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If one is to just go by numbers on a sheet of paper, the Bucs may have had the steal of the 2013 draft already, and training camp has yet to start.

The Bucs, during OTAs this spring, all but anointed rookie fourth round pick Akeem Spence as a starting tilted nose tackle alongside Gerald McCoy. It seems the Walter Football crowd agrees with this assessment. Charlie Campbell typed a piece on who he expects to be booms and busts for the Bucs this season, and Campbell has tagged Spence as a boom pick.

Solid Starter: Akeem Spence, DT, Illinois – Round 4

I wasn’t a fan of Spence as a prospect, but the Bucs like him so much that they are practically forcing him into the starting lineup as a rookie. Tampa Bay let veteran nose tackle Roy Miller leave in free agency, so the team had a hole for a run-stuffer next to Gerald McCoy.

Spence was hit and miss in his final season. He didn’t play well against Wisconsin, but did well versus Penn State. Spence has some speed and explosiveness, but needs to improve his overall game and become more consistent. THe junior totaled 72 tackles, seven tackles for a loss, one sack and one forced fumble in 2012. He played better in 2011, but the sophomore had defensive end Whitney Mercilus commanding a lot of attention as Mercilus led the nation in sacks. Spence totaled 69 tackles with 5.5 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks and one forced fumble in 2011.

Tampa Bay has a serious lack of depth on the defensive line, leaving Spence with only pedestrian veterans Gary Gibson and Derek Landri as starting competition. Spence (6-1, 305) will probably end up starting as a rookie and if he plays well, he could be a long-term starter next to McCoy.

Well, if one is to expect Spence to be the next Warren Sapp, then, yes, they will be sorely disappointed and consider Spence a bust. That’s not what the Bucs want from Spence, and that’s not what Spence is.

Spence is oxen strong. Bucs coach Greg Schiano even remarked how Spence may be the strongest guy in the NFL right now. What Spence is supposed to do is take on blocks and, preferably, tie up two blockers in order to set GMC free to raise hell in the backfield and bruise quarterbacks.

Expecting Spence to get double-digit sacks, well, that just won’t happen.

OK, it’s a light, lazy Sunday evening where Joe is celebrating a sweet Rays series win. Thus, Joe thought he would bring something light and bright, a feel-good to Bucs fans.

This week, NFL rookies took part in the NFL rookie symposium where they were taught about how to save cash and how to stay out of trouble, yada, yada, yada. Joe is a bit skeptical how much these programs actually work. Year after year there are countless stories about former and current NFL players going broke and/or having brushes with the law. Joe will save that argument for another day. Today, something cool.

The NFL brought the rookies to nearby Canton, Ohio, to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame. There, in a display to honor former Bucs cornerback (man, this sounds weird) Ronde Barber, Bucs rookie Johnthan Banks found Barber’s display and took a moment to pause for a cool picture (seen in this post above) of Bucs past, present and future intersecting all at once.

If Banks can be three-quarters the player Barber was, then the Bucs truly will have hit a home run with their second round pick this year.

All the best to Banks as we are now just 25 days away from the Bucs’ first training camp practice.

We are getting there, folks.

Tampa Bay Times columnist and WDAE-AM 620 Sports Page co-host Tom Jones finds it very troublesome for the Bucs that Josh Freeman was not named to the NFL Network annual Top-100 list of current players, as voted by NFL players themselves.

Jones said over the WDAE airwaves Friday that it’s “disappointing” Freeman isn’t among the top tier of players on his team or among the upper third or so of quarterbacks in the NFL. Co-host Rick Stroud thinks Jones is out of line, as you’ll hear in the heated discussion below.

Joe, however, largely agrees with Jones for a simple reason that was not mentioned on the radio: Freeman was voted the 83rd best player in the NFL after the 2010 season. That means Freeman’s peers acknowledge his regression since leading the Bucs to a 10-6 record and only tossing six picks in 2010. Whether you’re a Freeman lover or not, that’s “disappointing.” (You can catch the entire Sports Page audio below.)

