Chris Conte Says Bucs Need Fear Factor
January 6th, 2016
It’s all smiles and fuzzy blankets from opposing quarterbacks when they face the Buccaneers.
The comfort level for guys like Case Keenum, Ryan Mallett and others was a significant factor in the Bucs’ defense allowing a league worst 70 percent completion rate.
Veteran safety Chris Conte, Lovie’s handpicked free agent who started 13 games this season, chatted about comfortable QBs with Casey Phillips of Buccaneers.com.
Conte says Bucs safeties must become a bunch that makes its presence felt.
“Getting around the ball more. I don’t think we had enough interceptions on the back end. Really gotta be a group that comes out and is feared,” Conte said. “Quarterbacks don’t want to throw over the middle; they don’t want to throw deep because we’re back there. So, hopefully, we can work on that and get around the ball more next year.”
Conte turns 27 next month and will soon be an unrestricted free agent. Do the Bucs re-sign him? There’s a reasonable chance, considering Lovie Smith is a big fan of the guy, and it’s more likely that Major Wright is the safety who exits the building.
Remember, too, that Conte was on the receiving end of an extraordinarily bold and glowing scouting report from Bucs icon Ronde Barber. So perhaps Lovie feels the same way.
January 6th, 2016 at 11:05 am
Conte is stating the obvious…..we are getting burned short and over the middle…..I think the last 4 games we missed Kwon…..we need CBs with speed and we need to do more jamming.
January 6th, 2016 at 11:06 am
Conte is not good. Should not be hard to find an upgrade in either the draft or FA.
Then again the Bucs cut DJ Swearinger and he goes right to Arizona and makes an impact. Trade Barron and he does the same. Goldson? Same. Perhaps we just have horrible coaches who can’t maximize what they have and need the Chris Conte’s of the world who, while lacking in talent, know exactly what the coach wants and will fit in.
January 6th, 2016 at 11:10 am
Buc fans “fear” watching lovie’s defense on Sundays!!!!!!
January 6th, 2016 at 11:15 am
Conte and Tandy were both decent for the most part. Was wondering why we went away from Tandy for so long during the season
January 6th, 2016 at 11:22 am
Conte was not our problem last year. He played with passion at least. He had some great games in fact…N.O…ints…fumble recoveries…is he the next Ed Reed…hardly…and so even if you claim he’s not a strenght I might have to counter that compared to the rest of the defense he certainly wasn’t the problem.
First we need to fix the problem positions…CB..DE then we can begin to upgrade any mediocrity left. I’m not worried about Conte. If they keep him fine..if they don’t they know something I don’t, or another team just offered too much money.
January 6th, 2016 at 11:27 am
Is it a problem when Chris Conte is arguably the cornerstone of your secondary?
January 6th, 2016 at 11:38 am
@StPeteBucsFan
I agree I think Conte looked decent and would at least be a solid backup if they’re able to upgrade that position in the draft.
January 6th, 2016 at 11:59 am
@St.petebucsfan
you mean: we need to fix the problem positions…head coach…defensive coordinator…CB..DE
January 6th, 2016 at 12:00 pm
I like tandy, but he is small. He doesnt hit hard, and i question his ability to tackle the bigger players in the league. With that said he may have the best instincts of any other bucs safety. I would like to see more from tandy. Specifically in pass coverage.
I think conte is a good consistent player. He doesn’t make make splash plays because he is too busy not getting burned. He plays it safe and would rather get a tackle after the catch, than go for a pass break up or pick and risk giving up a TD. It’s why he rarely, if ever, let a wr get behind him. He keeps everything in front of him like a good tampa 2 safety. His talent level doesn’t allow him to make big plays while also being the deepest man. He doesnt have the quickness, speed, instincts, or ball skills to give a cushion and make it up in time to make the play. He is a good player just not great. We need to find a great player who has the talent to make those big plays. Baron, nor goldson had hat talent either. They tried, and failed for big touchdowns constantly. Sure a few times hey won, but they lost a lot more than won. Conte knows his limits and plays to not give up the big play.
January 6th, 2016 at 12:02 pm
When a team is as thin in talent as this one. EVERYONE must be re-signed and at least be camp meat.
January 6th, 2016 at 12:06 pm
The biggest problem for the defense is the lack of consistent pass rush. Without a pass rush qbs can do what they’ve done to us all year. The 1 good game our pass rush had was the first game against the saints. And we saw how bad Brees played that game, it wasnt because brees had a random off day, our pass rush caused him to have a bad day. Jaq smith had a career day and couldn’t be stopped. We missed that every other game though. A pass rush can hide a bad secondary, because the qb will throw off target if he is under pressure. A cb doesnt have to be perfect if the pass is off. First thing’s first, FIX THE PASS RUSH.
January 6th, 2016 at 12:09 pm
“I don’t think we had enough interceptions on the back end.”
There weren’t enough defensed passes! I can remember stretches in MULTIPLE games where I would look to my wife and say, “How long has it been since there was a CONTESTED pass?” Not a break up or an INT, just a CB in the vicinity of the ball making it semi-difficult for a receiver to catch the ball. I don’ t need INTs as a fan of defense… but even just knocking the ball down says that at least your guy was in position.
I would start to count how many uncontested passes there were in a row. The number would get into the double-digits routinely.
January 6th, 2016 at 12:19 pm
Sign the safety in San Diego that wants to go elsewhere. We need talent so bad
January 6th, 2016 at 1:03 pm
chris conte can and should be back next year. he will be affordable and for the most part understands his assignments. however, the bucs must make the right moves so that chris conte is back as a special teamer and backup, not a guy taking a the majority of safety snaps when healthy
January 6th, 2016 at 1:30 pm
Chris Conte is the second coming of Sabby the Goat…
The guy was always out of position, made stupid penalties ( so did the rest of the defense ) and is always hurt…
Cut him!
January 6th, 2016 at 1:40 pm
Well let me tell you something Chris. The fear factor won’t be coming out of the gum smiler Aunt Geraldine. Look elsewhere. His only form of fear factor is the fear of harming the other team and getting his uniform dirty. Well not so much the uniform. He has grass stains on his back after every game.
January 6th, 2016 at 3:45 pm
Conte, and the rest of our defensive backfield, looked subpar this year. Call me crazy but if the opposing QB had to throw off his heels once in a while our DB’s would have looked more capable. This isn’t to say our secondary can’t use an upgrade in talent
January 6th, 2016 at 7:06 pm
Start by getting rid of Chris Conte.
January 6th, 2016 at 9:36 pm
Yeah resign him and add another in draft or fa. That position is mediocre talent wise. Tandy and mcdougle look like backups to me. Be nice to get a breakdown of safeties coming out. Id take a safety over cb in draft based on lovies scheme. Add cb 3-4th did.
January 6th, 2016 at 9:50 pm
Tandy isn’t too bad. He has great instincts, but is a bit slow. When given opportunities he does make INTs. Conte is avg. at best. B. Mac made some plays a year ago, but never developed this year. Needless to say, I think we need to draft a safety in rounds 3 or 4. Shoot we need to come away with 3 DBs and 2 DEs in this draft. Leaving room for a WR,DT and possibly one more pick. Thanks to a comp pick or the trade for Glennon.