Commanders vs. Buccaneers Depth Chart

DL: Calijah Kancey, C.J. Brewer

NT: Vita Vea, Greg Gaines

DL: Logan Hall, William Gholston

OLB: Yaya Diaby, Chris Braswell *, Shaquil Barrett

ILB: J.J. Russell, K.J. Britt

OLB: Anthony Nelson, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Jose Ramirez

CB: Jamel Dean, Josh Hayes

CB: Zyon McCollum, Tyrek Funderburk *

S: Antoine Winfield Jr., Mike Edwards, Tavierre Thomas

S: Tykee Smith *, Kaevon Merriweather, Ryan Neal

(On the practice squad: S Marcus Banks, CB Dallis Flowers, DL Mike Greene, LB Antonio Grier, LB Deion Jones, S Rashad Wisdom)

Second-year linebacker J.J. Russell made his third straight start next to Lavonte David, and the last two have come with former starter K.J. Britt active following his three-week injury absence. Russell played 35 defensive snaps (out of 66) to 16 for Britt; both finished the game with three tackles while Britt added two tackles for loss.

With Jordan Whitehead moving to the reserve/non-football injury list on Saturday due to injuries suffered in an auto accident, the Buccaneers started Kaevon Merriweather and Mike Edwards at safety. This was Merriweather’s fifth start in a row but it was only the second time that he played every defensive snap. He contributed three tackles and a pass defensed. Edwards played 57 snaps, with Ryan Neal, just promoted from the practice squad, getting in on eight plays.

Defensive linemen Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey continued their late-season trend of playing a higher percentage of the defensive snaps. In this case, both were on the field for 83% of the plays, and Vea recorded one of the team’s two sacks. The other went to Yaya Diaby, whose 74% snap share was the highest of any of the team’s outside linebackers. In his first active game back with the Buccaneers, Shaquil Barrett got on the field for 12 plays.

PR: Trey Palmer, Jalen McMillan *, Kameron Johnson *

KR: Rakim Jarrett, Bucky Irving *, Kameron Johnson *

KR: Sean Tucker, Trey Palmer

Running back Sean Tucker was on the field for 10 special teams plays and he ended up with a season-high three kickoff returns, totaling 88 yards. Wide receiver Rakim Jarrett was also deep on all of the kickoff returns but did not field any kicks.

Tight end Ko Kieft played 11 snaps on offense but double that many on special teams and he had the Bucs’ only kick return tackle of the afternoon. Safety Tavierre Thomas logged the most special teams snaps,…