jones out. He was involved in 46 snaps, accounting for 62 percent of the time, and had his moments in the game with two touchdowns. This was Gage’s best game since coming back from a hamstring injury early in the season.

Although he tied the team lead in the game with eight receptions, his average yards per reception was 7.4, which was lower than Mike Evans (16.6 avg), Cam Brate (12.5 avg) Chris Godwin (10.4 avg) and Leonard Fournette (7.5 avg) among players who made more than one reception. Not mentioned is Cade Otton, who made a catch for 20 yards despite having 19 more snaps than Brate. For whatever reason, the Bucs still don’t target him enough.

Rookie Deven Thompkins got more playing time than veterans Scotty Miller and Breshad Perriman. The Bucs even used him on offense on a round that covered nine rushing yards. He later made a seven-foot catch in garbage time. The speedy Thompkins could be used in a few wrinkles in the Bucs’ next three games.

Box defense

Whatever hip injury Joe Tryon-Shoyinka dealt with this week didn’t seem to bother him on Sunday, as he played 66 snaps on defense. The Bucs needed him and Anthony Nelson to play out every linebacker offense with Carl Nassib and Genard Avery out, which they did – even splitting a sack.

Rakeem “Nacho” Nunez-Roches had the most snaps out of the defensive lineman with 43. Will Gholston and rookie Logan Hall both played 21 snaps despite Vita Vea being out. You would think there would be more rotation, but the Bucs stuck to their usual plan. Deadrin Senat had 14 snaps, while Pat O’Connor had nine.

We saw a number of players return from secondary school, but not all playing time was divided equally. Sean Murphy-Bunting, filling in for Jamel Dean, understandably played the entire game. Mike Edwards has played every snap in recent weeks, but his 48 snaps have been the same as Keanu Neal’s, as they rotated.

Anthony Winfield Jr. made his comeback, but that high ankle injury ruled him out for part of the afternoon, making only 18 snaps in total. This gave Dee Delaney more playing time, as he got 33 snaps in the closing corner.