Monday, March 22, 2010

On Eric Berry

Here's an interesting perspective from Sports Illustrated's Peter King on Tennessee safety Eric Berry, the guy who is rated the best safety in this year's draft. King spoke to Falcons GM Tom Dimitroff, who had discussed the merits of taking Berry in the top-five with his friend, Chiefs GM Scott Pioli, who happens to be sitting fifth this year. Pioli, while acknowledging Berry's tremendous talents, warned Dimitroff of his reluctance to take safeties high.

It's not an uncommon philosophy, and is certainly one shared by Jerry Reese. But here's an interesting dilemma. If Berry indeed falls out of the top-10 and is there for the Giants' taking at 15, or even within reasonable trade distance, he might well be the best athlete available. Would it then be worth taking him, even in light of a safety chart that has a comebacking Kenny Phillips and free-agent pickup Antrel Rolle headlining what was a very poor field last year?

Phillips, of course, came with the 31st pick of the 2008 draft. The last first-round safety the Giants drafted before him was the multi-talented Shaun Williams with the 24th pick in 1998. The problem with Williams was that he did so many things well that the Giants never really learned how to use him. As a result, he got bounced all over the place and was never as effective as he should have been. And now, we all know about Phillips' arthritic left knee and the microfracture surgery he hopes will solve it.

So I ask you, if Berry falls to a best-available option, would you draft him? After reading King's piece, I'd probably take a shot with him because, coming off last season's mess, the Giants can never have too much depth there.

EP

14 comments:

  1. berry will not make it out of top 10 and some people have him as top 5...they need a LB or DT cause bernard was invisible. Id be happy for a stud LB'er. Its been a while since we had jus a beast MLBer

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  2. if berry is there, you take him.

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  3. This is something I've read on BBV: how about the Giants trading to the lower part of the first round or out of the first round altogether in exchange for extra picks?

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  4. If McClain and Weatherspoon and a great OL are gone and Berry is still there then I see no choice in taking him. It wouldnt hurt to have an instant playmaker available to step in if Phillips or Rolle go down and Micheal Johnson cant go. Basically what I'm saying is get him so I dont have to see C.C Brown on the field.

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  5. ...that's assuming the player they want is not available when they pick and they don't want to reach.

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  6. EP, not sure that I agree with you in regards to Shaun Williams. His last 2 seasons with the Giants ended with injuries and he actually only played for 1 more year in Carolina.

    Nonetheless, there's only but so much money that can be tied into the safety position, and the Giants decided to give a majority of it to Rolle. Quality depth should be added in the later rounds, in particular, a combo player that can double as a CB if needed.

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  7. If we got a decent LB through free agency I would be all for it. With the pick up of Rolle, and Phillips hopefully coming back next season we should look to another position with more need. I'd love to see us trade up for McClain, but I know that is a long shot. Just keeping my fingers crossed for a good LB and I think have a solid D

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  8. When the Giants signed Rolle, they immediately let Phillips know that the signing should not be viewed as a replacement but more so as his partner at the safety position. So really, it wouldn’t make much sense to throw even more money at that position.

    At # 11, it seems as if Denver will dictate whether or not McClain falls to the Giants (that’s of course, if McClain is the actual player coveted). If Denver selects McClain, then I’d expect the Giants to either draft the best available lineman (offensive or defensive) or look to trade down. With a later first round pick, I’d like the Giants to select a player like Weatherspoon, but expect something more conventional, again, like the best available lineman.

    Of course, this is just a scenario as I’m sure any trade down will be thoroughly weighed by the pick gained because of the trade and the coveted players available at the traded down spot.

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  9. I McClain is gone and Berry is still there, you take Berry, because you really cannot miss a guy like that. if both are still there, take McClain, because hes a quality player in a position of need.

    However, i think that the conversation is mute; despite all the talk of safeties not being taken early, i think he will be gone by 10. I think conventional wisdom regarding the position in the draft is silly; i think most if not all tams would happily spend a top 10 pick on a Reed or a Polomalu and there has been talk of this kid being just as good.

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  10. Forget another saftey. Trade down a few spots and get Weatherspoon. He fits our system perfectly. As much as I love McClain he's not a 4-3 MLB. He's a 3-4 ILB.

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  11. Berry will never drop to them, but if he did, they should take him without a second thought.

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  12. Even if he's there you skip. The Giants philosophy has been to build in the trenches. I don't care which safety is back there, you give the QB time and he will find someone, especially if that someone is D Jackson. Build in the trenches. We had no pass rush last year or the end of the season before last. Time to change that

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  13. if hes there at 15, i'm sure theres loads of teams who will be willing to trade up to get him and another few picks would be pretty useful.

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  14. No, Don't take him, ,,,I rather trade down and get extra picks. If we can get an extra 2nd rounder, the giants do better at 2nd historically than 1st, except with THE LAST FEW YEARS.

    -BIGBLUE09

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