What's at Stake for Eric Berry at the 2010 NFL Combine?

Tennessee safety Eric Berry has been the most talked about defensive back entering this year's 2010 NFL Draft and a bad outing at the NFL Combine could lose him millions of dollars.

There has not been a defensive back, let alone a safety, talked about this much since 1998 when the Raiders picked Charles Woodson at No. 4 or when the Redskins picked Champ Bailey at No. 7 in 1999.

That's not saying that there haven't been other highly touted defensive backs since then, but the amount of hype this year has exceeded many defensive backs of the recent past.

Berry has the makings of an impact defender the moment he steps onto the football field when the 2010 regular season begins.

Many have compared Berry to Ed Reed, but let's be honest here in saying that those comparisons are always silly. Berry could become the best safety in the NFL, then the next young safety who comes into the NFL will be the next Eric Berry.

Berry's abilities are not to be questioned, and his strengths include: high productivity, athleticism, great speed with a quick initial boost, smooth running with fluid hips, rarely missing tackles, being a violent hitter, playing through pain, and intelligence, just to name a few of his attributes.

His current stock has never been higher and in some mock drafts he is projected as high as the No. 2 overall pick to the Lions.

That may be ridiculously too high, but there is no way that Berry escapes the top 10 since there are teams that could use a playmaker at safety including the Seahawks (No. 6) and the Browns (No. 7).

Berry will be going into Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine riding high, but a bad performance could drop Berry from a top 10 pick to the middle of the first round.

A drop like that could lose Berry close to $20 million in guaranteed money on his contract.

Berry needs a good outing in Indy, otherwise his wallet will be much lighter, and he should already be feeling the pressure because he stands in a position to lose more money than almost any other player in this draft class right now.