Is USC's Taylor Mays a first round Safety?

[JohnnyHopkins]

So what I've learned is that Mays might be good or he might be bad. Linebacker it is, then!

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Jimmy Johnson and other astute personnel people dont agree.

Well to be fair...Jimmy Johnson took John Avery as a RB in the first round with the dolphins so nobody is 100% correct when it comes to players coming out of college.

 

[Gzus]

In my book he's a high-mid 2nd.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

You can't teach that?

By the time I was in HS, I already new that when the ball was in the air, I needed to make a play on the ball. If I couldn't get to the ball, I made a play on the receiver. No YAC, make him pay. I knew that but I also new that if I could get my hands on the ball, I needed to make that play. Mays has been playing football longer then I ever did. How is it that he does not know that? That is the question I am more concerned with. Mays does neither of the two things I describe well. All you have to do is watch him play. Seriously, anybody who has really watched him play knows that he had minimal impact on games last year. A guy who is 6-3 230 lbs and runs like a deer should be able to make plays and he didn't. That's a concern for me.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Well to be fair...Jimmy Johnson took John Avery as a RB in the first round with the dolphins so nobody is 100% correct when it comes to players coming out of college.

Except me

 

[Bware_Dware]

By the time I was in HS, I already new that when the ball was in the air, I needed to make a play on the ball. If I couldn't get to the ball, I made a play on the receiver. No YAC, make him pay. I knew that but I also new that if I could get my hands on the ball, I needed to make that play. Mays has been playing football longer then I ever did. How is it that he does not know that? That is the question I am more concerned with. Mays does neither of the two things I describe well. All you have to do is watch him play. Seriously, anybody who has really watched him play knows that he had minimal impact on games last year. A guy who is 6-3 230 lbs and runs like a deer should be able to make plays and he didn't. That's a concern for me.

ABQ totally agree, but a lesson drilled into each players heads, especially safety. "Seperate the ball from the receiver" I do agree he goes for the highlight hit, but it is not difficult to teach a player with his ability to stick a hand up every now and again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX0LWSdXUfg&feature=fvw

 

[silver]

Well to be fair...Jimmy Johnson took John Avery as a RB in the first round with the dolphins so nobody is 100% correct when it comes to players coming out of college.

He also took Darren Woodson who Mays reminds me of, in the second round based on measurables. I would love to land this guy in the second round.

 

[YosemiteSam]

He also took Darren Woodson who Mays reminds me of, in the second round based on measurables. I would love to land this guy in the second round.

He has stiff hips. Thats something Woodson didn't have. Stiff hips = Roy Williams. Stiff hips = can't cover for ****.

 

[silver]

He has stiff hips. Thats something Woodson didn't have. Stiff hips = Roy Williams. Stiff hips = can't cover for ****.

Roy never had that kind of speed. I was referring to the size-speed combination that Mays has. Every year a workout warrior like this one jumps out of the page. I wouldn't draft him in the first round, but the second is a good value for him.

 

[Gzus]

He has stiff hips. Thats something Woodson didn't have. Stiff hips = Roy Williams. Stiff hips = can't cover for ****.

+1

I do not want Taylor Mays because he's a 2-season project. We need a FS that can help us now. We need a Nate Allen

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I don't know that you could say that Woodson was drafted on measurables. Woodson was a heck of a football player at ASU. Extremely productive player at ASU who just happened to also have the measurables.

 

[Gzus]

I don't know that you could say that Woodson was drafted on measurables. Woodson was a heck of a football player at ASU. Extremely productive player at ASU who just happened to also have the measurables.

Exactly, and Mays has the measurables but not the production to match.

 

[dbair1967]

Well to be fair...Jimmy Johnson took John Avery as a RB in the first round with the dolphins so nobody is 100% correct when it comes to players coming out of college.

I didnt say he was perfect, just that he said he'd take players where the measurables werent always there if he saw production on the field, and likewise made a statement about how if he never saw it on film in college, it wasnt likely to appear in the NFL either.

 

[dbair1967]

He also took Darren Woodson who Mays reminds me of, in the second round based on measurables. I would love to land this guy in the second round.

Mays has never remotely resembled Darren Woodson on the football field.

 

[masomenos]

I don't think so.

Some players have a knack for finding the football, others don't.

But that "knack" is simply a result of practice, training and coaching. People aren't born with an innate ability to intercept passes. With some reports saying that Mays was simply never asked to fill the role of 'playmaker' while at USC, it's possible that he just hasn't been well coached.

Troy Polamalu wasn't exactly a ballhawk at USC (6 INT in 3 years) and yet he was able to snag 5 INTs in his 1st year as a starter at the NFL level. Polamalu didn't even make many deflections at USC and yet two years ago he had 17 deflections.

 

[Bluefin]

But that "knack" is simply a result of practice, training and coaching. People aren't born with an innate ability to intercept passes.

Coaching can certainly help players with reading keys and proper technique, but "having a nose for the football" goes beyond all that, IMO.

Troy Polamalu is given a lot of freedom on defense because he is outstanding at reading quarterbacks and anticipating plays.

I've no doubt the Pittsburgh Steelers do whatever they think will help Taz in this regard, but it's a trait he possesses that allows it.

Darren Sharper has always been a big play safety because he's willing to gamble in coverage and go for the game changing play. It's a two way street and he's been in plenty of offensive highlights when failing to come up with the ball, but it's how he plays the game.

Taylor Mays is an incredible physical specimen, safeties that big and fast should almost be considered illegal at first glance.

I just don't like him as a player, huge bust potential, IMO.