Some 15 months and 60,000+ views ago, I posted a YouTube of Eric Berry's freshman highlights. That and the Tebow Tebow Tebow Berry Berry Berry video are the two-most heavily commented videos I've ever posted. I don't recommend reading comments left by YouTube viewers without first wrapping your head in gingko biloba leaves, but I do take a glance as YouTube helpfully auto-delivers them to my inbox. From these periodic brushes with illucidity, I have stumbled upon an irrefutable truth: the best defensive back in college football today is, according to the masses, . . . well, it's either Tennessee's Eric Berry or Southern Cal's Taylor Mays, depending on whose talking.
But which one of the two is better, if you shed your colors to do the comparing? Let's look at the respective career stats of these guys:
|
GP
|
Int. Ret.
|
Tackles
|
PD
|
FF
|
|||||||
|
No
|
Yds
|
TD
|
Ast
|
Solo
|
Asst
Loss |
Solo
Loss |
Loss
Yds |
||||
| Berry |
26
|
12
|
487
|
3
|
57
|
101
|
1
|
10
|
24
|
10
|
1
|
| Mays |
39
|
4
|
40
|
0
|
68
|
112
|
2
|
1
|
7
|
18
|
1
|
Despite Mays's advantage of an extra season, Berry's got three times as many interceptions, more than ten times the return yards, and three more touchdowns. Mays does have a slight lead over Berry in tackles, but Berry leads comfortably in tackles-per-game, and even without accounting for Mays' extra season, Berry has ten solo tackles for loss to Mays's mere one.
And we haven't even considered Berry's other numbers:
|
Rushing
|
Receiving
|
Fum. Ret.
|
Kickoff
Ret. |
Pts
|
||||||||||
|
No.
|
Gain
|
Loss
|
Net
|
TDs
|
No
|
Yds
|
TD
|
No
|
Yds
|
TD
|
No
|
Yds
|
TD
|
|
|
7
|
44
|
7
|
37
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
55
|
0
|
2
|
32
|
0
|
18
|
Mr. Mays's offensive numbers, fumble returns, and kickoff return yards? Zero, zero, and zero.
But what about the video? Is there something more impressive about watching Mays than watching Berry?
Battle of the Big Hits
Round 1
Let's give that one to Berry, shall we? Round 2.
And another one for Berry.
Round 3 -- Illegal (and Perhaps Illegal) Hits:
Hmm. Let's give that one to Mays for taking out two guys at once. But Berry's wasn't really a penalty, either, so you know.
Battle of the Non-Hit Highlights
And another point for Berry. Honestly, I like Taylor Mays. He's confident and mature, and he looks like a scary good defensive back.
But he's no Eric Berry.