Piling On Chris Conte
October 5th, 2016
Not a fan favorite
Joe has made it clear in recent years Bucs fans just have to have a guy to hate. Each year it’s a different player, seemingly.
From Michael Clayton to Sabby the Goat to Myron Lewis to Gerald McCoy to the object of Lovie Smith’s bromance, Toast Jenkins, it never fails. Season after season there has to be a player to hate.
(For the record: Joe loathed Jenkins, too.)
This season the subject of player hate is safety Chris Conte.
Without question, Joe gets more Conte-related questions on Twitter than any other player. Bucs fans are so desperate to run Conte out of town, they hatch alcohol-induced, harebrained schemes to see him benched. For example, any name of a defensive back they recognize just has to be better than Conte, even though said player(s) can’t find backup work with the worst of defenses in the NFL.
Just last night, a fan so enraged about Conte suggested the Bucs sign lazy, suspended running back Karlos Williams to replace Conte. How nuts is this, aside from the fact the guy is lazy, out of shape and suspended? To the best of Joe’s knowledge, this Williams hasn’t practiced a play at safety since his junior year of college. Yet someone thinks he can step right in and start at safety in the NFL? This is an example of what PlayStation has wrought upon football fans.
Well, Bucs fans can take some solace in the fact that respected X’s and O’s guru Andy Benoit of theMMQB.com has noticed Conte’s rough play. He, too, isn’t fond of the veteran safety.
#Bucs Film: Conte sloppy in his end zone DPI on Taylor. Unnecessary contact with no look back for the ball. It was avoidable, he wasn’t beat
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) October 4, 2016
Joe isn’t trying to run Conte out of town. Conte’s play would likely improve if the Bucs could somehow fix the decade-long broken record and get a consistent pass rush.
And no, Joe doesn’t think Keith Tandy is the answer. Joe will take a leap of faith and believe if the defensive coaches of the Bucs thought Tandy was a better option, then he’d be starting by now.
Coaches want to keep their jobs, so it makes no sense why they would start an inferior player game after game, short of a guy being benched for being a knucklehead behind the scenes, which Tandy is not.
Besides, the way Tandy did his best impersonation of Mo Stovall on that gutless non-tackle of Tavon Austin, which cost the Bucs a touchdown against the Rams, Tandy shouldn’t be starting. At least Conte can tackle.
October 5th, 2016 at 11:39 am
I wouldn’t go so far as to compare him to “Toast” Jenkins, not yet. He’s just an average serviceable safety and he’s the best we got right now.
You know what would help clean up the safety play? A pass-rush!!!
Until then, we can expect to see teams test the position over and over just like the slants last year.
October 5th, 2016 at 11:39 am
I am not a conte hater, I think there is a spot on the team for him but I am more pissed at licht for not be able to recognize the weakness at the safety spot because McDougle is TERRIBLE, I mean licht has witnessed this poor play for some time and did NOTHING, the blame is on dunder head licht
October 5th, 2016 at 11:41 am
Im pretty sure 5 weeks into the season a guy who was a rookie is still not out of shape because he knows his livelihood depends on him getting his a$$ back in shape. I would take Karlos Williams over Fred Flintstone Sims or Rodgers anyday
October 5th, 2016 at 11:42 am
Well you’re wrong about one thing Joe. Conte has been very high on my most hated list since he got here. I really dont know how he’s lasted here this long. Everyone always says, “Oh he can tackle”, but you can’t be tackling guys when they’re always 15 yards away from you
October 5th, 2016 at 11:43 am
At this point…….I’d rather have Mark Barron back! Lol!
October 5th, 2016 at 11:52 am
You could fix the pass rush and chris conte still would not be considered good!! I don’t think he was a fan favorite when he was brought here!!! I was surprised he was on the roster this year, and would be very shocked if he was a starter in the league next year!!!!!
October 5th, 2016 at 12:01 pm
@Realist- We don’t need him to be good if we have a pass rush, we just need him to be average. He really should be a back-up. He’s all we got right now though.
October 5th, 2016 at 12:09 pm
@Bucsfanman
I think he is garbage now, and if we had a pass rush he would be below average!!! he will give you one good/average game then 3 bad games!!!!
October 5th, 2016 at 12:15 pm
Realist- At the rate we’re going, below average sounds really good!!! Hopefully they can get him some help with a rush or maybe the rookie getting up to speed and taking some snaps.
I know this, WR, Safety, DT/DE for 2017!
October 5th, 2016 at 12:21 pm
You’re forgetting someone.
Barrett Ruud. For a while that guy elicited strong reactions from both sides of the debate. Personally, I thought he was a very good player when he was here. I can’t say the same about Chris Cant-D.
October 5th, 2016 at 12:24 pm
@realist…I cant believe what im typing but your right about conte…..GO BUCS!!!!
