The PewterReport.com Roundtable features the opinions of the PR staff as it tackles a Tampa Bay Buccaneers-related topic each week.

This week’s topic: Who is the most valuable defensive player in Tampa Bay heading into the 2018 season?

Scott Reynolds: CB Brent Grimes
The most valuable player on Tampa Bay’s defense is cornerback Brent Grimes. Is Grimes the best Bucs defender? No, not at age 35, which he turned on July 19. But he just may be the most important Bucs defender, especially this year.

For many years, the most valuable defensive player was defensive tackle Gerald McCoy. The Bucs have lacked a potent pass rush from the defensive line for years outside of McCoy, a six-time Pro Bowler. But for the first time since he’s been in Tampa Bay, the Bucs could actually survive without him thanks to the influx of talent from general manager Jason Licht, who imported defensive tackles Beau Allen and Mitch Unrein in free agency along with defensive end Vinny Curry, acquired defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul via a trade, and drafted defensive tackle Vita Vea.

Bucs CB Brent Grimes and head coach Dirk Koetter – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs weathered the storm without linebackers Kwon Alexander and Lavonte David last year for periods of time, but the player they really missed when he was absent was Grimes, the lone true veteran playmaker at cornerback. Remember the Minnesota game when Ryan Smith and Vernon Hargreaves were victimized over and over again by Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs? Just how important is Grimes? Consider that Licht and director of football administration Mike Greenberg signed a 35-year old cornerback to a one-year deal worth as much as $10 million with incentives ($7 million without).

With Grimes, the Bucs can afford to start one rookie cornerback – likely Carlton Davis – opposite him and then feature Hargreaves inside covering slot receivers where he excels. Without Grimes, the Bucs have to scramble and either start two rookies outside in Davis and fellow second-rounder M.J. Stewart, or turn again to Smith and hope that he has improved over last year’s performance, which was mediocre at best.

Mark Cook: DE Jason Pierre-Paul
There is no question that Brent Grimes is a big part of the Bucs defense as this team struggled last year in games he missed. But to me the most valuable member of the defense will be newcomer Jason Pierre-Paul who must elevate this team’s pass rush.

22 sacks is embarrassing. And almost unbelievable. You realize you get credited with a sack just if the quarterback scrambles on a pass play and runs out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage? I mean, you don’t even always have to tackle him! So 16 games and you only managed 22 sacks? That equates to 1.3 sacks over a season. And in the Jets game the Bucs notched six of their 22 sacks. So if you take that game away, they literally only averaged one sack per game essentially. And we still want to blame Jameis Winston, or DeSean Jackson for a 5-11 record? The more I think about it the more I wonder how they even won five games at all.

Bucs DE Jason Pierre-Paul – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Yes, stopping the run will be important. Yes, Kwon Alexander and Lavonte David cleaning up tackles will be important. Yes, Grimes harassing receivers in the secondary will be important. But in a division with Matt Ryan, Cam Newton and Drew Brees, getting the opposing team’s quarterbacks on the jersey-staining turf will be the most important thing this team can do to improve the awful defense of last year.

We all know the stat – it has been since Simeon Rice roamed Ray Jay that the Bucs had a double-sacker. Amazing. Just a crazy thought. And I am not even saying Pierre-Paul had to have 10 or more sacks to be effective. Just his presence on the field should make everyone better, especially his defensive line teammates. Vinny Curry, Noah Spence, Gerald McCoy, Beau Allen, Will Gholston and others should all see their numbers and effectiveness go up by having the two-time Pro Bowler on the field. And that isn’t even taking in account how a good pass rush can affect the secondary too.

A lot players will have chance to turn this defense around and while they all are important, Jason Pierre-Paul is the most important piece of that puzzle.

Trevor Sikkema: LB Lavonte David
The Bucs defense, as a whole, has to be much better in 2018. That is not something that is debatable. But, even though the team will certainly need a good year from their No. 1 cornerback Brent Grimes, and they must record more sacks and get more pressure on the defensive line, the centerpiece of the defense is still Lavonte David, and, if you ask me, he’s the most irreplaceable player on the roster.

Bucs LB Lavonte David – Photo by: Getty Images

David has had seasons where he’s recorded over 10 passes defended, he’s recorded seven sacks in a single season from a true linebacker position, and he’s put up back-to-back-to-back 100-tackle seasons, at one point in his career. Kwon Alexander is a very good player, and he, too, is a key part of this defense, but no one on this defense is David other than David. The fact that he had zero sacks last season was just downright wrong. Expect that number to be much higher this year and for a new and improved defensive line to really open up linebacker blitzes for him to make more of an impact in the backfield.

I also think David is irreplaceable from a leadership standpoint. That’s not to say there aren’t other leaders on this team and this defense; there certainly are. But none carry the quiet, meaningful voice and lead-by-example style as loudly as David does in a locker room that is led in years by he and Gerald McCoy. It’s that kind of leadership that helped make Derrick Brooks one of the greatest players to ever put on a Buccaneers uniform, and there are leadership style and production importance similarities between the two linebackers that made them both — to quote Beyonce — irreplaceable.

From a depth chart perspective, leadership perspective and overall talent perspective, there is only one Lavonte David mold on this Buccaneers team. With their secondary and defensive line set to see a boost in production from the new guys in each unit, the Bucs will still need David’s best ball for a full regular season, if they intend on surviving Winston’s suspension and conquering one of the toughest schedules in the league.