Five best SEC defensive backs of the past decade

6:13 PM ET

I griped Thursday about the difficulty in naming the SEC’s five best offensive linemen of the last decade. Well, defensive back isn’t any easier.

The conference has turned out 16 first-round NFL draft picks in the last 10 years and seven national award winners. Heck, you could be well on your way to a solid top five using only the SEC’s 2012 draft class — a year where four of the first 17 picks (LSU’s Morris Claiborne, South Carolina’s Stephon Gilmore and Alabama’s Mark Barron and Dre Kirkpatrick) were defensive backs from the conference.

Even the No. 1 spot is debatable, if only because the league has turned out a few unbelievable DBs since the 2006 season. Here is our best shot at a top five — a group so good that it leaves out a Jim Thorpe Award winner (Mississippi State’s Johnthan Banks):

Eric Berry was arguably the best defensive back in SEC history in his three years at Tennessee. Andy Lyons/Getty Images

1. Eric Berry, Tennessee (2007-09): Arguably the best defensive back in SEC history, Berry’s three seasons at Tennessee saw him win enough awards to fill a gigantic trophy case. He was the SEC’s defensive player of the year as a sophomore in 2008, a season where he tied for the national lead with seven interceptions and returned those picks for a total of 265 yards and two touchdowns. He was a unanimous All-SEC and All-America selection in 2008 and 2009 (he also was second-team All-SEC as a freshman in 2007) and won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back in 2009. After going fifth overall to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2010 NFL draft, Berry has been just as successful as a pro. He’s a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro with the Chiefs and also won the Associated Press NFL Comeback Player of the Year award last season following his …

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