It’s time to get excited about the college football season people. Yesterday when I returned from the cottage, disheveled and hungover, my father met me at the door with a hug and a copy of the USA Today College Football Preview. I proceeded to ignore my family for the next 3 hours and read the 62 page gift from god to college football fans. While I don’t agree with a few of their predictions, they had Notre Dame in a BCS game, they did have some great analysis of the player awards (Heisman, Walker, etc.), BCS predictions, and a thorough breakdown of all 119 D1 teams.

Now that most other publications are releasing their college football preview material it’s about time to finish the previews that I started some two and a half months ago with my preview of the quarterback position. Today we finish off the player previews with a look at the defensive back position. Unlike the other defensive positions, defensive back is hard to compare because cornerbacks’ stats do not directly reflect their impact on the field the same way a saftey’s stats do. However we did our due diligence and researched their impact on the field regardless of their position. With that in mind here is our 2009 defensive backs preview:

3) Myron Lewis (Vanderbilt)

It’s hard to stand out when you playing opposite an All-SEC and All-American cornerback but Lewis did just that last season. DJ Moore, now a member of the Chicago Bears, was one of the best corners in the nation so a majority of the opposing teams passing plays were targeted to Lewis’ side of the field. Lewis wasn’t fazed, in fact he relished the opportunity racking up 76 tackles, 5 sacks, and 5 ints. High numbers from someone at the corner position. This season Lewis is the big time corner in the Commodores defense so he will likely see much less action come his way. Regardless, expect Lewis to improve on his Junior season and have a All-American type season next year. The stats might not be as high as last season because of the reduced number of balls thrown his way but his impact on opposing teams will be the same if not greater.

2) Eric Berry (Tennessee)

If the Heisman was handed out half way through the season Eric Berry might have been the front runner last year. After the first half of the season Berry had 5 of his 7 ints, a 72 yard int touchdown return, and 49 tackles. He was the most talked about player in the NCAA and was being talked about as the next Charles Woodson. Along with being a ballhawking saftey Berry could also lay the lumber, evident after his huge hit on Knowshon Moreno. However, down the stretch both Berry and his team struggled and the Heisman became out of reach for Berry fairly quickly. This season with the addition of Lane Kiffin as the head coach and his father, the legendary Monte Kiffin, as the defensive coordinator, Tennessee, and more importantly Berry, should once again be a force in the SEC.

1) Taylor Mays (USC)

If Taylor Mays had left USC for the NFL after last year he would have easily been a top 15 pick and the first safety taken. But determined to win a national championship after coming so close the last 3 seasons, Mays is returning to school for his final year. If you watched the Rose Bowl last year you might remeber Brent Munsberger’s semi gay comment about Taylor Mays’ physic. Despite being extremely weird his comment was pretty acurate, Mays is an absolute beast roaming the middle of the USC defense. The most impressive thing may be that at 6′3 230 lbs. Mays can run a forty in the 4.3-4.4 range. With the departure of Malaluga, Matthews, and Brian Cushing; Mays has to take over as the leader of the USC defense. If he takes his role seriously as the leader of Caroll’s defense Mays could be scary good this year.

Most Improved Player: Blake Gideon (Texas)

Despite a solid first season starting for Blake Gideon it is likely he will be remembered for one major event from the Longhorns 2008 season. His dropped interception against Texas Tech that would have ended the game. Now Gideon has to erase that from his memory and move on. Gideon has all the skills to be an All-Big 12 type of player next season if he is dedicated to improving this offseason. Entering his sophomore season Gideon has 3 more years to make us all forget about the mistake that kept Texas out of the national championship game.

Impact Freshman: Corey Brown (Ohio State)

Corey Brown enters OSU as a five star cornerback after their All-American corner Malcom Jenkins graduated and was drafted by the New Orleans Saints. Brown is likely to see a significant amount of time in his freshman year if he can impress coach Tressel in preseason practices. If he starts in his freshman year Brown could have a career at OSU much like the man his is replacing who started all four years and dominated at the corner position.

So that wraps up our 2009 player previews. I will be releasing the preseason top 25 by the end of the week so make sure to check in at BWB regularly.

-KC Roberts