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One unsung accomplishment in Bucs history was Tampa Bay’s No. 1 ranked pass defense in 2007. Yes, under defensive backs coach Raheem Morris, the Bucs’ secondary was the best in the NFL — and sent nobody to the Pro Bowl.

Jermaine Phillips, rookie Tanard Jackson, Phillip Buchanon and Ronde Barber were the main men, as once-great cornerback Brian Kelly got old and faded away.

And, the Bucs accomplished this with a pass rush led by Stylez White, Gaines Adams and Jovan Haye, not exactly a scary crew.

Joe points this out to illustrate how much talent the Bucs have now at defense line and defensive back, versus six seasons ago. The current Bucs are loaded at those positions by comparison.

Obviously, the Bucs must stay healthy, but a lot falls on Greg Schiano and his New Schiano Order defense, one defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan made very clear is crafted by Schiano.

Electronic media czar and longtime Tampa Bay sports personality JP Peterson grabs hold of the WDAE-AM 620 airwaves today from 9 a.m. to noon.

Of course, JP will talk all things Rays, Bucs and whatever else is moving him from the sports world.

Those chained to a computer (or too hungover to find a radio) can listen live via 620WDAE.com.

The fire of words that Bucs great and soon-to-be Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp lit recently by claiming Simeon Rice has more street cred to get into Canton than former Giants defensive end Michael Strahan was rekindled when intern-loving Tiki Barber appeared with Joe’s good friend Justin Pawlowski on WHFS-FM 98.7 last week.

Barber was quoted calling Sapp “an idiot” for his remarks. And while Barber did not deny he said that about Sapp, he claims his words were “blown out of proportion” by the same fourth estate in which he is trying to make a living.

“Look, I have nothing disparaging to say about Warren Sapp,” Barber said. “But here’s what I have to say: He has had a vendetta against Michael Strahan and I don’t even know why he has had a vendetta against Michael Strahan. Maybe because he can because he is a first ballot Hall of Famer and Michael wasn’t. I understand what he was trying to do and get Simeon Rice some credit for what Simeon was as a player and he was a fantastic player rushing the quarterback from the defensive end, but don’t do it at the expense of ‘Stra,’ who is my boy. He’s always had my back.

“They are different players so the comparison never made sense. To put it simply, Strahan was a complete player. He played on the weak side, he played on the strong side, he had to stop the run. Simeon was more of a single-dimensional guy where he would come off the edge and he was better than anyone at it with his speed and his length and his ability to get low and underneath tackles to go after the quarterback but he was not a guy counted on to stop the run. That’s not knocking him as a player, that was a fact and the numbers will show you that in career tackles. So when you try to compare them, you can’t. There was no malice in foresight in calling Sapp ‘an idiot.’ It was blown out of proportion.”

Well, once you say certain words to a reporter on the record, there is no putting the genie back in the bottle. Barber said what he said. If he needs to apologize, and Sapp demands one (doubtful), that’s between those two.

While Barber has a good point that Strahan was a more complete player, exactly who the hell looks at tackles on running backs when choosing a defensive end for the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

Did anyone mention how many tackles Reggie White had or Deacon Jones or Bruce Smith? Hell, no! Defensive ends bound for Canton are largely if not solely judged on how many times they put quarterbacks on the ground.

And in that regard, Joe believes Rice was Strahan’s equal if not superior.

It is June 29, less than a month before the Bucs hold their first training camp practice. There’s a long way to go.

But the football thinktank at WalterFootball.com already has put out its detailed team previews and they are not kind to the Bucs. In short, the Water Football crowd is no fan of Josh Freeman and is of the opinion that Freeman will continue to regress and, therefore, the Bucs will regress to a 5-11 season this year.

Josh Freeman will almost certainly be the starting quarterback for the Buccaneers this season, but he probably won’t be holding that title much longer. The organization, particularly head coach Greg Schiano, has lost faith in him. There’s a reason they spent a third-round pick on Mike Glennon. Unless Freeman rebounds with a strong 2013 campaign, he’ll be allowed to walk as a free agent next spring.

