I don't know how I missed this last month. After the Bears spent their 3rd round pick on safety Chris Conte it sent me scurrying to the web looking for scouting reports on the kid. I hadn't even heard of him before draft night, and as I previously stated when his name was called I wasn't happy. But... After hearing MIke Mayock's take on him, then I found some scouting reports on him, and I was ok with the selection. But then I found the article I'll touch on after the jump...
National Football Post had an article last month, yes last month, that mentioned numerous teams that were showing interest in Conte. In fact they list eleven teams, including this sentence;
The Green Bay Packers and the Cleveland Browns have also displayed a lot of interest.
The Packers had interest? I wonder what round they were looking to take him in? I found Conte getting anywhere from a 3rd to a 5th, depending on the scout. Maybe the Pack had him pegged as a 3rd rounder too? From my article the night he was drafted, (I love blockquoting myself!):
CBS Sports and NFLDraftScout.com had him rated as the 3rd best FS in the draft and the 95th prospect overall. Walter Football had him as a 3rd-5th round prospect. I guess some scouts thought he went about where he was supposed to go. The National Football Post had him listed as a fast rising strong safety prospect at 210. Sports Illustrated had him rated as the 5th best safety with a 4th round grade.
I'm sure if Green Bay took him in the 3rd their fans would be just as befuddled, but he's our guy now. Would I have still prefered an offensive guard in the 3rd? Yeah, but if Conte is a baller it's all good. From the NFP article:
Conte has impressed NFL scouts with his range, footwork and aggressiveness and is drawing third-round grades.
The 6-foot-2, 197-pounder runs the 40-yard dash in 4.52 seconds and bench presses 225 pounds 18 times. He posted a 10-07 broad jump, 35 1/2 inch vertical leap and a 10-07 broad jump.
The arrow is definitely pointing up on the kids skills.