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For the rest of the 2009 position ratings, go here.
1. Eric Berry, Tennessee–All-around playmaker with explosive speed and hitting ability. Had 72 tackles, 7 interceptions, 5.5 TFL, 6 pass breakups and 3 sacks. Great with the ball in his hands.
2. Taylor Mays, USC–One of the most physically impressive specimens in college football, but so far more of an enforcer than a playmaker. Will be asked to do more this year and should improve upon his 53 tackles and 9 pass breakups last season.
3. Ahmad Black, Florida–Undersized safety who nonetheless is very active and aggressive. Had 59 tackles, 7 interceptions and 5 pass breakups last year.
4. Chad Jones, LSU–Great athlete who should come into his own as a safety this season. Started six times but had 50 tackles, a pick and 6 breakups in 2008.
5. Darrell Stuckey, Kansas–The Jayhawks’ defensive leader. He had a huge 2008 season with 98 tackles, 5 interceptions and 4.5 TFL.
6. Morgan Burnett, Georgia Tech–Already has 10 interceptions in his first two seasons. Tied for the nation’s lead last year with 7, also added 7 TFL and led the Jackets with 93 tackles.
7. Van Eskridge, East Carolina–A first-team CUSA pick last year, Johnson led the Pirates with 102 tackles and added 9 TFL and 2 interceptions.
8. Earl Thomas, Texas–Was challenged a lot last year as a freshman and came through with 72 tackles, 17 deflections and 2 picks. Should be much-improved as a sophomore.
9. Chris Thomas, Air Force–Hard-nosed tackle machine who had 107 of them in 2008 to go with 5 sacks and a pick.
10. Rahim Moore, UCLA–Rangy hitter poised for a big junior year. Had 60 tackles, 3 interceptions and 4 deflections in 2008.
Honorable Mention: Jeron Johnson, Boise State; Major Wright, Florida; Kendrick Lewis, Ole Miss; Bo McNally, Stanford; Eddie Hicks, Southern Miss; Sean Baker, Ball State
Comments
This entry was posted on Monday, July 6th, 2009 at 8:24 am and is filed under 2009 Position Ratings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
As someone who has watched Chris Thomas play multiple times, I can tell you he is waay to high on this list (you also list him twice.) He is a good player but he is not Top 10 or even “HR” worthy. I’d say Thomas is actually the third or fourth best safety in the conference behind guys like Joe Dale, Chris Prosinski, and Klint Kubiak. Really not sure how you leave a guy like Jordan Lake off this list either…
And here I thought you’d be excited that i finally put a service academy guy up here…:)
Haha, well like I said I think Thomas is a good player, but I don’t think he is that good. Not like I put a ton of stock into their ratings, but Blesto and National actually have Nevada’s Amaya and Toledo’s Church on their “radar” and don’t consider Thomas a draftable prospect.
I want to thank you for mentioning Chris Thomas on this list, which I believe he deserves. He hits his opponents like a ton of bricks, and is pretty skilled at breaking up passes. Adam N must be smoking some pretty decent stuff if he thinks that Chris Thomas doesn’t play as well as Joe Dale, Chris Prosinski, or Klint Kubiak (can’t believe he mentioned this perpetually-injured player)! I noticed that NOT ONE of the three he mentioned were named to the pre-season all-conference team, as Chris Thomas was. Adam must only want you to mention Naval Academy midshipmen if you’re going to bring up players for the service academies. I’m glad that I have now seen Adam’s true colors & I’ll remember this the next time I see his name on the byline!
FWIW, service academy players are rarely seen as “draftable” b/c of their military commitments after graduation. With that in mind, I also noticed that Joe Dale is ranked behind C Thomas on nfldraftscout.com. Chris Prosinski was red-shirted the same year that Thomas was a direct-entry freshman getting playing time on the varsity team. Not bad for someone who just finished the punishment at Jack’s Valley! Finally, Klint Kubiak has been injured so frequently that it must be hard to give him any sort of ranking as a prospect.
What about Jordan Lake at Baylor? Last season he had 97 tackles (66 solo stops), 3 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, 7 passes broken up.