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.

While many Bucs fans were pacing their bedrooms in the middle of the night, bottle of antacid in hand and worried about the horrid Bucs secondary from the previous year, Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik was doing something about it, unbeknownst to the public.

One remedy was signing punishing free agent safety Dashon Goldson. In this countdown of the top 25 players in the NFC South, ESPN NFC South blogger Pat Yasinskas lists Goldson at No. 18, before the man has played a snap in the division.

What he did in 2012: In helping the San Francisco 49ers reach the Super Bowl, Goldson had 69 tackles, three interceptions and a forced fumble.

Why he’s No. 18 in 2013: Signing Goldson was the first big move the Bucs made in the offseason because they believe he can help fix a pass defense that ranked No. 32 in the league in 2012. Last season, the Bucs used Ronde Barber at free safety. Barber did a decent job, but often played in the box and that forced strong safety Mark Barron to end up in coverage more than the team wanted. Goldson is more of a natural center fielder and his presence should free up Barron from deep coverage duties and allow him to take more advantage of his physical style of play. Goldson also is known as a leader and he’s been on some teams that have won big. The Bucs are hoping Goldson’s ability and experience can help improve the entire defense.

Joe believes Yasinskas nailed it in his last point: Leadership. Joe has seen with his own eyes how the younger members of the Bucs’ secondary are following Goldson around like ducklings would their mother. He works with the young guys sometimes 30 minutes after practice. Not that he’s told to do it, but he knows the work necessary to hone your craft and build a winner.

Goldson has lived the life of playing on a putrid team that transformed itself into a Super Bowl team. Just judging by his leadership skills, Goldson’s salary is already beginning to pay off, and it’s not yet July.

Bucs rookie defensive end William Gholston, an athletic freak at 6-6, 281 pounds, talks in this video about his love of football and how he believes study is the key.

The latest power rankings on NFL.com rank the Bucs at No. 20 but, more troubling, 12th among NFC teams.

News flash: there are only 16 teams in the conference. Six make the playoffs.

Analyst Elliot Harrison was the evaluator. And it’s no surprise he was focused on whether Josh Freeman can make the leap from talented to winner.

Freeman does have a load of pressure on him, but in many ways he doesn’t. No. 5 has a stout running game, a phenomenal offensive line, two true stud receivers, and a comfort level within his offense. A quarterback couldn’t ask for much more.

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The controversy stirred up by intern-loving, former Giants disgruntled running back and fallen media mogul Tiki Barber’s statement that Warren Sapp is “an idiot” for saying former Bucs defensive end Simeon Rice has just as much if not a better resume for the Pro Football Hall of Fame than former Giants Michael Strahan continues.

This time, it is Rice who is talking on the record. Still giddy off his Chicago Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup, Rice spoke with Booger McFarland, co-host of the “Booger and Rich Show,” heard on WHFS-FM 98.7. Rice not only thanked Sapp for sticking up for him, and lauded Strahan, but slapped Tiki Barber for sticking his nose where it shouldn’t have been, Rice feels.

Booger McFarland: I agree with Sapp. I think you were one of the greatest pass rushers of all tiem and way better than Michael Strahan.

Simeon Rice: I felt mine [skills] is unparalleled. My skill level was unparalleled. You ask me a straight question, I this [Strahan] is great too. I thought his [skills] were really good. He had a great career, too. I felt like I was in a class of my own.

When I played, I played with a chip because I never got the respect I truly deserved. I always thought brilliance and greatness goes noticed but felt mine was associated with great talent, not hard work. “Stra” had a great career. I was different, a different breed.

As for Sapp pimping Rice both in print and on the NFL Network, Rice seemed humbled but also irritated by Tiki Barber.

“We weren’t the best of friends,” Rice said of Sapp. “One thing about Sapp is, although he seems like he is speaking out of the ordinary, he is speaking 100 percent real. The truth about football is the only thing important to him and he never did liked posers. If you balled, he would be the first one to give you props whether he liked you or not. I don’t think Tiki knows the knowledge that Warren is coming with. A great mind.”

As for how good Rice was, he said he would let the late, great Deacon Jones speak for himself. Rice talked about the time Jones visited the Bucs.

“He came into our meeting room and said, ‘Where is Simeon Rice?’ Then he told me, ‘I love the way you play. Keep doing what you are doing.'”

What more street cred can a defensive end get than props from the greatest of them all, Deacon Jones? That’s surely good enough for Joe.

Yes, Joe likes to boast a little bit that he began begging Bucs rock star general manager Mark Dominik to draft Nebraska linebacker Lavonte David back in December 2011, as a fourth-round, perhaps a third-round pick.

Dominik drafted David in the late second round, but the way David played as a rookie, he could have been the first overall pick and the Bucs still would have looked smart.

David was simply outstanding last year. He even drew comparisons to another speedy, undersized linebacker some Bucs fans may remember — a guy by the name of Derrick Brooks.

A certain NFC South blogger mocked those who compared David to Brooks. After watching him perform as a rookie, Pat Yasinskas admits he’s been won over by the No. 20 player in the NFC South, David.

What he did in 2012: As a rookie, he was in on 139 tackles with two sacks and an interception while starting 16 games.

Why he’s No. 20 in 2013: It didn’t take David long to emerge as a defensive leader last year and I expect him to be even better in his second season. I chuckled when some people compared David to Derrick Brooks prior to last season. I’m not laughing now. It still may be a little premature to put David in the same class as a guy who will be heading for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But there are a lot of similarities between the two. The next step for David is to become more of a playmaker. I expect that to start happening this year and that’s why David is in my top 20.