Freeman was on fire at the beginning of this past season. He held a 18-to-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio in his first nine games. However, things quickly fell apart after that. He had just two scores compared to 10 turnovers (nine picks, one lost fumble) in his final three contests. Throughout all of December, Freeman maintained a YPA of 6.3 or worse in all but one game. It’s amazing how much Freeman managed to regress in just a couple of months. If this were only a 1-year thing, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but Freeman’s accuracy has been pretty brutal ever since getting separated from former offensive coordinator Greg Olson.

2013 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Analysis: The Buccaneers will continue to be the worst team in the NFC South as long as they’re the only franchise in the division that doesn’t have its quarterback situation figured out. Josh Freeman has just one more chance to turn things around, but things aren’t very optimistic in that regard.

Projection: 5-11 (4th in NFC South)

Joe can’t see the Bucs going backwards that badly, but if they do, it will probably be because Freeman has completely imploded. Now Joe is on record being cautious of the Bucs playing in the postseason. It’s not because Joe doesn’t think the Bucs are improved — they are — but because the NFC is as top-heavy as Joe has seen it in maybe 25 years.

On paper, it appears the best chance the Bucs have of a playoff berth is to win the division. Joe’s not ready to go there yet.

But if the Walter Football people are convinced Freeman and the Bucs will take that much of a step backward, it’s a good bet Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik and coach Greg Schiano will be quarterback shopping in February.

For whatever reason, one bad fit for the New Schiano Order last season was defensive backs coach Ron Cooper, who was quick to leave after the season for the South Florida Bulls

Cooper was a newcomer to the pro ranks and, well, his secondary was dreadful. Greg Schiano even seemed obligated to step in and get hands on with the unit in a big way late in the season.

Joe can’t thoroughly hang Cooper, who was stuck with the fearsome foursome for part of the season, “E.J. Leonard, Danny and LeQuan.”

Hopefully, the Bucs updated their coaching ranks with the addition of Tony Oden, who has spent years with the Saints and Jaguars. Eric Wright typed up a blog posting recently that implied Oden’s experience already is making a positive impact.

One other change that was made to the secondary was the addition of a new defensive backs coach, Tony Oden. The organization and the coaches bringing in somebody like Tony with a lot of NFL experience is going to help us on the back end.

He’s somebody that I respect a lot. I’m like a sponge, trying to learn as much possible, and Tony’s a guy that I can learn a lot from. I’m looking forward to working with him this season, and continuing to try to perfect my craft. Tony has a lot of knowledge about the game and how to deal with NFL players. He asks a lot out of us, but I think the guys are responding well.

Position coaches matter. The Bucs have learned that lesson over the years in a big way.

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Via the Bucs’ Facebook page, the team has released and produced a promotional video to remind fans that tickets for the home season opener are on sale. This is a cool video and thanks to the embed codes on the video, Joe assumes the Bucs would like websites to get the word out about ticket sales.

After dirtbags thieved loads of football equipment from a youth club in east Tampa recently, the Buccaneers stepped up this week to hand over $15,000 to replace the kids’ football equipment, jerseys, etc.

It’s noteworthy, but it’s not noteworthy, because Team Glazer has the Buccaneers do this kind of stuff all the time.

After $100,000 was coughed up to build a fancy community field in Clearwater this spring, Joe asked Bryan Glazer about what sort of impact this community work has had on him personally over the past 18 years. Glazer said the words of appreciation he receives are inspiring.

“What’s meaningful to me is when I get a letter, or someone stops me on the street, or someone walks up to me and says, ‘Thank you for doing this. Thank you for doing that,'” Glazer said. “And it’s for [as little as] a teddy bear for the hospital, or a football field, or a thousand things in between. The people who take the time to do that, to come up to or write that letter, that is tremendous to me.”

Below is a TBO.com video that tells the story of the Bucs’ most recent gift, and the clinic they ran for the kids who were victimized. (Joe’s glad to see that Michael Smith was activated.)

Many Bucs players are invaluable to the team’s success this season. Joe can think of Gerald McCoy, Doug Martin and Vincent Jackson, just off the top of his head.

But Matt Williamson thinks differently. The BSPN football guru believes the most important Bucs player is a guy who has yet to take a snap for the team, and it’s not a lock that he will be able to take a snap when the Bucs play the Jets in Gotham City.

