Any analysis of a player should be systematic. A complete diagnostic should highlight the basics. Then, without order of primacy, move on to watching tape, evaluating and determining level of competition through a thorough examination the strengths and weaknesses of the competition and completing a physical, intellectual, and personality evaluation of the player in an unbiased and unprejudiced environment. Often times, experts examine players through ratings that are based on statistics, word of mouth or press coverage. Often times, what should be a critical analysis is glossed over and hastily reviewed. Coaches rely on these scouts to provide complete reports and studies. The teams have months upon months to prepare a dossier on every player that is of importance. Yet time after time these scouts and experts produce careless and wrong evaluations. The primary reason experts and scouts can create shoddy work is because the expert’s and scout’s jobs are not accountable to anyone except maybe a lethargic front office and the public and secondly their jobs are not directly related to the output or performance of the draft pick. The only thing that suffers is the expert’s or scout’s credibility. How many times do they get to make a wrong evaluation? How many times does a front office make a bad decision on a player? While on the other hand, how many times do the people who actually play the game or coach the game get to make an error in judgment? If the evaluators expect part of the player’s job duty to include opposition evaluation, why do the experts and scouts get away with providing incomplete, inaccurate and biased player examinations? One player that has come to mind in this poor evaluation process is Eric Berry. Eric Berry's has many accomplishments in his early years as a free safety at Tennessee, but the draft projections touted by many professional experts and scouts about his abilities are amazingly inaccurate. Every guy with a draft website or microphone has Berry leaving Tennessee after 3 years for the NFL and being drafted within the first few picks regardless of team needs and his ability to play in packages and certain defenses. However, there are a few talented people who examine Berry completely. Seahawks Draft Blog: Quick thoughts on Eric Berry vs Alabama And Seahawks Draft Blog: Some thoughts on Mays and Berry They take a complete review of Berry, which would include not half a game or a few positive plays, but the entire game. Anyone that watches Berry is reminded of a similar player, named Reggie Nelson. Reggie Nelson has proven that college safeties who are cornerbacks that are not playing college corner back in college have a hard time playing and staying on the field in the NFL as a safety. When you hear the chatter about Berry the chatter sounds eerily similar to Nelson. Here is what CBS sports wrote about Nelson in 2006, “Instinctive player who is field smart… Very good at making plays on the ball, but while he is a physical hitter he needs to improve his overall strength to prevent getting washed out by the bigger blockers working through trash … Times his leaps and has natural hands, but feels he is better served making plays on the ball rather than neutralizing the receiver (when he misses, he is slow to recover in attempts to get back into the play) … Shows good urgency to close, but must be more diligent of making the wrap tackle rather than colliding into his opponent (fails to reach out, grab and drag the ball carrier down) … Would like to see him attack the receiver to separate the ball carrier from the ball rather than try to make the big interception. “ I have a hard time wondering why Berry is touted so soundly when he only has statistical numbers that most in the media fawn over but not the actual measurables and genuine ability to play the safety position every down in the NFL. Then I am reminded that certain media outlets have a vested interest in maintaining the mythical belief that he is a tackling machine, a heady player and a once in a generation player. However, if you read the reports distributed from those media outlets regarding Berry you are left with serious doubts about his physical wherewithal to constantly withstand collisions by larger and faster and more skilled NFL sized backs than a college QB. “The 235-pound Tebow lowered his broad shoulders and aimed his helmet squarely at Berry -- much more fullback than quarterback in that moment. Berry was giving away 32 pounds, but refused to go for the ankle tackle. He stood his ground and awaited the train wreck. "I just bit down on my mouthpiece and tried to give it everything I had," Berry said. "All the power cleans, all the squats I did this summer, that's why."The percussive collision sent both bodies flying to the ground -- Tebow falling forward, but not splattering Berry by any means."At first I was like, 'Dang, he done got me, y'all,'" Berry said with a smile. "Then I looked at the JumboTron. You can call it what you want. It was a good collision."” Florida looks vulnerable in win, Tennessee looks tough in loss - ESPN At 190 lbs and 5'11, there should be serious reservations on whether he would be able to come up in the box and tackle an NFL sized running back. He lacks control when coming to make tackles. