Bucs coach Todd Bowles.

For football fans, summer brings that awful, hollow word “hope.” And for the Bucs, that’s no different.

July starts today, which means training camp is around the corner, and the defense of the Bucs seemed to have received a Bronx cheer from Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz of USA Today.

Middlehurst-Schwartz decided to rank each defense and he seemed to be talking out of both sides of his mouth. The Bucs defense looks “solid,” he says, but he gave the Bucs defense a ranking that is anything but solid.

Oh, make no mistake, Joe has issues with the Bucs defense. Joe just thought it was wild that Middlehurst-Schwartz thinks a “solid” defense can be ranked No. 21.

21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Things look mostly solid for Tampa Bay, which addressed its glaring concern of subpar second-level athleticism by bringing linebacker Alex Anzalone aboard. But it won’t take much to send Todd Bowles’ group to another disappointing finish. Losing Jamel Dean reduces the secondary’s margin for error greatly, with neither Zyon McCollum nor Benjamin Morrison having proven sufficiently reliable at cornerback. If rookie Rueben Bain Jr. can’t propel the pass rush, things could come unglued for a collection of players that repeatedly lost their composure in the red zone, finishing with a league-worst conversion allowed rate of nearly 70%.

If the defense doesn’t improve, it could send the team circling the drain in January, which also likely woud send the Bucs into an offseason of chaos.

Joe’s first issue is what is happening at corner? Joe thinks it is a no-brainer to move Jacob Parrish to outside corner. Parrish has practiced during underwear football season largely at outside corner. On the record, however, Bucs coach Todd Bowles keeps talking about Parrish possibly staying at nickel.

If that is the case, your two outside corners tasked to stop Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins Week 1 in Cincinnati will be Benjamin Morrison, who can’t stay healthy, and bored Zyon McCollum.

Fun times!

Then there is the fact the Bucs are banking on rookies on each level of the defense to play like veterans. One guy (Rueben Bain), Joe can see. Maybe Josiah Trotter could be a stud off the bat at inside linebacker.

Then there is Keionte Scott. Joe suspects common sense will reign and Parrish will be put at outside corner and Scott will succeed Parrish at nickel. There again, you are hoping another rookie plays like a veteran.

For three rookies to blow up, well, that’s a roll of the dice, and Joe reckons that is exactly what the Bucs will need.

Little margin for error here.