October 5th, 2016 at 12:26 pm
Well Joe, all the players in that list make sense, with the exception of McCoy of course.
Sabby, Myron, and Jenkins ABSOLUTELY were hot garbage. You can EJ Biggers to that list too.
Conte is below average but an actual pass rush can hide those kinds of problems. Hard to believe our DL depth is worse than last year… But it is.
#itsabucslife #sob
Unrelated: Miko said on Twitter that Brent has not played a bad game yet this year. I guess falling down multiple times allowing touchdowns doesn’t count.
October 5th, 2016 at 12:28 pm
Hate is an unreasonable emotion to have for someone you don’t know personally & doesn’t do anything wrong except being incompetent.
If you want to blame someone, blame Licht….all Conte did was accept the job offer.
Everyone knew we needed help at Safety and speed at WR…..we got neither. Don’t blame the player (s).
October 5th, 2016 at 12:36 pm
Conte is good for depth. I don’t know his salary though.
The problem is we are starting backups. I think Licht addressed as much defense as he could in the off season. Can’t do it all in one year.
October 5th, 2016 at 12:48 pm
“Yes, the Bucs coaches want to keep their jobs so it makes no sense in any way why they would start an inferior player game after game, short of a guy being benched for being a knucklehead behind the scenes,…”
False. As you have pointed out, Rodgers was clearly the better back. But they insisted on sims
October 5th, 2016 at 12:55 pm
The Bucs STUNK before Conte and they will STINK after Conte is gone. It’s really doesn’t matter, they will always crap the field. Until they get a QUALITY GM in the building, they will always STINK.
October 5th, 2016 at 12:59 pm
Here’s what I know about Conte – the back of his jersey flashing as he runs toward a receiver 5-10 yards away as they are catching a touchdown
October 5th, 2016 at 1:17 pm
Buccaneer Bonzai Says:
October 5th, 2016 at 12:36 pm
Conte is good for depth. I don’t know his salary though.
——————————————–
LOL – there’s this new invention called Google now Bonzai. Just write “Chris Conte Salary” and this amazing new wizard of an entity tells you instantly that Conte is making $3M this year on a 1-year “prove-it” deal. $1.5M “roster” bonus and $1.5M base salary. Amazing isn’t it?
Now use that magician Google again and pull up the ‘urban dictionary’. Enter “Bonzai” and then helplessly try to stop the perception that you chose that spelling on purpose…
October 5th, 2016 at 1:21 pm
@Bonzai … “The problem is we are starting backups. I think Licht addressed as much defense as he could in the off season. Can’t do it all in one year.” Your first sentence is the best summation of this year’s Bucs team I’ve seen so far Bonzai. Although … some of these ‘starting backups’ couldn’t even make most other teams as backups. But as far as Licht goes, his 2015 draft was excellent; his 2016 draft was marginal (at best). We desperately needed another safety, a WR, and at least 1 more DE/DT … we got none. We got 1 starter (VHIII) out of our 2016 draft class, plus a kicker who may well turn out to be awesome, but we had a zillion holes to fill with our 3rd & 4th round picks before addressing that need by combining them into a 2nd rounder. Holes like Safety, WR, DT/DE just for starters. Mediocre drafting has been killing us year after year.
October 5th, 2016 at 1:38 pm
On topic – I thought Conte played pretty well the 1st game. Haven’t seen him be anything but a liability since. I haven’t re-watched any of the last 3 games to look for detail because I just haven’t had the stomach to. Very disappointed in our team the last 3 weeks.
This team has the talent (when mostly healthy that is) to compete with and beat any team in the league when it is playing turnover free football and Jameis is feeling it.
But the Bucs as a team are making too many mental mistakes and turning the ball over waaay too many times so far this year. And Jameis has had 2 bad games out of 4 so far this year as well.
Both our QB and our team need to be more consistent and cut down on the mental errors. I think we will see a much better product later in the season unless injuries continue to decimate our starters in which case it will basically just be a lost season mostly.
As far as the safety position goes, we need 2 new starters next year unless Ryan Smith gets his chance this year and shines. Conte, McDougald and Tandy are all adequate depth players but none should be starting.
October 5th, 2016 at 1:46 pm
Here’s the thing you can get beat or you can make stupid penalties, you can’t do both. Conte can’t play his way out of his mental weakness. He is out of position whiffs on tackles and needlessly gives up big penalties. If he was leading the league in picks maybe we don’t complain so much. Either he starts making plays, stops being a bonehead, or he needs to hit the bench.
October 5th, 2016 at 2:04 pm
You’re missing the forest for the trees, Joe, and I don’t think that lumping all the criticism of Conte into “alcohol-induced” fan ramblings is very unfair.