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3UVnudTSYA&feature=related]YouTube - Eric Berry gets juked out of his shoes by Cory Boyd[/ame] His hips demonstrate a lack of fluidity when in his back peddling he has to break to the left or right quickly. His coverage skills have yet to be tested because most opponents of Tennessee rarely need to throw. His tackling is not fundamentally sound; he actually leads with his head and shoulders which are now considered a major penalty in the NFL [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMI4qj0pj3E&feature=related"]YouTube- Broadcast Yourself.[/ame] furthermore, when the opponents do throw downfield most of Berry’s’ INTs have come from the obviously horribly thrown balls where he has had nothing to do except play in the outfield. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk7Oj8wmRLQ&feature=related"]YouTube- Broadcast Yourself.[/ame] Arguably, as a free safety he plays mostly 30 yards behind the LOS which has resulted in most of his interceptions. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiDrM26RS8g&feature=related]YouTube - Eric Berry All American[/ame] In my humble opinion drafting a player extremely high who will only play a few packages on defense is not sound. Drafting a player because he reminds you of certain NFL talent that makes highlight plays but also possess liabilities in their game is unwise. Rating a player with poor position skills high enough to set your franchise back a few years is a waste of a pick. Why draft a talent that is the product of poor evaluation and media hype so high, when you have to redraft or contract to sign another player to replace his deficiencies. One highlight play, two highlight plays 12 highlight plays is fantastic for ratings and media rankings, but a total game of consistently solid and mistake free football for 19 games or more is what makes a champion. I do not contend Eric Berry will be a Reggie Nelson, but he appears to suffer from the same deficiencies, media buildup and inaccurate evaluations that caused Jacksonville to Draft Nelson in the first round. In the end, Jacksonville moved the 5’11 200lbs Former safety Reggie Nelson to cornerback and is now in the market to replace a wasted 1st round choice from 2006.
Aparently you havent watched this year then when he has been playing up at the LoS as a SS in a John Lynch role and has thrived under Monte Kiffin only having 1 bad game which had as much to do with poor LB play as it did Berry. If he was all about numbers then people would be crucifiying him this year due to the change in scheme which means he is not in coverage nearly as much, unless when playing as a nickel CB on occasion and is a reason he only has 2 INTs this year. And the assumption that he has been playing 30 yards back at FS in general is wrong and more relevan to Taylor Mays, for starters Berry has played SS for the majority of his Tennessee career. He may not be Taylor Mays in terms of a physical specimen but he still has a mid-high 4.3 speed and although he is not 235 he is compact in his body and has atleast adequate strength. You quoted the article about the Tebow/Berry collision this year i think that proved it from essentially a standing still position he did not bulk backwards until one of his team mates hit into him and stopped Tebow who was at a run. That is in my opinion a bigger collision than he would take hitting an Adiran Peterson or Michael Turner(bareing in mind most of Turners weight is in his legs). Berry does make highlight plays but he makes 50x more every down plays that go unnoticed and the fact that there is video of him being juked doesn't take away from that, good luck finding a top player that hasnt been out done in the open field, does the fact that Tom Brady juked Brian Urlacher mean that Urlacher can't tackle properly? No doubt he could be a top CB but a top Safety is more important than that imo and he will work out to be one of those.
He's a guy that will probably be good in the NFL just on athletic ability alone. I need to see more tape on him, the combine won't mean crap cause he's going to post great numbers.
i stopped reading at comparing him to reggie nelson. eric berry is the best DB prospect ive seen in my lifetime. Sean taylor, landry, reed, polamalu, and huff were all very highly regarded prospects but as a pro prospect coming out of college berry is the best out of all of them and its not even close imo. will he be better than all of those guys? who the heck knows, all i know is he can be, he has the potential to be great. prospect wise hes the best, wayyyyyy better than taylor mays. everything else about what he will d in the pros is a mystery
The guy included links to his blog and it's his only post here. Just a shameless plug. And no I didn't read the whole article, and thanks to K-train I won't have to.
njacfan?.... have you seen berry play?.... really.... ? there is no doubt that eric berry is hyped as a big top pick in the draft but until the kid lines up on sundays and gets destroyed week in and week out.... he has the skills to pay the bills yo....