If David was this good as a rookie, Joe positively drools over how he might play this season in both his second year in the NFL and his second year in the New Schiano Order.

David very well may be the top up-and-comer in the NFC. He should be the anchor to the Bucs defense for quite some time.

This afternoon, the Bucs released 2013 training camp dates and times that are open to the public at One Buc Palace. Currently, there are 10 practices for fan viewing. Of course, dates and times are subject to change.

Thursday, July 25: 8:45 – 11:30 a.m.
Friday, July 26: 8:45 – 11:30 a.m.
Saturday, July 27: 6:30 – 9 p.m. (at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway).
Monday, July 29: 8:45 – 11:30 a.m.
Wednesday, July 31: 8:45 – 11:30 a.m.
Thursday, Aug. 1: 8:45 – 11:30 a.m.
Friday, Aug. 2: 8:45 – 11:30 a.m.
Saturday, Aug. 3: 8:45 – 11:30 a.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 6: 8:45 – 11:30 a.m.
Saturday, Aug. 10: 8:45 – 11:30 a.m.

As fans can read as well as Joe, all but the night practice at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway are morning practices.

In other words, bring your caffeine and bagels.

While Donald Penn may have passed on TV time this morning on NFL Network’s glorified waste of electricity, the dancing-obsessed “NFL AM,” Warren Sapp did not.

No, Sapp wasn’t scheduled to go on NFL AM to discuss his dance moves. Sapp, soon to be inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, appeared last night on “Total Access” — a show that somehow avoids forced dancing talk into each episode — and again, campaigned for his former teammate Simeon Rice to join him in Canton. That continued Sapp’s war of words against former Giants defensive end Michael Strahan.

When asked to comment on intern-loving, former Giants disgruntled running back and fallen media mogul Tiki Barber’s statement that Sapp is “an idiot” for mocking Strahan, Sapp tried to dodge it, but when pressed, he came out firing like only Sapp can.

The Giants “drafted Michael Strahan to replace the great Lawrence Taylor on the right side and he averaged four sacks a year [at right end],” Sapp said. Strahan had 128 sacks and “Simeon Rice had 122 and had never been moved.

“The only Tiki I want to talk about is at the Postcard Inn.”

Joe thinks Sapp makes a great point. Rice nearly had as many sacks as Strahan and neither the Cardinals, who drafted Rice, nor the Bucs had to find a position for him to excel. Rice dominated at right defensive end.

Joe fears Rice will go down in NFL history as the L.C. Greenwood of his day: a ferocious pass rusher who was the odd man out with so many teammates getting into Canton.

And Joe believes there will be three more of Sapp’s former teammates who will reach Canton.

Props to Donald Penn for his reaction to the Aaron Hernandez arrest mess

The heinous NFL AM show on NFL Network was supposed to have Donald Penn as a special in-studio guest this morning, but Penn wisely gave a last-minute “no thanks.”

Penn explained via Twitter that he didn’t want to be part of the ratings-grabbing, TMZ-like coverage all morning of Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez’s arrest. Yes, NFL Network had a reporter camped out on the scene and cameras outside Hernandez’s house.

‏@DPENN70  –  I want 2 thank @NFL_AM staff 4 giving me a choice 2go on or not 2 I chose not 2 didn’t want 2 talk about the Hernandez arrest the whole time

Penn really made the right call.

Aside from precious diluted national exposure for the Bucs — from arguably their most colorful personality– Penn also avoided the inevitable line of questioning about what it was like in the Bucs’ locker room during the multiple arrests of helmet-wielding, cabbie-slugging, Adderrall-popping, coach-cussing, referee-charging, pistol-friendly, granny-hassling Aqib Talib.

While his take on all that likely would have been priceless, Penn wisely took a rain check.

The Bucs’ former manbeast backup running back, the pride of 2010 Buccaneers history and an extraordinary talent, LeGarrette Blount, likely had enough of being a “Buccaneer Man” and asked to be traded, so claims Luke Hughes of NESN.com out of Boston.

Hughes shared the vibe he got from what Blount didn’t say while being peppered by media questions after a Patriots practice earlier this month. Blount’s attitude also is impressing Patriots coaches.

Per the trade, Blount has remained tight-lipped since coming to the Patriots, but a little question dodging at OTAs sure made it seem like he requested it.

That uncertainty isn’t an issue for the Patriots, and neither is his attitude thus far. “I love him in the meetings, I love being around him,” [running back coach] Fears said. “So, we’ll see what he does when it counts. That’s when you’re really gonna love the guy, when he gets out on the field and makes some things happen.”

Good behavior will help Blount in his quest to make the final roster, but, even as a former 1,000-yard back (2010), nothing is guaranteed — a feeling he knows quite well. “I’m always going to feel like I have something to prove,” Blount said. “It’s just as a football player and a competitor, I’m always going to feel like I have something to prove.”

Blount requesting a trade is a fresh angle Joe hadn’t explored. It makes sense.

When Blount agreed to a new contract from the Bucs this winter, rather than have a restricted free agent tender slapped on him, it not only freed up the Bucs to trade him, but it increased the odds Blount wouldn’t have to spend another season grounded as a backup running back in a one-back system. Blount’s agent would have been wise to push the Bucs to move Blount and/or make him easy to trade.

Regardless, Joe wouldn’t have traded Blount for a seventh-round pick. He was good insurance. Heaven forbid Doug Martin goes down injured this season, Joe suspects that would lead legions of Bucs fans to wish Blount was pounding the rock behind Carl Nicks and Davin Joseph and maintaining his 4.6 yards per carry career average.