This works the other way, too. If this draft is as deep as we all think, we shouldn't have to trade up and give up a significant future pick to get Berry when there are going to be quality players available in rounds 2-4.
This defense needs more than 2 players. 2 DEs, 1 NT, 1 OLB and a starter at safety opposite Leonhard. But to get back to your point, I completely agree. Jumping up in this draft makes no sense.
And this is the way I'm thinking about 95% of us want it to go. So we don't get Eric Berry or Earl Thomas at S. We still have a shot at Nate Allen, Morgan Burnett, Chad Jones, Reshad Jones, Kam Chancellor, Robert Johnson etc.... All quality players that given time could turn into stud safeties. I'm using these players as example so feel free to fill in names for other positions as well. This draft is all about depth at key positions we can't sacrifice that for one player no matter how insane that one player is. And next years draft is crazy loaded at 3-4 DE so I definitely do not want to give up our 1st rounder for next year. There are numerous Pro Bowl caliber DE's in '11 and losing that 1st rounder would pretty much destroy any chance of grabbing one. Although with the 32nd pick in the 2011 draft it'll be tough to get one anyways :up::jets:
I absolutely love it when people make shit up just to help prove their point. Way to go. This draft forum is one of the best things about this board because of the intelligent posters who share their facts to the less informed. You are watering down a very good product. O yeah, says who? You?
if youre going to dream at least have a somewhat realistic dream. earl thomas is not that far behind berry and will take far less to acquire. if he stays one more year in college, he is the eric berry of the 2011 draft (maybe the safety from clemson is up there with him)
FACT: This years draft is the deepest in years because of the potential of a 2011 lock out and possible rookie salary restrictions being put into place in 2011. FACT: Because many underclassmen entered the draft a year earlier, next years draft will not be nearly as deep. Opinion: With the possibility of a lock out in 2011, Tanny and Rex may be willing to use the 2011 draft picks as bargaining tools this year to get what they want. FACT: If you dont like what I post, you dont have to read it and in no way am I watering down the product that TGG offers. I try to entice conversation and different ideas.
actually, far less underclassmen declared than anticipated. in 2008, there were 53 college eligible players who declared. in 2009, there were 46 ... this year 53 so your "facts" are, in fact, false
When my mother was pregnant with me, they did an ultrasound and found she was having twins. When they did another ultrasound a few weeks later, they discovered that I had adsorbed the other fetus. Do I regret this? No, I believe his tissue has made me stronger. I now have the strength of a grown man and a little baby
FACT: Just because this years draft is loaded doesn't mean you sell the farm for Eric Berry. You talk about this is a deep draft, then trade multiple picks plus next years for 1 player? Once again way to go. FACT: You are once again just spewing out nonsense. Juniors come out every single year, and many of them are expected to leave early so it bares no ill effect on the status of the next years draft. FACT: Trading our whole draft next year because of possible lockout is stupid. If this was the way to go wouldn't every team try to do it? And which teams would take these draft picks if they are as useless as you are trying to say they are? FACT: You are indeed watering down a good product. There are great scenarios and insight put into this forum every single day, and many people like me use this as a reference and guide to the draft. You constantly creating outlandish scenarios does not stimulate conversation, it waters it down. It's like when a great show adds a shitty secondary character.
FACT: Your starting to post an awful lot like run and gun 10...or in other words, a big fucking troll.
If Berry starts to drop into the 9-12 range, there's a decent chance we can get him if we want to, I think. Because this draft class has so much depth, I think there are many more teams that want to trade down than trade up. Our 1st and 2nd might be enough to move up to that range. Sure, the team up top isn't getting "value" per se, but if you're someone like the Jags or Browns, who have multiple needs, you want to load up on picks and giving up draft chart value might be the way to do it. Personally, I think Berry or Haden would be worth 1st and 2nd round picks this year. If either start sliding, they're worth trading up for.
