Safety

OK, so you think it's easy to see his athletic traits but not what he's great at on the field...yet.

I'm actually comparing Byard coming out of college to Polamalu coming out of college...not Polamalu the HOF S. Byard had zero sacks in college and 1 TFL his last year. Polamalu had 3 sacks and 9 TFL...which is a LOT for a S!!! That is what I mean by a force in the box. Byard can run and chase and bring 'em down, but Polamalu is a player teams scheme to stay away from! I don't see that level of run defender in Byard...nor most S's in the NFL!

How would I not understand modern day scheming? BTW, Polamalu was one of the few players LeBeau allowed to 'free lance.' If he smelled a certain play he could move into a position to attack it. That also meant his S partner had to be able to cover for him and know what he was doing. If Polamalu was supposed to be a half field S but smelled run and moved into the box, Clark would move to CF to play a deep cf look instead of just doing his assignment. Polamalu had great film study, instincts and preparation! That's what set him apart from most guys and Byard as well.

 

Byard has fantastic instincts and film study. That's what your not getting. He was universally praised by the Titans staff for such, and most notably acclaimed by LeBeau himself. Don't believe me? Hear it from the horses mouth himself:

Titans defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau said Byard impressed him the first time he met him, when team officials traveled to Murfreesboro before the NFL Draft to interview Byard. The Titans ended up selecting Byard in the third round after LeBeau said Byard “did as well in the Xs and 0s part of that interview as any player as I have ever done it with.

“And as you can imagine,’’ LeBeau said, “I have done it with quite a few players.”

You're also trying to compare him in college obviously not understanding his role in college. Compare him to what he did in the box this year for a guy that hasn't played in the box. His rawness compared to his success shows he has a lot more to show in the box as well. He has all the tools to become a great in the box and outside of it, and the instincts and athleticism to do both.