sports & health

Top Prospect in NFL Draft Won't Go No. 1

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.

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