Yes, you’re likely right that Conte is the best option we have ATM, as this new staff has little loyalty to him. But THAT is the bigger issue. WHY has this not been fixed? Dominik had a dominant pass-rusher, and let him walk for nothing. The safety he drafted could still be here, if not for Lovie’s bad coaching.
We didn’t draft any safety help. We didn’t sign any FA safety help. And now, we start a safety that would be a special teamer on another squad. Conte may be the focal point, but it’s not unwarranted. He stinks, he’s out of position, and he’s late to plays.
But this ain’t REALLY going to get better until we get better talent in here.
October 5th, 2016 at 2:23 pm
Yet when the Ravens released Terrance Brooks we didn’t step up to sign him and instead went to the eagles… smh
October 5th, 2016 at 2:31 pm
Mike Smith still has guys on the DB bench like Banks. Play them. He is supposedly analyzing all the players he inherited but weren’t cut this season. Good thing we have no home games this weekend. East central FL is under hurricane warnings–possible 100mph gusts tomorrow. Fingers and toes x’ed over here. Go Bucs Monday in Charlotte!!
October 5th, 2016 at 2:50 pm
To everyone that wants to wipe out the entire front office and team (AGAIN!), you’re all morons. Haven’t you realized that doesn’t work? Dominick was an idiot and Licht is only a couple years in. I know the kicker in round 2 was god awful but after Lichts draft last year of the fantastic four (Jameis, Ali, D.Smith, Kwon), you all loved him. Give it time because its not easy to turn a bad team around in one or two seasons.
October 5th, 2016 at 3:06 pm
you can’t have a safety that gets burnt, that gets run-over on every tackle attempt and that is slow and meek. Can’t happen. Conte should have been out of the NFL 3 years ago.
October 5th, 2016 at 3:21 pm
If you want a safety that is late to cover over the top, whiffs on tackles and is far more often on the receiving end of big hits, than Conte is your guy.
October 5th, 2016 at 3:33 pm
Anyone who doesn’t think one player can sink a defense needs to watch the Falcons v Panthers game last week. The Panthers are stacked with talent in a defense they know well. One rookie CB and the Falcons put up 500 yrds. A defense is only as good as it’s weakest link.
October 5th, 2016 at 3:50 pm
Pickgrin,
I took your advice and went to the Urban Dictionary and searched Bonzai.
LMFAO!
October 5th, 2016 at 4:32 pm
I’m still trying to figure this, what is so SPECIAL about the Bucs 2015 draft? We’re 7-13 since that draft, the first 4 picks that everyone is so HIGH on, STINKS like the rest of the team ( if not more).
October 5th, 2016 at 4:49 pm
Pickgrin Says
“LOL – there’s this new invention called Google now Bonzai.”
Jokes on you. By just being patient, I avoided looking it up and you did it for me. 😉
October 5th, 2016 at 5:36 pm
LakelandBuc
“I’m still trying to figure this, what is so SPECIAL about the Bucs 2015 draft? We’re 7-13 since that draft, the first 4 picks that everyone is so HIGH on, STINKS like the rest of the team ( if not more).”
I think you have a phD in Bucs hating or you’re just a huuge band wagon fan. Many people in this league believe Marpet is a future pro bowler and Kwon would’ve been a very strong contender for defensive ROY last year if it weren’t for that damned red bull. Its their second year. Keep the faith, stop the b!%chen.
October 5th, 2016 at 8:20 pm
No answers at safety until next year. Hopefully Ryan Smith becomes a player for us by then and a 2nd day draftee lines up next to him.
October 5th, 2016 at 10:52 pm
Y’all too harsh on tha dude
October 6th, 2016 at 7:30 am
Conte is an average safety that has had a huge load put on him due to the lack of a pass rush and intermittent CB play. He doesn’t suck. Half the safeties in the league would look that bad if the rest of their defense played like the Bucs.
October 6th, 2016 at 8:57 am
Conte is a bad box safety who is inept in coverage. Worst player on our defense. Fact!
October 6th, 2016 at 6:37 pm
Conte is terrible. Saying he is average is beyond generous. He doesn’t read QB eyes, he doesn’t read formations, he doesn’t read receiver positioning, he literally just reacts when the ball is in the air and 9 times out of 10 he is out of position to make the play.
He doesn’t “make” plays at all, by that I mean he doesn’t disrupt or jump routes, he doesn’t bait throws, he doesn’t blitz or stop the run. Honestly I can’t name a single game he’s had a positive effect on but it’s really easy to see the games he’s had negative effects on.
And I also can’t name a single thing he does well that he can hang his hat on. So what makes him even average? Tackling…hah! Coverage…hah! Ballhawking….can’t even laugh so I’ll just stop there.
Ryan Smith, Jonathan Banks or a free agent need to take his spot immediately. It literally can’t be worse than keeping him in. Tandy in his limited showings, has proven to be more of the same, special teamer only.