Thought this was a good read http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=cr-safetyberry041510 In February, when many NFL scouting departments were putting the final polish on their draft reports, an NFC coach had an eyebrow raising question for his general manager. With the franchise beginning to hammer out its draft board, a consensus was building: There was a very good chance that a safety was going to be at the No. 1 slot on the board. “Has that ever happened before?” the coach asked his general manager. The GM shook his head: “Never.” This particular ranking, the coach would later note, gave no weight to team-centric concepts such as need, value or salary slot. It was just a preliminary snapshot of who the franchise believed were the best, rock-solid, can’t miss NFL players in this upcoming draft. And University of Tennessee safety Eric Berry … well, he fit all of those titles. In fact, he might have been the only player who matched that description back in February. And almost two months later, not much has changed. “One [player] who I have thought for a while was as close to [flawless] as possible, that’s Berry,” the coach said. “He’s as perfect a player as there is in this draft. And I like [Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong] Suh a lot. I think he’s pretty special, too. But I just can’t see Berry not having a great, great NFL career.” Of course, such admiration guarantees Berry nothing once the draft begins on April 22. He won’t be the first player to hear his name called in New York. Or the second or third. Indeed, thanks in large part to the salary slotting system that NFL rookies fit into, Berry likely won’t hear his name called until fourth or fifth at the earliest in this draft. And he may go even a few slots later. Thanks in part to a Cold War era hangover in the league’s value system, safeties still enter the league’s annual draft as red-headed stepchildren, right alongside centers and guards. And Berry is no different, subject to the archaic thought that safeties are little more than roving outfielders whose chief mission is to keep a lid on the deep abyss of a football field – the last line of defense in a worst-case scenario. Never mind that when used correctly, elite level safeties have proven to be some of the NFL’s most dynamic playmakers. All Pro staples such as the Baltimore Ravens’ Ed Reed(notes), the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Troy Polamalu(notes), and – when healthy – the Indianapolis Colts’ Bob Sanders(notes), have all proven to be game-changers. Those three players helped revolutionize the way teams use their safeties, taking the mentality of the big, heavy hitters and combining them with the versatile gazelles who fare well in coverage. To put their importance in perspective, consider that from the inception of the NFL’s defensive player of the year award, safeties captured the honor twice from 1971 through 2003. But in the last six years, Reed and Sanders captured it twice more, showing that full service safeties – the guys who hit, cover, support the run and create turnovers – can dominate. Now enter Berry, who departs a stellar three-year career at Tennessee having forced 16 turnovers (14 interceptions and two fumbles), scored three defensive touchdowns and averaged more than 80 tackles a year as a top-notch run supporter. He also got three sacks in 2008, the one year Tennessee attempted to get him more involved in blitz packages, and was an X-factor who was repeatedly asked to match up with SEC stars Percy Harvin(notes), Earl Bennett(notes) and Early Doucet(notes). That versatility, along with his playing style and athleticism have drawn rave reviews from NFL scouts, who have struggled to find something wrong with his game. And even when they do, they often qualify the faint reservations as extreme nitpicking. Add that to the fact that his background has zero red flags, and you have a prospect who – in the right hands – is considered almost a fool-proof superstar at his position. The next Ed Reed, most executives say. That is, when they’re not suggesting that Berry might actually be better than Reed. “This guy has got better cover skills, better hips and fluidity [than Reed],” said one NFC general manager. “… You’re talking about a guy who is fast, a very good to excellent athlete, he’s got ball skills, he’s got tackling skills, he plays with urgency, he’s got a nice mind for the game, he brings leadership, and he’ll woo people when he interviews with them with his combination of confidence and ability on the field. You can put him in certain situations that are really creative. He’s got the toughness to play strong safety, but he can be an interchangeable safety, too.” “He’s the complete package.” A complete package who will likely get passed over at least four times in this month’s draft, partially because his salary slot at the top of the draft is expected to make him the highest paid safety in the NFL. Should he go to the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 5 overall – and the Chiefs are believed to be smitten with