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.2010 Spotlight: S Taylor Mays – USC
By ConPublished: February 14, 2010
Posted in: Draft, Prospects
Tags: Draft Review, Prospect, Rookie, Safety, USC
By Simon Clahttp://www.universaldraft.com/2010/02/14/2010-spotlight-s-taylor-mays-usc/ncy
Taylor Mays of USC is one of the more controversial prospects in the 2010 draft and opinions on his ability vary greatly. A four year starter at free safety for USC, he is a physical marvel at 6’3, 231lbs. One of the most coveted prep stars in recent history, he was a unanimous All American selection and was the back to back state 100 and 200m champion as a high school junior and a senior, recording a 100m time of 10.88 seconds.
As a junior at USC, Mays was tipped as a top five selection and even entering the 2009 campaign, he was still being lauded as a top 10 pick at worst. However, once evaluators are able to study him play by play, I think his stock will drop considerably. The questions everyone asks is what position is he going to play? Can he play free safety and operate as a traditional ball hawking centerfielder? Will he play closer to the line of scrimmage and support the run from the strong side? Or does he have the game to play outside linebacker in a 4-3? I hope to answer all of these questions. I just want to preface the following by saying that a number of people have talked about how Taylor’s role changed as a senior and he didn’t make as many plays because of it. Well that’s partly true in that he didn’t make many plays, but the reality is that he asked head coach Pete Carroll if he could in essence play as slightly less of a pure centre fielder and, in his words, ‘put him closer to the action’. However, whilst he ended up with more tackles – 88, beating his previous best by 22 – he failed to record a sack, a tackle for a loss, a forced fumble or a pass break up. His one interception took his four year total to just 5. Across 50 career starts at USC, he’s never recorded a sack, a tackle for a loss or remarkably, a pass break up. He has one career forced fumble. These are staggering numbers for a prospect touted as a possible top 5 pick. But is there more to it than just a numbers game?
Let’s start by looking at May’s tackling ability. Known to have a reputation as a ferocious hitter, he’s going to have to be able to consistently take opponents down at the next level regardless of his position. When you watch the tape, you’ll see three things that happen again and again; when working across the formation, especially coming from deep, he’s athletic and can make the play on the perimeter or sliding down the line of scrimmage. However, in the open field, he’s an atrocious tackler. He has a tendency to drop his head into what I would call a ‘neck break’ position and he rarely wraps up properly. The third part of Mays’ tackling game is the kill-shot, where he tries to use his imposing physical gifts to wipe out opponents. Before we get to the bad and the ugly, let’s look at the good.
I’d like you to watch the very first play of the film at 0.07. He’s lined up uncovered in the slot to the strong side of the formation. At the snap of the ball he jumps down and attacks the edge. Now if you stop the action at 0.09, you can just see Mays on the edge of the melee. First thing that you notice is that he’s taking a horrendous angle. He’s taken hard steps inside and his shoulders, pointing into the backfield, leave him susceptible to the back bouncing it outside, especially when you see the position of the two USC defenders on the goaline with blocking receivers out in front. However, the BC tailback tries to run it off right tackle and Mays dips low and makes an excellent form tackle, stopping him in his tracks. When he tackles properly, opponents tend to stay tackled.
Move the tape forward to 1.12 and you’ll see the good and the bad in Mays again on the same play. He shows outstanding athletic ability to track across the field, redirecting slightly as he closes in on the ball carrier to make sure he has the angle. It’s a key tackle because if he doesn’t make it, the likelihood is that it goes the distance. However, when it comes to finishing the play, his tackle form is atrocious. He drops his shoulders, but not his hips and he ducks his head somewhat. Worse still, his arms never move from his side. Yes, he makes the tackle and he shows decent recognition and above average athletic ability to get to the corner, but you’d hardly call it textbook.
Shuffle forwards to 1.41 on the tape. Here you’ll see Mays sneaking up to the line of scrimmage against Cal from the strong side of the formation. It’s a Wildcat play with Jahvid Best at QB. He – Mays – is aware of the threat of the triple option and, as Best cuts inside the first tackle, you see Taylor gear down and back up again with minimal fuss and run Jahvid down from behind. That’s textbook; he shuts down the backside, he’s aggressive, taking a good angle and he stops Best a yard or two past the line of scrimmage.
