Previously: Last year’s profiles. S Damani Dent.

Concord, CA – 5’11”, 190
[Sam Webb/The Michigan Insider]		247:                  4.76*	4*, 97, #53 overall #5 S, #5 CA
		Rivals:                   4.11*	4*, 5.8, #224 overall #22 CB, #14 CA
		ESPN:                  4.09*	4*, 81, #46 West, #290 overall #21 S, #24 CA
		On3:                  4.49*	4*, 96, #153 overall #14 S, #8 CA
		Composite:                  4.27*	4*, 0.9267, #169 overall #13 S, #12 CA
		Other Suitors	Oregon, thePac12. (Zona decommit)
		YMRMFSPA	Rod Moore
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello post by Alex.
Notes	Twitter. AA Bowl MVP, Polynesian Bowl.
Film:
Senior Highlights: More like film than highlights. Good stuff at about 10-11 minutes in: Hudl. Pylon highlights.

Did I say I don't want running backs for safeties? Well, yeah, but I meant the big-shouldered athletes who were praised for their big thunkin' hits, not the squirrely athletic freaks who teleport from the slot to the quarterback's chest before any reasonable passer imagines he should have to get ball-protective.

I leave this to you, dear readers, which QB's parent would you rather be, this one:

Or this one?

The play immediately after that one is even better. What high schooler in that situation starts thinking "just in case my three teammates drop this guy, I'm gonna head out and make sure the edge is secure?" Who gets from the middle of a crowded inside run play to outside AND that deep in the backfield that quickly? A freak.

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Versatile blitzy conerbacking nickel safety running back who could play receiver.

What to do with a freak isn't much of a question; the scouting sites unanimously peg Berry for a safety, since that's where you put a guy who can do all of it. 247 national recruiting editor Brandon Huffman's profile got right to the everything:

"Can play cornerback, safety, running back or receiver, but projects best to a defensive back in college. Can come downhill and end plays with big hits and open field tackling ability, but able to run stride for stride with receivers and has tremendous ball skills, hips and quick hands. As a receiver, shows great burst when taking short passes and sticking his foot in the dirt to get in to the open field."

That was from over a year ago, before Berry focused on safety as a senior and flew up their rankings, landing just outside the Top-50. It also came with an updated take from 247 analyst (and Known Friend and Trusted Agent) Chris Singletary from seeing Berry add weight and play more safety.

Those of you who were with me for last year's profiles remember Coach Hayes--the "Po' Lil' Timmy" guy--and his entertaining film reviews. Berry was one of his favorites:

Notes so you don't have to watch the video:

• You can tell he's got some acceleration about him man. He's smooth.
• Good size, love the frame. He's rangy, covers a ton of ground.
• I love how be blitzes--he has a great move blitzing to set up the tackle outside and get inside him.
• Gives that guard all he can handle. This guy plays with heart.
• He'll hit you. Not afraid to make things happen. Toughness and tenacity.
• Talking to everybody. He knows what's going on on that field. Can be the captain out there.
• He can play everything. Playing man, playing zone, he can cover, he can stick, he can set the edge.
• Cons: uh...didn't get a pick on one of those slants you knocked down.

By my count the word "smooth" was used six times in that video.

Touch the Banner also saw multiple tools.

Berry is a very versatile athlete. While his 4.55 forty time isn't one that lights the world on fire, he looks more explosive on the hoof. Playing against good competition at De La Salle, he shows breakaway speed at receiver and good closing speed on defense. He does a good job of tracking the ball in the air and can deliver a blow when he arrives at the intended receiver. He also has some upside as a blitzer off the edge.

The dead quarterbacks' moms agree: Berry has burst in the Peppers range.

But Peppers was thicc. Like he literally played linebacker.

On3.com also shot Berry to the top-60 after the senior film, but then dropped him a hundred spots afterwards. Their explanation, provided by Director of Scouting Charles Power, is that NFL safeties are this kind of freakish AND somewhere between 6'1" and Kyle Hamilton:

“Some of it was safeties rising. I think his size is something—he’s not as big or as long as you would want at safety, in terms of like, relative to others in the position. The guys that are all ahead of him, just have better stature, or length… And the safeties we have ahead of him, just are better from a size perspective, some of them maybe athletically as well….Basically, he has, 30 to 31-inch arms. It just doesn’t project great, or it doesn’t project as well as some of the other guys.”

24/7 couldn't disagree more. Analyst Cooper Petagna called Berry the "best athlete in the country," claimed he could play offense, defense, or special teams, and settled on a safety who can "play the deep hash, in the box, or as a match defender at the line of scrimmage." Gabe Brooks thinks Berry's "plus length gives him some more physical upside."

Singletary wrote the 24/7 eval that shot Berry past On3's high point, in late January, IE before On3 made the drop, but it reads like a direct refutation of On3's reasoning. It also sounds like, you know, Him:

Brown is now at UMass (kick ass!) and Michigan's moved on from VIPER(!!!)s to nickels, where Berry's probably going.

Would definitely fly South if he was a bird and a football migrated that direction.

Whatever their disagreements on positional size, the sites concur that Berry could play football blindfolded. Petagna continues:

"Plays with excellent instincts and feel in coverage and as a run support defender. Possesses one of the most intriguing skill sets of any player  in the cycle. Will contribute immediately at the next level."

And Singletary responds:

"…you see all the traits. He is physical, instinctive, shows good change of direction, and plays instinctive. He has a nice profile as a three-phase player in high school that will allow him to see the field early in college."

That's three "instinctives" in two sentences, the kind of thing you usually get from bad marketing writers trained on The Rule of Three. In this case it's come by honestly: if you watch Berry a bunch and then close your eyes and try to think of his game: "instinctive."