Reply I am going to make several points today so please read this completely. A professional sports scout is in the realm of professions like that of a weather person or fortune teller where they can be consistently wrong and yet show up to work again and again and still receive a paycheck. Any job where you speculate in prospect or potential has a high percentage of failure. Those who delve in this game of guesswork, try to present their anaylsis in positive words on objects they like and downgrade objects they don’t like. They use comparisons to known quantities, which is completely unfair to the unknown quantity. For example, I’ve often heard Eric Berry is a ball hawk like Ed Reed or Troy Palomalu or is similar to Sean Taylor. No offense to Eric Berry but, Ed Reed and Troy Palomau are perennial All Pros who play on fantastic defenses with other great ensemble players who also make consistent Pro Bowls. If the draft speculators are correct and a team with a poor defense drafts Berry extremely early then the odds of Berry making the Pro Bowl or displaying his true potential will be significantly reduced because he will not be on a team with pro bowl caliber players. Currently the teams at the bottom of the NFL rankings in total defense are Detriot, St. Louis, Tampa Bay and Kansas City. It just so happens those teams are ranked at the bottom of the spectrum in pass defense. It doesn’t help that these teams just hired new head coaches this year. So the commentators and the draftniks would make the obvious claim that those bad teams need significant help in the secondary. Bad move and poor team analysis. Let’s take Tampa Bay for example. In 2008, with the same players on the 2009 secondary, Tampa Bay finished near the top of the league in pass defense. So how can the draftnicks look at this and say Tampa needs secondary help? If they looked a little closer they would have seen in 2008, the Tampa Bay defense against the RUN was also tops in the league yet, in 2009 they are bordering on being last against the RUN. Why such a drastic difference…They lost long time Defensive Coordinator and now current Tennessee Defensive Coordinator Monty Kiffin and then they lost Linebackers Derrick Brooks and Cato June both of whom played on super bowl winning teams, excelled at their positions and were replaced by Geno Hayes and other NFL journeymen. So why draft secondary when your obvious problem lies in your linebackers, line play and coaching. The secondary is fine, but the players upfront need to be addressed in Tampa Bay. Adding a secondary player will not help especially if that player cannot tackle a large NFL running back. The great Bill Parcells provides an analytical approach to creating what makes a prototypical NFL safety. ESPN Radio - SuperStream Player Ideal height and weight- 6'0 3/8 inches 206 lbs Ideal 40m- 4.53 40 Parcells says these are things they must have 1. FBI- Football Instincts. Quick reacter. 2. Toughness & competitiveness 3. Tackling & run support 4. Good ball skills 5. Have to be able to cover 1 on 1 in short spaces such as the red zone. Can't hide them there 6. Have to be able to cover the TE 7. Have to be the QB of the secondary Must have these skills or characteristics -Be able to read keys -React -Have catch up speed -Burst to close -Ball reaction -Hands -Man coverage -Good zone reaction 3rd down defenses are faced with a dilemma...... Are they (SS) big enough to move into the box Normally are key special teams guys Unfortunately, Berry lacks a lot of what is on Parcell’s’ list. Berry has regressed this year in his tackling and certainly falls far short of zone reaction and man coverage. Watch the Ole Miss video I provided. No matter how much logic or objectivity you try to impart to the know-it-all fans or teams to address the team needs somehow, someway the bottom dwelling teams Front Office listen to their scouts and the NFL commentators, and seem hell bent on drafting a rookie who has 0 experience covering a NFL player in game, is physically unable to properly perform the needed duties of the job, is over hyperd and under anaylzed, never experienced the speed of the NFL game and never digested or reacted to the varying offenses and NFL in-game changes. Granted every rookie faces those tasks but to ask a rookie to help a team with significant flaws is a task for a veteran free agent defensive back to answer. The responsibility is too much to impart to a soon to be rookie in Berry that is overhyped, under anaylzed and not an NFL safety. Sometimes, those who are close to the situation know best. Charles Davis, Fox BCS Analyst, Former Tennessee Volunteer Defensive Back, NFL Network Analyst, commented on Eric Berry’s future as a NFL Safety; "As far as Eric Berry - don't be surprised if he's a pro Cornerback.....as opposed to a pro Safety." Davis goes on to add, "He's got the build to play corner, he's got the feet to play corner, and he could very well follow in the same footsteps as a former Tenennesse All-American Safety by the name of Dale Carter, who became an All-Pro Corner." Yet, when you read or hear any ESPN commentator, the discussion starts with Eric Berry is the next Ed Reed or Sean Taylor, He has this or that, Can do this or that. That was last year and his freshman, when he racked up