Now, move on to 1.55 because it highlights a couple of issues. If you count, USC have 10 defenders within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. The only player who isn’t is Mays. They’re in what looks like man free or cover 1 at the snap of the ball, which is an alignment that Taylor often finds himself in, although as the play unfolds you’ll see that actually it was probably cover 8. As the play begins, Mays takes two steps back and then a step left as he sees the slot corner allow his man the release to the inside. But Taylor peeks into the backfield and sees that it’s a designed run that will fake to the strong side, but cut back intentionally to the weak. We know this because of the route that the slot receiver runs. Now if you pause the action at 1.59 you’ll see Pryor is escaping contain with a lead blocker in front. On the perimeter the receiver has excellent position on the corner and there is a huge play in the offing. When Pryor is at the USC 45, Mays is at the 30. He closes quickly and forces the Buckeye QB out to the perimeter, although again it’s not a form tackle and he tries to grab him awfully high.
Clearly Mays possesses very strong hands because not only is he able to corral Pryor, but he also slings him to the ground. At no point does he look to take him down properly which is strange considering that they first come into contact about a yard and a half past the far left hash. Stop the tape again at 2.01 and look at Pryor’s body shape. His shoulders are almost squared away to the sideline and his back is straight. Taylor is in the perfect spot to simply take him down around the waist with the sort of tackle that we saw in the previous clip on Jahvid Best. It takes him three more seconds and 9 more strides until he’s finally down. Pryor is a big boy, but this should be a routine tackle.
Shuffle to 2.57 and a play against UCLA. It’s another designed QB run. It’s pretty good diagnosis by Mays as he shows outstanding speed to get out into the left flat to make the tackle. But if you watch the play again, he’s very lucky not to have overrun it completely because it’s actually a pretty poor angle that he takes. Again he tries to make the initial contact up high around the shoulders of Kevin Prince. His hands slide down and he gets him around the waist and records the takedown. Now you may think I’ve been overly harsh, especially on plays where he’s made tackles. But later on I’m going to show you that actually his inability to take good angles to the ball carrier is a real issue in the run game. However, before we get to that, I want to look at the second part of his tackling which is open field tackles.
I mentioned in the introduction that this part of his game was ‘atrocious’ and for a player considered by many as a top 10 pick, then it’s truly shocking. What’s worse for Taylor is that it’s actually very dangerous and he clearly hasn’t been coached out of what is very poor technique. When the play comes head on at him, he doesn’t look to run through the tackle. He tends to come towards the ball carrier, then stop and get very square. He then has to restart. But his feet come to a complete standstill and he does this over and over again, losing any momentum built up as he approaches the ball. When initiating contact he will duck his head, leaving him susceptible to serious injury. He tries to tackle with his shoulders or the crown of his helmet, yet his arms stay by his side. Let me show you what I mean.
0.13 seconds into the tape and this years Emerald Bowl against Boston College. Dave Shinskie the BC signal caller drops back to throw out of the gun. Again it looks like USC is playing cover 1. At 0.16 when Shinskie releases the ball, Taylor isn’t in the picture. No crime there, especially on a four receiver pattern. It’s a flanker screen to the boundary receiver who has two blockers out in front. It’s a well drawn up play and if you stop it at 0.17 you’ll see that the receiver has the ball and his blockers have done a decent job. However, the play is made by the athletic middle linebacker Chris Galippo, the next highly rated Trojan LB, who cuts under the lead guard and makes the tackle. At 0.19, Taylor comes rushing into the shot and even though the runner seems to be on the floor or at least very close to the floor, he bends his knees and curls himself right down to strike a defenceless receiver. He does so with the crown of his helmet. Not only is it a bad tackle, it’s also a borderline flag.