That would be cornerback Darrelle Revis.

The Buccaneers’ pass defense was far too generous in 2012. The pass rush was a problem, and that area still very much concerns me. But the cover men also were huge liabilities. That should not be the case anymore. Not only did Tampa Bay bring in the best cover man of this generation in Revis, but it also signed Dashon Goldson to pair with last year’s first-round pick, Mark Barron, at safety and drafted Johnthan Banks, who should compete for a starting spot opposite Revis. But it is Revis the Bucs need to count on. As he showed so many times with the Jets, Revis is capable of eliminating an opponent’s best receiver by himself, which essentially would allow the Buccaneers to play 10 versus 10 against the opposing offense. The ripple effect would allow Tampa Bay to blitz with more regularity, which clearly helps its suspect pass rush. That is, of course, if Revis is healthy. Hopefully for Tampa Bay’s sake, it doesn’t have to find out how indispensable Revis is before he even gets the chance to contribute.

Williamson makes a good point about Revis, if only because the Bucs are constructing their 2013 defense around Revis. With him healthy, the Bucs can shade their safeties to help out either rookie Johnthan Banks or veteran Eric Wright. Without Revis, Banks/Wright will be left to sink or swim on their own.

If the Bucs lose GMC, the team is in a world of hurt. Same goes for Martin. Losing Revis could be a return to the heinous pass defense of last season.

Yes, these are the dog days of summer for NFL fans. Fresh news is rare less than four weeks away from the Bucs having their first training camp practice on the morning of July 25.

So to kill the time, ESPN NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas has been counting down his top 25 players in the division, and the latest Bucs player to make the countdown is wide receiver Vincent Jackson at No. 16.

What he did in 2012: In his first season in Tampa Bay, Jackson caught 72 passes for 1,384 yards and eight touchdowns.

Why he’s No. 16 in 2013: Jackson should only get better in his second season in Tampa Bay. Jackson’s 19.2 yards per catch last season showed how he can stretch the field, and he opened the way for receiver Mike Williams and running back Doug Martin to have big seasons. That means defenses are going to have to devote more attention to Williams and Martin, and Jackson could end up with even more opportunities than he had last season. The key, however, will be quarterback Josh Freeman, who is headed into a year that is crucial for his future. But Jackson could end up being Freeman’s best friend. The thing Freeman does best is throw the ball downfield. Jackson already has shown he can get open on deep routes.

Joe agrees with Yasinskas in that Jackson should be better this year. Here’s why:

People talk about how Josh Freeman is going into his second season in Mike Sullivan’s complex offense and how he is much more comfortable in it. That right there means Jackson should have a better season.

Just as important, Freeman will also be in his second season playing with Jackson. The two were new to each other last year, just as both were new to Sullivan’s offense.

With greater familiarity, Joe can see how Jackson catches even more footballs for more yards and more touchdowns.

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Eric Wright fingers and weighs in on the leader of the 2013 Bucs defense. Thankfully, it’s not him.

These days it seems Eric Wright has swapped spa days and Adderrall popping for fatherhood and being a good teammate.

Good choices.

Wright took to his blog this week to talk about his latest feelings on life and the Bucs. Among his musings, Wright said All-Pro safety Dashon Goldson has emerged as the leader of the New Schiano Order defense.

Even though he’s new to the system, Dashon has a lot of playing experience and he’s really our leader on the back end, and of the defense in general. Communication is definitely something that’s needed on the back end, and he’s always out there talking and making sure everybody is on the same page. He’s going to fit great in his role as not only a good player for us, but as a leader.

He’s a friend that I work out with and spend a lot of time with, so I know his outlook on the game and his approach as far as how hard he works. To work side-by-side with somebody like that is definitely something I was looking forward to, and I was happy to finally be able to get that opportunity out there on the field with him.

For me, having a guy out there that I know personally, the communication level is extremely high. I know how to talk to him, and he knows how to talk to me. The chemistry and cohesiveness is there from the jump just because of our relationship. It was a great experience. I know he’s seen a lot in his career, I’ve seen a lot in my career, so we’re able to talk things out and feed off each other just from our general knowledge of the game.

