National Football League

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Safety

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 3:03 p.m. ET

Sports Illustrated

Defensive coordinator Mike Smith likes to play a variety of zone coverages, often with a disguise, and you don't necessarily need great safeties to operate like this, although the better you are at this position, the better your disguises. Both of the Bucs' starting safeties, Chris Conte and Brad McDougald, are free agents. Conte, a poor tackler who lacks range in coverage, lost his job to the much headier Keith Tandy in the final weeks of 2016 and should not be re-signed. McDougald is a quality downhill run-filler, but he can be a little hit-or-miss in coverage. Whether he's retained will largely depend on how Tampa Bay's front office feels about the NFL's 2017 draft and free-agent class.