Shuffle forwards to 0.53 and the Notre Dame game. Jimmy Clausen hands off to the back. Again it’s cover one with the SS doubling Golden Tate at the top of the formation. It’s a pretty simple run play through the B gap. Now if you stop the action at 0.58, the ball carrier is at his own 24 and you can just see the shadow of Mays emerging across the yellow first down line and the 35 yard line. But if you stop it again at 0.59, you’ll see the back sandwiched between two Trojan defenders and Mays is leaning the upper part of his body towards the ball carrier, hands by his side. You’ll note that in his approach to contact he takes a jump step and widens his stance to balance and anchor on impact, but he stops his feet again instead of allowing his momentum to carry on through the tackle. On impact, the hands remain by his side and he simply throws his right shoulder at the running back, bouncing off and ending up on his backside. He dips and coils before impact but for some reason decides to simply throw that shoulder in and it has no effect whatsoever, other than to make him look foolish. I’ll touch on what happens after impact a little later.
I’d like you to spool forwards to 1.25 and a play against UCLA. Again, he’s sitting in cover one. The back goes off to the weak side, following his fullback and his motioning tight end, but USC’s #42 Devon Kinnard, gets to the edge and forces the back to turn it up inside. You see Mays enter the screen at the last moment and the back goes down and it looks as though Taylor is in on ½ a tackle at worst. But watch the replay which begins at 1.36. You just see Mays sneaking into the bottom portion of the frame. He makes no attempt at proper contact whatsoever, again throwing his right shoulder into what turns out to be the side of his own man. Arms are by his side – his elbows are tucked right in tight to his frame – and the crown of his helmet is down again.
The next play I want you to watch starts at 1.48 and again it’s the 2010 Emerald Bowl against Boston College, again highlighting his inability to tackle in the open field and showing how he stops his feet before initiating contact. This time Mays is doubling up on the slot receiver. BC run a gut play, but the back, seeing daylight to the weak side, bounces it outside and into the open field. Mays comes into the picture at 1.51 and seems to have the backside cutback protected and is forcing him to the centre of the field. However, if you run the play on, just as the back crosses the yellow first down marker, Taylor takes the now familiar jump step and then stops. His feet aren’t moving and he’s essentially taken himself out of the play. With no ability to gear back up again, the back cuts behind him and is taken down by a Trojan from the backside.
You probably get the clearest idea of what I mean on the following clip. At 2.05 you’ll see a UCLA Wildcat play but it’s the replay that I want you to pay particular interest to. Now first of all, look at the alignment. It’s a two receiver pattern with a motioning wideout coming from the strong side, a la Ricky Williams in Miami. The ‘QB’, playing the Ronnie Brown role if you will, fakes the handoff on the reverse and runs straight up the gut to daylight. Now, remember that part of the play because it’s important when we get to the replay. Taylor comes into shot at 2.08 and initiates contact and the ball carrier goes down. First thing you notice even from that quick shot is that he’s gone high and doesn’t seem to have used his hands. But now, here’s the interesting part because it touches not only on his tackling ability or lack thereof, but also a little on his instincts, which we’ll look at in more depth later on. So the replay begins at 2.11 and you see the runner breaking through containment and yet Mays, on a two receiver pattern, continues to work back towards his own goaline. In fact he takes three steps backwards whilst the play is coming at him.
You see him enter the frame fully at 2.15, but between there and 2.17 he does two things; first of all he slows right down and second, he jumps and comes to a standstill, losing the momentum and power he’s generated running 10 yards towards the ball carrier. You try running ten yards, jumping and coming to a stop and then trying to generate enough power to start back up again and make a tackle. What might help Mays generate inertia is if he used his arms correctly, but at no point does he raise them. Instead, he turns his body, drops his hips far too far down, gets himself off balance and throws that all too familiar right shoulder at the runner. At no point during contact is his head turned towards the ball carrier. The end result is that he actually misses the tackle completely. You’ve heard of a form tackle. Well that was a formless one.
Let the tape roll to the very next play starting at 2.22 against Cal. This time, you’ll see ILB Chris Galippo drop off from the line of scrimmage. The pass is completed over the middle between four defenders, the deepest of which is Taylor Mays. If you look at his three team mates the moment the ball is caught, you’ll see that Taylor and #19, safety Drew McCallister are in the perfect spots to make the tackle as both are driving from the front foot at the receiver. But Drew is taken out by his own man who makes an ankle tackle on the receiver who himself stumbles and heads towards the ground at his own 39. Taylor has him bang to rights at the 42, yet inexplicably gets too far to the outside and allows #80 to cut inside him. He seems to take three or four stuttering steps, ducks his head right down, tries grabbing the shirt whilst off balance and ultimately allows him to gain an extra 5 yards. And we’ll get to what happens at the end of the play later. But once again, it’s bad form tackling and it’s an inability to run through open field tackles.
