If I were to have a man-crush in this draft it is Eric Berry. He has all the skills and all the tools to be not only successful in the NFL, but wildly successful and possibly that rare talent that can take over a game even from the safety spot. Think Troy Polamalu or Ed Reed.
Berry is a ball hawk, has good coverage recognition and skills, can support the run and make the big hit. He is tremendously athletic, has high IQ and a high football IQ, is a leader on the field (picked as captain at Tennessee sophomore and junior year), and is also like a coach on the field.
I know what the arguments are against Berry; safety does not have a high "positional value," no team who has picked a safety in the top 15 in the last 20 years has won a Super Bowl with that player on their roster, and there has only been one safety taken top 5 in the last 20 years. However, I don't think those arguments hold much water and I will explain exactly why.
First of all, the last safety to be drafted in the top 5 was Sean Taylor (picked by the Redskins at #5, where the Chiefs are) and had his life not been tragically cut short we would all be looking at one of the greatest defensive players in the NFL and possibly someone who could boast the title of "best safety in the NFL." So if you're just looking to go on track record, then you can go ahead and place that in the "Chiefs should draft Eric Berry" category.
My biggest reason why I think the chiefs should take Berry can be traced back to 2008. Here are the four teams that were in the AFC/NFC championship games: Arizona Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Baltimore Ravens. Each one of these teams had a pro bowl safety on their team and each safety is or has been regarded as one of the best in the league. The Cardinals had Adrian Wilson, the Eagles had Brian Dawkins, the Steelers had Troy Polamalu, and the Ravens had Ed Reed. Between those four safeties, there are four Super Bowl appearances and two Super Bowl victories (granted both belong to Troy Polamalu). Not to mention, all teams (with the possible exception of the Cardinals) all are regarded as having a solid defense and the lynchpin of these defenses is the safety. As any GM now if they would take Troy Polamalu or Ed Reed in the top five if they had the chance and it was a need. Any one of them would do it.
Passing continues to become more prevalent in the NFL and the Competition Committee continues to make rules that favor quarterbacks and receivers in pass heavy offenses. With the shift to passing more, pass coverage has taken on more of an emphasis. Teams can't just be adept at stopping the run and then just be adequate against the pass, teams need to be as balanced on defense as their opposition is on offense. This means the "back 4" needs to be as strong as the "front 7." To do this there needs to be a player that takes the traditional role of the middle linebacker as the leader of the defense. That is what is expected of safeties now, and with the evolution of the game and those who play it, safeties are now able to have more of an impact than ever. A player than can cause an opponent to change their game plan based on his ability to impact the passing game and help in the run is invaluable. Even in their hayday, the middle linebacker was never able to have that much of an impact.
This is why I truly believe safety is such an important position. The NFL is a league that is based on tradition. The league accepts its tradition and embraces it. Unfortunately, that means that sometimes league executives and decision makers find it hard to go away from what they know. Conventional wisdom tells us that safeties don't have a very high "positional value" but as the league evolves and rules change definitions of how positions are played and "positional value" need to change as well. In the new NFL in 2010 I think Safety has a positional value much higher than they have ever had. This is why I really hope the Chiefs select Eric Berry with the #5 pick of the draft on April 22.
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