On3 analyst Gerry Hamilton, about the time they raised Berry to 59th overall, says the kid is "more than a downhill striker" because Berry's Spidey sense knows when to find the football.

Berry excels in tackling in the open field. His ability to open up and run makes covering from hash mark to boundary simple. When it comes time to make plays on the ball, the four-star flashes ideal timing, and finishing ball skills"

On3's Power calls Berry "very instinctive" and the first two words of their scouting summary are "highly" and "instinctive." The instincts show up most when Berry's in coverage.

As for Singletary:

He has good coverage skills that translate to him being able to do well in either a man scheme or in zone playing both half field safety or in the deep middle as a post player. Does not panic while in coverage, able to stay in phase and on top of routes with the ability to make plays on the ball. … Plays with a very good temperament about himself.

I don't know what that means. Probably good. For what it's worth, Steve Lorenz is sold, pegging Berry his favorite non-Will Johnson member of the class both in our podcast with him and in his most likely breakout players article, projecting Zeke to take over Dax Hill's position eventually, if not sooner. Clinkscale was asked this spring where they want to play Berry, and replied safety, adding "He's just natural with it." Also sold was the All-American Bowl, which named Berry its defensive player of the year.

Are there any negatives? Usually at this point we turn to Touch The Banner, who doesn't have the recruiting sites' need to stay friends with these kids, for a more negative or realistic take. Magnus?

Normally I leave a section for negatives, but I really don't see much there, so I'll skip it. He's good.

Some help you are. He makes a comp to Dymonte Thomas, which I don't see at all. Delano Hill is closer. Jordan Morant is closer, if he'd worked out, and Morant's comp was Peppers. 

Why Rod Moore? We don't have many great safeties in the post-1990 registry to pull from, so instead we can do some extrapolating from a guy who was starting for the Big Ten Champions after half a season. Rod Moore is a good safety-only comp, especially in the way everyone called him "instinctual" and praised his confidence on the field, and in that he was underrated as a recruit—and passed over by the hometown 27s—for being too teensy. Moore has that same uncanny timing, a similar body shape, and would be the clubhouse leader to move into the Nickel role if another safety turned out to be their next best defensive back.

Moore was a 3-star, but a true freshman who can start for a playoff team should have been a top-75 prospect.

Why Not Jabrill Peppers? Freakish, RB-shaped all-three-phases athlete who can accelerate to ludicrous speed off his backpedal and plays all over the defense…yeah I see it. Peppers was a top-5 overall prospect and Berry's best rating was still outside the Top 50, but the styles are similar. The way Berry jets to the edge, that's Peppers.

Pretty good Peppers. Upper middle class man's Peppers. Peppers but small. You know, like Rod Moore.

Guru Reliability: Low, since they keep contradicting themselves. On3 can't decide if Zeke Berry is lighter Jabrill Peppers or likely to drag down their accuracy ratings when height-obsessed NFL teams are drafting 6'4" safeties in four years. 24/7 actually thinks Berry is Peppers reincarnate but also doesn't want to drag their NFL ratings down. Rivals thinks he's a top-50 talent but kept him a low 3-star the whole cycle then finally bumped him just inside the top-250 late. ESPN doesn't write about its scouting anymore, but they seemed intent on not missing the boat when everyone else moved Berry up. They all say 4-star but as soon as you look any closer at what different 4-stars mean you see one of them has Berry ranked like the kinds of players who end up at Bama-Georgia-Ohio State as often as not, two of them have him barely on the edge of 4-star status, and the third is waffling up and down the 4-star range because they can't decide for what level of football they're trying to rank him.

Variance: Low. Mostly developed, healthy, high school competition was close as it gets to college.

Ceiling: Can only barely hold us. Elite athlete who projects perfectly to a role that we very much have open right this moment (no offense, Sainristil). Probably not going to be a Heisman candidate in three years, but could be a wicked returner and a occasional offensive piece in addition to the ideal VIPER(!!!)…er Nickel for Michigan's Ravens 2.0 defense.

General Excitement Level: Yowza-minus.

Projection: MGoBloggers love smallish dudes who can zero-to-sixty from the secondary in football the way we love point guards with skyhooks. Dax Hill was very good in the You Tried to Edge ____, How Did That Work Out for You? role because he an elite corner born with a safety in his head. Zeke Berry is actually closer to the position's ideal, since height and length only matter a few times a year, while instincts, willingness to fly into traffic, and uncanny agility and acceleration turn plays that usually get easy yards into potential 2nd and 15s. There's a reason Don Brown was targeting this guy for VIPER(!!!) during his brief stay in Tucson.

This role is not quite that role—the real linebacker stuff that they asked of Khaleke Hudson is replaced with more time over slot receivers. But it is exactly the role that Peppers played as a (redshirt) freshman in 2015, and got to play a few times in 2016 because teams hadn't yet learned going #SpeedInSpace with spread personnel was just asking to get hemmed in by a dude from the linebacker level who could get there first.

Michigan's easy schedule ramp-up this year affords him an opportunity to start almost immediately, but Berry didn't enroll early so he'll probably need that time to get used to the system. Once his instincts kick in, he'll probably be the first nickel behind/trying to displace Sainristil, along with a handful of corners and safeties trying to work their way into the same set.

Give it a year and Berry's probably secured the job, moving Moore back to safety, and coming off the field when a 4-3 SAM or a third DT is on it. That is, unless some safety-linebacker hybrid turns their nickel back into 4-2-5, or one of Berry's classmates wins a safety job that pushes Moore to nickel duty. I'd be very surprised if Berry isn't the nickel by 2024, though. In fact, I'm very much looking forward to it.