One of the biggest parts of Mays’s game is the kill shot, which looks spectacular and draws oohs and aahs from the crowd but ultimately adds very little to his overall resume other than ask more questions. If Taylor was continually forcing fumbles by tackling this way, then you could perhaps understand it more. But he isn’t. What he’s doing is head hunting, using his size and athletic ability to try and take people’s heads off. A few things immediately worry me. First of all, in an era of football where more and more is known and more and more is being done to try and curb head injuries and concussion related injuries, Mays will be finding himself on the end of some hefty fines or suspensions if he continues to ply his trade the way he has done at times for the Trojans. Notoriously against Penn State in the Rose Bowl, he knocked an in cutting Jordan Norwood out of the game and almost took off the head of a fellow team mate with a pretty reckless head shot that cost his team 15 yards. It was a head ducking, crown of the helmet leading, arms down kill shot that has no place in the game. Similarly, he ripped off the helmet of Oregon’s James Rodgers in the endzone in another dangerous tackle. I’m all for big time contact, but in all seriousness, if Taylor Mays continues to ply his trade in this manner, he’s either going to be out of the league in 5 years through injury – because he doesn’t tackle properly – or he will have paralysed someone. And I don’t say that lightly.
He’s already been cited, albeit namelessly, by the House Judiciary Committee investigating destructive brain trauma in football by Republican congressman Dan Lungren who called Mays a head hunter after a play I’ll show you in a minute. But first I want to show you a play from the same game, the 2009 contest against Notre Dame. If you take the tape to 3.54, you’ll see he’s playing strong safety in a two deep defense. It’s 3rd and 12. If you pause it at the start of the play, you can see his responsibilities; at the top of the screen the Irish have a three WR set in man coverage. They have a FS sitting deep to cover that 3 WR set. The SLB has the back. The ILB can either rush Jimmy Clausen or drop off and cover the middle. Mays essentially has responsibility for the flanker, which is Golden Tate. Start the tape and you’ll see that because both the SLB and the ILB blitz, the back has to stay in to protect Clausen. Mays has to see that and know that his ONLY responsibility is Golden Tate. Yet at the snap of the ball he takes three hard jump steps to his right, to the weak side. Why does he do this? Perhaps it’s coaching, but it strikes me as very strange coaching if it is.
If you stop the tape at 3.57, you’ll see that Clausen’s arm is coming forwards on release, but in the split second before it does, Mays still hasn’t come back to the flanker side. Again, inexplicable that he – Mays – should not drop down to the strong side given that Clausen ONLY looks at Golden Tate. If you scroll the tape on, Golden makes the catch at the 3 and Mays is about 3 or 4 yards away at the goaline. He can’t stop the first down, but with a 14 point lead and 7.31 to go in the game, he can at least run some more from the clock by taking Tate down. Remember, this is the same Golden Tate who is about 4 inches and 38lbs – almost 3 stones – lighter than Mays. But Taylor has only one thing in mind – kill shot. There’s no dipping and driving, he merely intends to take Tate’s head off. He turns that infamous right shoulder and delivers the blow. He’s high, his arms are again by his side, he’s got zero leverage on a smaller man and Tate crushes him. He takes the impact being the stud that he is and goes in standing up. It’s a win for Tate because of the score but also because he withstands the kill shot.
