I know everyone, myself included is raving about Eric Berry.  But a safety from Texas by the name of Earl Thomas has been flying under the radar and a lot of analysts including Mike Mayock have said that he is the most instinctive safety to come out in the past 10 years.  That clearly says a lot about this safety and his potential upside.  Everyone said he was too small but he's listed at 5'10 195 and if you look, arguably the best safety now, Ed Reed, is 5'11 200lbs.  Earl Thomas had 8 interceptions and 24 pass deflected.  He has never avoided contact and is stout against the run.  Honestly I'm starting to really consider this guy a viable option.  I think think Eric Berry might have a slight edge but i truly believe that it is slight.  Earl Thomas ran an unofficial 4.44 and Eric Berry ran an official 4.47, if you ask me that's basically the same thing.  Thomas also posted 21 reps on the bench, more than Berry's 19.

Now again, these numbers don't tell you how a player will perform on the field against top tier qb's, te's and wr's but it gives you an understanding about a guys strength and speed and other intangibles.  Now if analysts are raving about his instincts, and his physical numbers are comparing to the best of his class, I think its something to consider.  He is almost definitely a 1st round pick and some have him going higher than Berry, I personally don't think he will.  However, he's shown he can obviously play Free Safety intercepting 8 passes last season and can clearly match up against the others that are ranked around him or higher than him.  Hopefully BP, TS and Ireland do their homework on this guy and give him a full evaluation. 

Thoughts?