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Three Reasons Why, At this Point, I Would Take Berry Over Suh And McCoy
1. Tennessee's Eric Berry is the best playmaker on the defensive side of the ball in this draft. Not only does he have the size and speed to play both safety and corner, he is a solid ballhawk. He is also one of those players with the ability to get to the quarterback if asked to blitz.
2. Berry would make more plays than Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh and Oklahoma's Gerald McCoy, who are not really fits for what is required of tackles in the Lions' version of the 4-3 defense.
3. The Lions need turnovers. They somebody to force fumbles. Somebody to intercept passes. It's a passing league. They need to be as strong as possible at the last line of defense, which is safety. Look what Darren Sharper did for the Saints last season. Look how much safeties from Ed Reed to Brian Dawkins to Bob Sanders have meant to their defenses in recent years. Louis Delmas is probably going to be a very good player, but it's unlikely to be in their class. Berry has a chance to be because he is such a great athlete and skilled player.
2. Berry would make more plays than Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh and Oklahoma's Gerald McCoy, who are not really fits for what is required of tackles in the Lions' version of the 4-3 defense.
3. The Lions need turnovers. They somebody to force fumbles. Somebody to intercept passes. It's a passing league. They need to be as strong as possible at the last line of defense, which is safety. Look what Darren Sharper did for the Saints last season. Look how much safeties from Ed Reed to Brian Dawkins to Bob Sanders have meant to their defenses in recent years. Louis Delmas is probably going to be a very good player, but it's unlikely to be in their class. Berry has a chance to be because he is such a great athlete and skilled player.
Labels: Eric Berry Ndamukong Suh Gerald McCoy Darren Sharper Brian Dawkins Ed Reed Bob Sanders
posted by Pat Caputo at
1:18 PM
4 Comments:
Yes, but you can't deny that a strong defensive point is a foundation for the defense. The Lions have to stop the run and that requires a double-team on a strong point.
You don't have a D-back be effective if the opposing offense is sitting on 2nd and five.
Instead we need 3rd and 8.
Pat,
I agree 100% on Berry. I think the moves to get Vanden Bosch & Williams set up the Lions to get Berry. The Lions get better overall talent if they take Berry with their 1st pick & go D line in the 2nd round than if the take D line 1st and pick whatever is left among D-backs in the 2nd round. D line is where the depth is in this draft, so a good one can be had later.
Pat,
I don't agree with your assessment of Berry, nor Delmas. Delmas is a better safety today than Bob Sanders ever was, and has a good chance of being in the Ed Reed, Brian Dawkins difference maker. Also, while it would be great to have a second great Safety, I wouldn't lock up that much money on a position where adequate play is easy to find. If Berry was a lock-down Corner, then I could see what you mean, but not a safety. It would hamstring the team when it comes to resigning Delmas, since you can't afford to pay two safeties top money.
I don't agree that Suh and McCoy don't fit the Lions needs as a DT. Suh is nearly 310 lbs, and fits the UT role very well. McCoy is more in the role of a Tampa 2 UT in size, but ran nearly the same defensive scheme the Lions run in College. My biggest problem with Suh is that he has a minor history of injuries.
I worry about Okung, because he just wasn't that dominant in College. He may be a very good pro, and I like him better than Jason Smith from last year (How did he get drafted so high anyway? Did the Rams really fall that much in love with his combine numbers?). Of the 4 OT's drafted in the 1st round last year, he was the only one that did not show the production in actual games. I will be suprised if he is ever a probowler, while none of the other 1st round OT's would suprise me if they excelled.
There are no RB's or CB's that are worth a high 1st round pick, so I don't know where else the Lions could go. CJ Spiller would be a god 3rd down back/PR/KR in the NFL, but definitely isn't worth 10M/yr for such a role player. Joe Haden just wasn't that good in College to warrant such a high pick.
-Marty
Pat,
I can give you one reason the Lions will NOT draft Berry.
MONEY!!
Unless you trade down the safety position doesn't warrant that kind of money @ #2. You can tell us about all the plays other safeties make but the only reason they are ballhawks is because the 7 guys playing in front of them are making the big money and they are benefitting from it on the field.
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