Now, the infamous play that congressman Lungren was talking about, which is the very next play, beginning at 4.09. It’s a 3 receiver set with Floyd and Tate to the weakside and Robby Parris as the flanker to the strong side. Again, quite apart from any tackling – look at Mays’s instincts or lack thereof. It’s a 7 step drop. Clausen never looks to the wide side of the field. Golden Tate and Michael Floyd are too far to the top of the screen for him to make any discernible read to that side. So Mays should realise that Parris is the hot route. Yet if you stop the tape at 4.14, just as Parris is making the catch at the 18, Mays still has his back foot planted at the 11. Why? The corner’s certainly expecting help from Mays. Look at the way at 4.12 he passes his receiver off to the safety and sits in trail. Except Taylor is no-where to be seen. As Parris catches the ball and starts to go down, Mays comes in and essentially spears a defenceless receiver, sliding off his back. Parris’s helmet comes off, but it’s not entirely clear whether Mays or the corner is responsible. Regardless, in the NFL that’s 15 yards. Look at the clock. The Irish are behind by 7 and there’s 30+ seconds left. They’ve just converted a 4th down and have the ball at the Trojan 18. 15 yards puts it down at the 3. It’s just not smart football from Taylor Mays. This is another example of bad safety play.
Apart from tackling penalties, he’s also going to incur stupid 15 yarders for the sort of mindless play that you just wouldn’t expect from a 50 game starter. Go to 0.22 on the tape and a reverse against UCLA. Mays is actually out of shot until 0.29. At which point he closes fast and knocks the ball carrier out of bounds. No problem there. Except until you watch the replay, starting at 0.31. You see Mays coming over and taking a shot when the runner is a yard and a half, maybe two yards out of bounds and heading out anyway. It’s not like he was going to be tiptoeing down the sideline. It’s a borderline call, but in today’s safety conscious NFL it will likely get called more than not. And if it was a one off then I could let it slide, but it isn’t. Shuffle forwards to 0.51 and a play we’ve already analysed for bad tackling. You’ll see the Irish back take yet a now all too familiar head duck and right shoulder shot from Mays. Stop the tape at 1.02 and you’ll see 7 USC defenders around the ball carrier. Forward progress has been stopped and the play is pretty much over. No whistle has blown, but to all intents and purposes, it’s over. Then Mays decides to jump on top of the pile. It’s a stupid play. No flag is thrown, but again in the NFL it probably will be.
This may seem like nitpicking, but you hear so many coaches talking about hidden yardage and players playing smart. If you shuffle to 2.31, you’ll again see a play previously reviewed. But if you spool to the end of it at 2.30, watch what Mays does. He begins to drive the receiver out of bounds, he has hold of him and two or three yards off the field, he turns him as if he’s going to throw him. The clip ends suddenly, but Mays was penalised 15 yards for unnecessary roughness. Again, it’s a thoroughly pointless penalty.
Whether Mays plays SS or FS at the next level, he’s going to have to be able to cover. Can he match up one on one with a WR or a tight end? Can he manage a back out of the backfield? Given his size you’d have to wonder, but this is a guy that could run a legitimate 4.35 at the Combine, so you’d expect him to be able to handle coverage responsibilities, either coming from the deep centre or in man coverage. Shuffle to 3.24 on the tape and let’s take a look. You have a 2nd and 1 play against Notre Dame. The Irish have Golden Tate split to the bottom of the screen on the weak side. To the strong side they have two receivers and a tight end in close at the end of the line. There is also a back aligned next to Jimmy Clausen who’s in the gun. You can clearly see Taylor is playing cover one. At the snap of the ball he moves to the strong side of the formation. His responsibility should be looking at Clausen’s eyes. Jimmy manipulates Mays by looking strong side first but at 3.26, his head and body pivot and he only has eyes for Tate running a corner route.
You can’t see Mays, but at that point, his only thought should be getting to that corner route. It’s another two seconds between pivot to release for Clausen. When he releases the ball he does so at his own 44. The ball is caught by Tate at the USC 2 and is in the air for four seconds. That’s 6 seconds from recognition to catch that Mays needs to get across half the field. When he first comes into shot, he has a decent angle, but he never turns round for the ball, he never gets his hands up and he should know that Tate is a high point receiver. Watch the replay beginning at 3.35. Mays’s foot comes into play at 3.38. Golden is at the 22 yard line. I’d say that at that point Taylor is 12-15 yards away. But move the film on and the replay confirms everything that the initial angle showed; Mays never once looks back for the ball, believing instead that a big hit will free it from Golden’s hands. As he closes in, his angle changes slightly. But look at the contact Mays tries to make. Yet again it’s head ducking, shoulder in, arms by his side. Not once does he try and knock the ball away or look back and judge it. Granted it’s a tremendous throw and catch, but Mays, if he plays the ball correctly, if he uses his arms, if he locates the ball in the air, he prevents a touchdown. This is FA grading.