Joe’s talked about the visible leadership moves of Goldson, such as working long after OTA practices with young members of the secondary and Darrelle Revis.

Wright’s take that Goldson is leader of the entire defense is something new. Wright may be biased, but maybe not.

Regardless, Joe would be pleased to see Goldson emerge in this role. At least he knows what it’s supposed to like, getting to the Super Bowl under a no-nonsense head coach.

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One neat thing Joe learned at minicamp earlier this month is that Bucs rookie cornerback Johnthan Banks is pretty confident in his ability.

Not cocky though, there’s a difference.

While Banks believes he can hang with opponents in the NFL, he’s quick to point out he has a lot to learn.

“I match-up pretty well with everybody, everybody out here,” said Banks, who could start if he plays well in training camp. “But I am still a rookie. I am still learning. I am taking my time and do it right and learn it the right way.”

So what has Banks learned in his short time in the NFL? Well, for one, he doesn’t have the Bucs’ defense down pat. And he’s learned there is no drop off in talent on the NFL level.

“The terminology for the defense, it is so different than college,” Banks said. “Everybody is so much better here. Plus, there is nobody in college that has a Vincent Jackson on one side and Mike Williams on the other. Everybody is good. You have to be prepared all the time.”

Joe believes this is a good mix of confidence and humility. Banks is certain he can play — and start — on the NFL level but also realizes that won’t happen without work.

The repeated shots fired by Warren Sapp at Michael Strahan, which are growing more powerful, are wearing on Tampa Bay Times columnist and notorious Joe basher Tom Jones.

Jones, who also co-hosts Sports Page on WDAE-AM 620, is disgusted by Sapp verbally trampling on the career of Strahan as Sapp tries to make a case that Simeon Rice was a better player.

“He’s being an A-Hole,” Jones said of Sapp this week.

“Show some class. You’re going into the Hall of Fame. Everybody’s celebrating your career. Why run people down along the way?” said Jones, who added the everybody knows Sapp is being “small.”

Joe might agree with Jones here, but for Joe there’s an awful lot of gray area, as Sapp is a national analyst on NFL Network. Sapp, like Jones, is paid handsomely for his candid opinions and to keep himself relevant, classy or not. (You can catch Jones’ full discussion of the subject below.)

It’s quiet at One Buc Palace. Many football operations’ staff have gone fishing, trying to charge their batteries for the long, long, long haul ahead.

Still, with the “Gone Fishing” sign posted, that doesn’t mean others are resting.

In an interesting breakdown of what the roster may look like when training camp practices begin July 25, an article on Buccaneers.com (intrepid Scott Smith?) details why the roster is still fluid until that time.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are currently putting the finishing touches on the 90-man roster they will take to training camp in late July. You may have caught some recent tweaks to that roster, such as the additions of Derek Hagan and Michael Adams. In those cases, the receiver position kept the same numbers (the waiver paired with Hagan’s signing was rookie wideout Jheranie Boyd) while the cornerback crew got a slight bump at the expense of the offensive line (rookie guard Jeremy Lewis).

There could be another move or two before the start of camp on July 25. All players, coaches and football operations folks will be taking some vacation time between now and training camp, but the NFL waiver wire never shuts down. The Bucs will surely keep an eye on that wire, and they may choose to massage the numbers at one position or another before camp starts.

Still, we have a pretty good working camp roster at this point, so it’s instructive to look at how those 90 spots break down by position. You’ll find those numbers in the table below along with, for comparison’s sake, the breakdown from the first day of training camp in 2012, Head Coach Greg Schiano’s first season at the helm. The last column in the table below shows how the 53 spots broke down by position when the Bucs opened the regular season a year ago, which helps demonstrate which spots will be most competitive in camp.

Look, there is little question to Joe that the 88th or 89th or 90th guy on the training camp roster won’t be starting when the Bucs open against the Jets in the New Jersey Swamplands. That’s highly unlikely, and Joe will take such a bet any day, any time.

But who knows, maybe the last guy signed (in July) makes the practice squad, or at best plays special teams for the Bucs.

The fact the Bucs are not settled on a roster is actually a good thing, not something to loathe.