Will Janzen be Better Than Berry?

The fact that you are reading this means you read the title, which means you are presently thinking something to the effect of: "What happened to kidbourbon? His posts are usually reasonable. Has he lost his marbles? Is it time for an intervention?".

I know. I know.  Berry is maybe the best defensive player ever for UT.  Comparisons should be made with great care. But at least hear me out on the following two points.

Point #1:  Janzen is an even more aggressive headhunter than Berry

This may sound like blasphemy upon first reading.  We have all seen the ridiculous Berry hits on Moreno and Maze. We saw him recently square up against a full-speed-ahead Tim Tebow and more than hold his own.  Certainly Berry is headhunter #1 on this team...right?

Not so fast.  Compare freshman seasons. How man youtube-ready hits did Berry have that first year? I can recall a couple, but none as vicious as what Janzen did to Brandon James.  Most of the aforementioned youtube-ready Berry hits came when he was a sophomore and had spent an offseason in the weight room filling out and getting stronger.  Janzen, like Berry, is strong despite his relatively lean build.  What can we expect from Janzen next year when he has added 10 lbs of muscle?  Presently, Janzen is a skinny-but-strong fearless hitter.  Next year he will be a still-lean-but sturdier fearless hitter.  I think there is a possibility -- especially after seeing the Ohio game, where it became clear that Janzen LOVES contact and wants to make the bone jarring hit -- that Janzen's collection of youtube-ready hits will eventually exceed Berry's.

Point #2: Janzen is a better cover guy than Berry

This statement is as much fact as opinion at this point.  Kiffin came out and said it (he said that Janzen had "looser hips"...I love that term.  I have no idea what it means, but Mel Kiper and Todd McShay seem to think it is a good thing), and Berry even agreed.

Conclusion

Even if we accept these two points, for the sake of argument, as being true, there is still much more to Berry's game that makes him great.  He has an uncanny instinctiveness -- he seems to always be in the right place at the right time.  And he had this trait even as a true freshman.  I haven't seen this from Janzen yet, at least not to the extent that we saw it from Berry from the very get-go.  Also, Berry is one of the best open-field tacklers I have ever seen.  Ever.  I'm not sure Janzen will be able to match Berry in this category. 

In sum, I think that Janzen can do some things as good or better than Berry.  And I think he has the tools to be great. His tools are different than Berry's, and so he will be a different type of player.  A comparison such as this is certainly premature, and maybe even a little unfair to Janzen considering the lofty status Berry has achieved.  But at the very least, it is refreshing to know that when Berry is gone, we still have another legitimate stud roaming around and wreaking havoc in the secondary.