Shuffle back to 0.38 on the tape and a play from the Emerald Bowl against BC. You’ll see a 3 man route to the top of the screen. Two receivers and a man in motion to the strong side. There is a TE to the weak side but he’s covered – if necessary – by the WLB and the right corner. There is a back to the strong side. Mays is again playing cover one. Now watch as the play develops and see what happens to the receivers on the route and to our guy. The TE blocks down the line so he’s not threat. Immediately Taylor knows it’s strong side coverage only. The back is out in the right flat. The motioning WR has run a speed out. The inside receiver has run a 15 yard out and the boundary WR has run a sideline pattern. Nothing remarkable about any of that. As the play progresses, the linebackers and corners drop into a zone. As the play continues the ball is caught by the boundary receiver before being knocked out of bounds by Mays.
But watch the replay, starting at 0.44 and specifically the way Taylor attacks the ball in the air and the route he takes to get to the tackle. Remember, he has deep responsibilities on a 3 WR, 1 back pattern where no-one has gone deeper than him. Everything is in front of him. If you stop the tape at 0.48, the back is covered. The motioning WR is covered. The inside WR is in the middle of a 3 man zone. And yet Taylor takes a semi circle angle to come and make the tackle, almost as if he’s somehow expecting the ball to go to the triple covered inside man. When he comes into shot, he’s already running back to the WR with his feet at the 45 yard line. When he makes contact he’s another 4 yards back down the field at the 49. Why is he taking such a bad angle. Why did he instinctively move towards the in cutting, triple covered WR when clearly his play responsibility was the man who ultimately caught the ball?
I really have some serious question marks about Mays’s football intelligence. The next sequence of plays I’m going to show you will open your eyes to what I’m talking about. These next few selections display horrific instincts and awareness and a lack of a football brain that will take a lot of work to be corrected. It bears repeating, but some of this stuff is street free agent ability. It may seem like I’m piling on, but if you were to look at the next sequence and be asked to give a round value, the only thing you could possibly put is ‘late round/FA type’.
Shuffle to 4.27 on the tape and we’ll begin; Again it’s his final game at USC, the Emerald Bowl. Two deep zone. At the snap of the ball at 4.27, he steps up to the LOS from his SS spot. It’s a two man route to the strong side and the corner covering the slot man passes him off to Taylor underneath. If you stop the tape at 4.30, you’ll see that Mays is in no mans land between the man he had in the zone and the man catching the ball on the boundary – he’s the one turning to look down the field. Now watch the replay. He steps up, takes a couple of jump steps and then seems to gear down, before suddenly springing into action like it’s either a delayed draw or a quick inside screen to the slot man. Except that when he makes that move, the QB is past the back who’s staying into block, the QB still has the ball waist high and the receiver whose route he seems to be jumping, hasn’t turned his back, hasn’t got to the top of his route or in fact shown any inclination that he’s about to receive the ball. If you stop the play at 4.36, the QB actually has a big gain in between Mays and Chris Galippo the linebacker standing on the Bowl decal at midfield. If he throws it to where the official is standing, then the slot WR is one on one with the FS because of what Taylor did. The ball instead goes outside, but the replay cannot hide how lost Mays is on what is a very simple route and equally simple coverage.
If you shoot forwards to 4.55 you’ll see another example of how he looks lost when the ball’s in the air. Most safeties are more comfortable when the play is in front of them. In this years draft class only Tennessee’s Eric Berry and Texas’s Earl Thomas seem equally as comfortable tracking the ball deep like corners. But Mays struggles to even look comfy when the ball’s in front of him. Set the action going. Again it’s the same game as before. It’s a four receiver set to the bottom of the screen. 3 corners, two deep safeties. Depending on what MLB Chris Galippo does should depend on Taylor’s responsibilities. If Galippo blitzes, then Mays should have the back. If he doesn’t, then he’s in deep coverage. At the snap of the ball he drifts from SS towards the FS side. The back comes out but is instantly shadowed by Galippo. The ball is thrown to the spot where Mays was standing at the snap as the slot WR works across the middle on a drag route. So why is Taylor so dreadfully out of position? There was no pump fake. There was no great route being run. In fact, before the slot receiver goes out of shot, he’s already making his up-cut to the strong side of the formation. And yet Mays is 4/5 yards out of position covering a very simple drag route.
