The Tampa Bay Buccaneers certainly hope to improve their defensive play in 2015, but that is much easier said than done. With a fairly strong front seven, the biggest questions on the defense come from the DBs, primarily the two safety positions. While Alterraun Verner and Jonathan Banks may not be the most frightening CB duo in the NFL, they are definitely locked in as the two starters. With neither starting safety from week 1 of 2014 returning this year, it’s anyone’s guess what those positions will look like come the season opener.

Bradley McDougald and Major Wright return to the team from last year and the Bucs added Chris Conte and DJ Swearinger this spring. Swearinger was a former second-round pick in 2013. Wright and Conte both played under Lovie Smith in Chicago. Wright and McDougald actually started games for the Bucs in 2014 after the team traded away Mark Barron. Legitimate cases could be made for each of the four to grab a starting spot in 2015, but there are only two available.

Early reports out of mini camps are that Conte and McDougald are sharing reps together while Swearinger and Wright are doing the same. Out of those two pairs, Conte and McDougald would definitely be the favorite to start the season, at least for right now. No matter who ends up starting the season, no one is a sure bet to keep their spot. While every player started multiple games for NFL teams in 2014, each will have to contribute to stay in the field in 2015.

Lovie Smith’s defense asks a lot out of its safeties, so it is imperative that the Bucs find the best duo possible. The Bucs gave up way too many easy completions in the middle of the field last year, due in large part to poor safety play. That has to change this year, or the Bucs will end 2015 as one of the worst pass-defenses in the league yet again. Of course a better pass rush would make things a whole lot easier on the rest of the defense, but the Bucs DBs must make it harder for opposing receivers to get open.

I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see the Bucs try out different combinations of players at the safety positions this season. The team simply can’t afford to have sub-par play from those positions. Preferably, all four safeties would make valid cases for playing time and give the Bucs great depth, but that isn’t likely to be the case. The Bucs would definitely be happy with just two competent safeties this year.

David Rumsey is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Beat Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter (@David_Bucs) for more Bucs’ news and analysis.