Jan
24
2010
 |
Eric Berry
|
– Draft Breakdown Red Star PlayerNon-position specific categories
Category |
Max. Value |
Grade |
| Height/Weight | 6 | 5.5 |
| Speed | 8 | 8 |
| Quickness/Agility | 10 | 10 |
| Strength/Explosion | 10 | 9 |
| Athletic Ability | 8 | 8 |
| Durability | 8 | 7.5 |
| Character | 6 | 6 |
| Production/Experience | 6 | 6 |
| Toughness | 8 | 8 |
| Potential | 10 | 10 |
Defensive Back Specific Categories
Category |
Max. Value |
Grade |
| Ball Skills | 10 | 10 |
| Man Coverage | 10 | 9.5 |
| Zone Coverage | 10 | 10 |
| Tackling | 6 | 5 |
| Run Stopping | 6 | 5 |
| Hips/Lateral Movement | 8 | 8 |
| Physicality | 6 | 6 |
Strengths
Berry is the complete package. Elite ball skills and play recognition. Does a good job of reading the quarterback’s eyes and jumping routes. Great instincts. Outstanding range, covering larger parts of the field than most safeties. Fluid hips allow him to turn and run with ease. Soft hands. Does a good job finding the ball in the air to make the play. A threat to score whenever he touches the ball. Solid in run support. Unafraid of contact and a strong hitter. Good tackling fundamentals and rarely misses and open field tackle. Does a good job in run support. Very aggressive in both the passing game and playing the run. Off the charts production and good durability. Also a very cerebral player with a deep understanding of the game. No history of off-field issues.
Weaknesses
Will take some risks and gamble, but most elite secondary players will. Has a shoulder injury history. Doesn’t have ideal size and could benefit from an NFL weight training program.
Analysis
Most compare Berry to another play making safety, Ed Reed. Berry has the ability to change the game as a defender and will be an immediate impact player for whatever team is lucky enough to draft him. Berry also has the versatility and skill set to play either strong safety, free safety, and possibly corner if needed. Berry comes from a pro style defense, and played under a Super Bowl winning defensive coordinator (Monte Kiffin). A hard worker with elite skills and intangibles, Berry could be a once in a decade type of player.
Experience
Berry is a three year starter at Tennessee.
Awards and Honors
2009: Jim Thorpe Award Winner. Bronko Nagurski Award finalist. Consensus first team All-American.
2008: Unanimous first team All-American.
2007: Consensus Freshman All-American and All-SEC. SEC Defensive Freshman of the Year.
Academics
Psychology major at Tennessee.
Bloodlines
Father, James Berry, played for Tennessee as a running back from 1978 to 1981. James was a three year starter and team captain as a senior.
Injuries
Berry has a nagging shoulder injury, but it hasn’t been bad enough to make him miss a single game for the Volunteers. Berry reportedly played the entire 2008 season with this injury and had surgery to help the issue after the season.
| Year | Tack | Solo | Asst | Sack | FF | Int | TD |
| 2009 | 82 | 54 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 2008 | 72 | 44 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| 2007 | 86 | 52 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
Disagree with our scouting report? Think we’ve left something out? Maybe you’ve seen something we just haven’t. That’s okay! Leave your own scouting report using the comments feature at the bottom of the page. We at Draft Breakdown value your opinion and we’d love to hear it. This feature is available on all of our scouting reports, articles and blogs. Help keep Draft Breakdown a one stop shop for all your NFL Draft needs!
Will Spencer
Will is the founder and President of Draft Breakdown & has been scouting draft prospects since 2002. His work has been featured in numerous publications, including the USA Today Draft Preview Magazine, the official website of the Baltimore Ravens, Ravens Insider and The Orange and Brown Report. Will has previous playing experience as a defensive end in the AFA, is currently a member of the Football Writers Association of America and graduated from the SMWW Football Scouting course in 2009.
Follow Will on Twitter @draftbreakdown. See all posts for Will Spencer
I love Berry, but I’d dock him at least a point or two for his less than impressive tackling. He too often tries to shoulder-check guys to the ground, which isn’t effective when he tries it on big backs – just ask Ben Tate.
Also, he’ll occasionally take bad angles in run support or have his tackles broken. Dexter McCluster gave him fits, and he had some bad missed tackles in the bowl game vs. VTech.
He’s an elite safety prospect, but he needs to become a stronger, more disciplined tackler.
You’re absolutely right about that. Berry is more of the ball hawking type safety but I felt his tackling was “good enough” to still remain a star safety. I’m actually about to watch film on both Mississippi State and Ole Miss, and Tennessee will be among those games. I’ll be sure to keep an eye on Berry as well during those and may change the scoring.
Thanks for the analysis. This is exactly what I had in mind when I created the ability for users to comment on scouting reports!
You’re welcome! This is a really nice format for having a little back & forth on prospects.
Here are some highlights/lowlights of Berry from the Ole Miss game I mentioned (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISPX3lEUKFE). It was a pretty bad day for him, and a bit of a deviation from his typically good (but not great) tackling.
Have fun with the film study. If you aren’t using it already, make sure to check out SECDigitalNetwork.com – that site’s gold for draft geeks.
Alo, you’re the best!
After further review, you had a valid point. I dropped Berry down 1 point in tackling and .5 in run support. Though McCluster gave him fits, I still think he’s pretty solid in run support for a college safety.
Pingback: ProDraftParty.com | S Eric Berry Scouting Report