The next two plays worry me most of all. Especially if I’m investing a high draft pick. The first is at 5.03 and comes against Ohio State. Mays is playing cover 1, down at the far right of the picture. At the snap of the ball and before he goes out of shot, he drifts towards the weak side of the field. Terrelle Pryor never looks him off, there’s no pump fake or physical manipulation whatsoever and a good ball playing safety is breaking on that and housing it the other way. But run the tape and see what happens. Mays takes a terrible angle to the ball and overshoots the pass by yards. Where is he going? The ball ends up at the USC 3 yard line. Now, if you wind it back, you’ll see that the Buckeyes run a man in motion. He’s picked up by the corner covering the slot leaving Mays in isolation on that slot receiver. Pretty simple look as the play is developing. Yet Mays just doesn’t see it. He’s clearly late to the pass. Watch the replay; Pryor takes it from the gun and it’s a pass to that side all the way. The motion has freed up the slot corner and the slot WR is clearly the target. That’s pretty basic coverage. But not for Taylor Mays. He’s absolutely lost covering in space.
A one off? Unfortunately not. It’s a recurring theme. Shuffle forwards again to 5.44. Again it’s the Emerald Bowl and again Mays is in cover one. It’s a similar play to the Ohio State pass, except without the motioning receiver. But it looks to me as though the BC coaches have seen on film how badly Mays breaks down in space in coverage and have worked it to their advantage, to great effect. At the snap, Taylor moves down towards the weak side. It’s man coverage at the top of the screen and Chris Galippo is moving out there to help, allowing Mays the freedom on the strong side. If you stop the clock at 5.45, you’ll see the BC QB releasing the ball and the slot receiver cutting in, being passed off by the corner. Run it on a second and he’s making the catch in space. But where’s the safety that we know has deep responsibility to this side of the field? He’s not only not in shot, but he’s at least 10 yards away. Shuffle on a second more and all of a sudden you see Mays, but he’s not where he should be. He’s actually overrun the play by about 10/12 yards. This is phenomenally bad coverage. Genuinely, I cannot begin to tell you how appalling this is. There is no discernible reason for him to have overrun the play this badly other than he simply lacks the instincts and intelligence to play safety at a high level. These are not complicated routes. He’s now firmly out of the play and for all his 4.3 speed, he makes up not one yard over 50. When I saw this play live I was staggered. It doesn’t get any easier on repeat viewings.
Go to the very next play against Cal. It’s a screen to Jahvid Best, but again, Mays takes a terrible angle. He runs around the lineman, rather than cutting underneath him, then displays the turning circle of a large passenger steamer to try and get back into the play. One play later at 6.01 it’s the same thing. Wildcat with Best again playing the Ronnie Brown role. He takes the snap, fakes the hand off on the reverse and then dives up inside. Taylor comes into the screen from the strong side, takes that familiar hop which leaves him flat footed and momentum-less and then gets lost behind the official as Best works back across the field. It’s a bad angle, but what’s also worrying is how sticky his hips are. For the second play running he displays a very mediocre ability to change direction quickly. Allow the tape to run to the next play beginning at 6.10 against UCLA and again, instincts and angles have to be called into serious doubt. Not sure exactly what happens in the backfield, but the ball is bouncing around and gets picked up by the back. Taylor comes into shot at 6.15, but he’s weaving around like a drunk on a bicycle. He takes three different angles, none of them right before seemingly running away from the ball carrier altogether. Where is he going? I’m speechless.