double digit INT’s and made big plays that made him a known quantity on the college football scene in the SEC. This year, the over hyped Berry who won the Jim Thorpe Award, for the Nation’s top Defensive Back has reminded me of former over hyped Former Missouri Safety William Moore who had a breakout All American early career at Missouri and then in his final year was exposed as a being not as good as the prognosticators thought. Berry’s performance in the new Tennessee Defense run by long time NFL defensive coach Monty Kiffin has not been nearly top notch in the nation for the defensive back to be awarded the Thorpe Award. He did not lead the nation in INT’s or tackles; at times he was not even the best defensive back on his team. For reference on Berry’s poor performance in 2009 read this article. Seahawks Draft Blog: Eric Berry - still not feeling it CBSsports.com provides a snippet of Berry’s performance in a game versus Auburn. 10/04/2009 - SEASON RECAP: Auburn 26, Tennessee 22 - The volunteers gave up 459 total yards and had eight 3-and-outs on offense as they lost their SEC home opener to the Tigers. SS Eric Berry notched 14 tackles, but by his standards, didn't have a great game. Berry missed a handful of tackles and was plowed by Auburn's Ben Tate on a second quarter run for a first down. If you want to see evidence of the hit by Ben Tate, it is contained on this website. 3rd Saturday in Blogtober Eric Berry BREAKING NEWS watch as Eric Berry’s poor ability to engage the tackler causes him to be leveled. It raises an interesting question on how scouts remark and rave on Berry’s ability to tackle. Do they really watch games or just repeat what they have heard or seen in clips. By the way after the Auburn game, Tennessee dropped its Heisman Campaign for Berry rather quickly when it realized that he was more hype than good. For reference read here…Auburn's Ben Tate sends Heisman Hopes of Tennessee's Eric Berry Skidding | Bleacher Report Now, I present this video of Tennessee vs. Ole Miss, for further edification on Berry’s poor performance and inability to play the safety position. The video speaks for itself. I implore you to watch all 5:15 minutes of the game. Watch how he does not break down to tackle the on coming runner, watch how he gets pushed around by much larger players blocking downfield. There are markers to signify where Berry is on the field. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISPX3lEUKFE]YouTube - Eric Berry vs. Ole Miss[/ame] After the game the Ole Miss running back had this to say about Berry, "When I cut, I landed on (offensive guard John Jerry)," McCluster said. "It caught my balance. After that, it was one man to beat. I made a move and had two blockers. It was a lot of field. I saw No. 14 (Eric) Berry coming. I was looking dead in his eyes because I knew I was going to set him up. And I just burst to the sideline, one cut and he missed. I saw two defenders and I wasn't going to go down. They called me small all game. They hit me, and I came up a little short." RebelSports.net - McCluster burns record book, mauls Vols Even Bruce Feldman of ESPN, who loves Berry and has been comparing him to NFL pro bowlers, tweeted about Berry’s performance in the Ole Miss game “McCluster even having Eric Berry grabbing at air today.” BFeldmanESPN (Bruce Feldman) 14 November 2009, 1:35 pm Eric Berry | TweetFeed.com Finally, if you were an NFL GM or team in need, you should or would be leery of drafting a player like this. Evaluate your actual team needs and deficiencies. Evaluate your current roster and past performance. Be analytical. Do not be old fashion with drafting the best player available idea. Then again if you listen to the hype and want to feel good for a few big plays and cost your team significant dollars next year, and waste a top draft pick go ahead and select Berry. Put your franchise back a few more years. In all honesty, Berry will be drafted early by someone. Someone will believe that the kid will fit into their system as a game changer. And for those who liken Eric Berry to Ed Reed be forewarned, although ESPN and commentators remark on how great Ed Reed is don’t forget he gives up the big play more often than not. In 2008, Ed Reed and the Ravens gave up: (6) 40+ yard passing plays (41) 20+ yard passing plays That's the same number of 40+ yard passing plays that the Steelers have allowed over the last two years. And the Steelers only allowed (23) 20+ yard passing plays this year. In 2007, Ed Reed (who went to the Pro Bowl) and the Ravens allowed (15) 40+ yard passing plays?! Giving up the deep bomb almost every game is good enough for a Pro Bowl spot? Isn't a free safety supposed to be the last line of defense and stop the big play? Ed Reed isn't playing the position as I understand it too well. Instead of Defensive Player of the Year, Ed Reed should get the Flashiest Interception Returner of the Year.
njacfan......are you really Joe Haden? Or somehow related to him? That would explain a lot......otherwise you can't be serious.
Two posts bashing the best prospect in years, yeah I smell a troll. Any real scout would say to take Berry in a heart beat. I really enjoy one scout in particular, his name is Matt MaGuire. And like most people, he compared Berry to Ed Reed.