him – he’ll be looking at a range of $26-$28 million in guaranteed money. That’s more than any safety has ever received in league history, and dwarfs the $15 million guarantee that prized free-agent safety Antrel Rolle(notes) got from the New York Giants in March. But that’s a price the 5-foot-11, 203-pound Berry might be worth, said a second NFC general manager, who said he believes the Tennessee product “absolutely” enters the league at a higher playing level than Reed, Polamalu, Sanders or former Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor(notes), who was selected fifth overall in 2004. Taylor’s slot is the highest a safety has been drafted since the Cleveland Browns tabbed UCLA product Eric Turner No. 2 overall in the 1991 draft. “Berry’s a difference maker,” the second NFC GM said. “He impacts the game in the run and the pass. Usually it’s one side or the other. You’ve either got the athletic kind of guy that isn’t a very good tackler and is a liability in the run game, or you’ve got kind of an undersized linebacker that can impact the run game but then is a liability in coverage. This guy is an impact guy in all phases. He gets his hand on the ball. He’s great in the run game. He’s a great tackler. He’s a hitter. He’s really smart – just so instinctive.” And that’s not just hyperbole. Every team that has come in contact with him has given glowing assessments. He wowed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with his mastery of the Tampa 2 defense. This after Berry had only one season at Tennessee to pick up the scheme under former defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, and yet walked away with an understanding that rivaled Bucs coach Raheem Morris – who spent six years teaching and employing the scheme before taking over Tampa in 2009. Part of that comes from being the tip of the spear on both sides of the ball, starting four years at both quarterback and safety in high school, then starting all three years in the defensive backfield at Tennessee. “He’s got some charisma in a room – a lot of ‘leader’ qualities,” said one AFC personnel man. “That’s part of having such a good family background, two parents in his life, really supportive people around him. He’s everything you want from every standpoint. And he’s assertive without being prodded to be that way. You can feel that football means a lot to him. Both learning it and playing it.” As Berry put it, “I like to know what the defensive tackles are doing. I know what the defensive ends are doing. I know what the linebackers are doing. When I draw it up on the board, I show that I know every single player’s responsibilities. “I love being the guy coaches can come to and say ‘This week we need you to match up with this guy in the slot,’ or ‘Next week we need you blitzing through the B-gap because they’re weak’, or they want me dropping back in the zone or up in the box. Whatever the coordinator comes to me with that particular week, I want to be the guy who can do all of that.” And for his part, he’s not bitter about the realities of his position. He doesn’t bemoan that Tennessee could have moved him to the more lucrative position of cornerback during his career. He doesn’t fret about sitting in New York’s green room and watching other players exit before him because their positions are more “financially justified.” But that doesn’t mean he won’t be taking note, either. “You know, whether I slip or not, I’m accomplishing a dream,” Berry said. “But at the same time, if I get passed up, I’m definitely going to be in the green room with a notepad or putting a note in my phone of all the teams that passed on me. I’ll keep that in the back of my mind – the guys who didn’t think I was worthy enough. I want to show them that I was worthy.”
Good article. Boy that's some really high praise. Since some consider Berry and Earl Thomas 1A and 1B, I wonder if these GMs also think that Earl Thomas "enters the league at a higher playing level than Reed, Polamalu, Sanders or former Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor".
Just a question on the logistics here, but I think they are stating that they feel Berry will enter the league as a better player than Reed entered the leaugue. Not that Berry will step on an NFL field and instantly be a better player than Reed is now. That said it still makes me want berry pretty badly. Too bad we are to far away to have any shot of going to get him.
The only way I see us even having a shot at him is if he somehow falls to the Jags at 10. I could see them trading back with us to get Tebow at 29, unfortunately I'm not sure we even have to ammo to move up that far. They probably won't want Leon because MJD is a similar player, just healthy and better. We would probably have to part with someone like David Harris to get up that far, and I just don't see us blowing up the core of our Linebackers to get a rookie safety when we are in such a win now mentality. Berry would be the shit for this team, I just don't see how it's possible. I'm just hoping Thomas falls into the 20s... he might be worth going after.
