Tampa Bay Buccaneers Training camp battles to watch: Defense
By Brian DeFeo
Safety Battles: Chris Conte vs Keith Tandy vs Justin Evans vs Jordan Whitehead
The Buccaneers secondary problems weren’t solely on the corner. The safeties are a concern as well. One of the bright spots for the franchise was the instant development of rookie safety Justin Evans.
Asked to start eleven games this past season he showed flashes of brilliance. Evans was one of four players on the team with at least three interceptions last year, including one against Tom Brady.
Evans is a big hitter and is moving towards becoming the ballhawk Tampa has been looking for.
Chris Conte has not been a fan favorite during his stint in Tampa Bay. However, he did prove that he still had some value after last season. Two years ago, I would’ve begged you to have Conte as far away from the field as possible, but he has proven he can make some plays. With 76 tackles and one interception Conte had a non-splashy but fairly productive season. He is not the long-term fix for the team but could remain a starter for the next few seasons while they try and find his replacement.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Keith Tandy was a superstar on the team in 2016, what happened in 2017 was the complete opposite. Tandy went from four interceptions, nine pass deflections and 52 tackles to zero interceptions, zero deflections and 18 tackles.
Tandy just resigned with the Bucs for a cheap two-year, $2.74 million contract but could be off the books after this year. He needs to make some plays if he’ll want to remain with the team. The Bucs did have enough faith to bring him back into the fold for one more season.
The newest addition to the safety core is Jordan Whitehead out of Pittsburgh. He is the cousin of former Buccaneer, Darrelle Revis. Whitehead is a hard-hitting versatile safety. He’s not the biggest safety but packs a punch with quickness and fearlessness.
His biggest weakness is mental mistakes. He’s been easily fooled by play action and is known for floating outside of his zone. The talent is there, however he needs to cut out the mental mistakes and could be a great contributor on special teams in 2018.
Projected Winners: Justin Evans and Chris Conte
Next: Buccaneers: What if 2014 went differently?
Those are the biggest defensive training camp battles for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Who do you think the Buccaneers should go with on defense. Sound off on Twitter and Facebook, and look forward to the upcoming training camp.