Same game and the very next play at 6.20. He’s in man coverage on the slot receiver. There’s no backfield trickeration, it’s just a power draw of LT. What I don’t understand is that at 6.22 Taylor has an angle to the ball carrier, but if you press play, inexplicably, he goes BEHIND his blocker as if to hide. I assume he’s covering the back bouncing the ball outside, but that never looked like happening. Again you have to question his instincts and his football brain.
What’s he like in pure man coverage? I want to show you two quick examples at 5.31 and 5.38. What I’m looking for are four things; stance, start, back pedal and break. He’s playing off man, so his stance is a little more lax. He’s flat footed at the snap of the ball, but then proceeds to hop backwards rather than back pedal. Part of me believes Mays thinks he can land, plant and drive more comfortably when it comes to mirroring a receiver in and out of his breaks, but realistically, against a good route runner, he’s going to get turned all over the place because he’s going to be so flat footed. His steps should not be too large and the feet should be kept low to the ground. Any large steps or high lifts require more time for the Defensive Back to gain control over his legs and feet and therefore waste too much time. Ideally, the feet drag over the grass. Look at his arms. They’re way too low yet again. He needs to get those hands up much quicker. It’s not a well sold route, but he turns his hips fluidly and is glove like in coverage as the ball goes to the other side of the field. At 5.38 he’s in the strong side slot. Again, it’s hop, hop, break rather than back pedal, break and his hips are much less fluid, mainly because the receivers break comes just as he lands on that second hop. Yet again it’s poor technique from Mays.
Let’s try and end on a positive note. If you take the tape back to 4.42 against Cal and an endzone pick. I say ‘positive note’ but if you start the play, he immediately shows you the bad side; trying to anticipate a play that would have been thrown into triple coverage. He vacates the middle of the field and is lucky that the QB is forced out of the pocket to the strong side. Mays wheels back into the play and works back across the formation, reading and anticipating to make the pick in the back of the endzone. This was a much better job of reading the play, but even then there is the caveat that he nearly blew it.
There is no doubting his athleticism; to be that quick in such a big body is a rarity. If you spin to 3.46 on the tape and see the play against Ohio State, Mays is lined up on the strong side, cheating up inside the 7 technique. At the snap of the ball he attacks the LOS and is engaged and forced out wide, but he stays alive as the play comes towards him, grabbing the hands of the tackle and pulling him past him. The RT has pushed him out wide and created a nice lane, but he sees the play, performs the pull and spins back under the tackle and into the lane at 3.51. From there he closes with speed, but still faces an Ohio State blocker engaged with a team-mate. He does a sound job of running through the back of the block and pulling down the runner from behind. Shuffle forward s to 5.22 and the Notre Dame game. You see that the Irish are lining up for a FG and Mays is second from the end of the line on the strong side. He gets up to rush the kick, but it’s a fake and at 5.24, the ball is passed out by the holder to the sidelines where an idling Irish receiver is waiting. If you stop it at 5.24, Taylor is square in the middle if the field – look between the uprights and he’s dead centre. A second later, when the ball is caught he’s at the hash marks and he closes effortlessly for such a big man, to shove the receiver out inside the 5. He’s such a long strider and covers so much ground. It’s a terrific show of athleticism from Mays.
There is one final play that I’d like to show you which doesn’t appear on our cut ups, but you can see it here:
It’s a 3rd and 1 play against Cal. Mays is lined up as the strong side linebacker and he’s being asked to defend one my very favourite short yardage runs which is the fake handoff inside and then the QB pitches back outside. Why is it a favourite? Because the inside fake and the way the QB’s body is turned on delivery means that edge defenders automatically take one or two steps to the inside. That gives the outside pitch man the yard or yard and a half’s head start required to get to the corner and collect the first down or touchdown. Here Cal are pitching to first round calibre back Jahvid Best, who, apart from his skills on the field, is quite the track star as well. He’s a gold medal winner in the USATF junior Olympic Games and was the 2007 state 100m champion with a time of 10.31 seconds. At the snap of the ball, Mays takes a step and a half inside. If you stop the tape at 0.21 you’ll see that Mays is shifting his body and working to get his feet out from underneath him. Look at Best and he already has the angle for the first down and is a stride and a half or two ahead of Mays in terms of his body alignment. Now stop it again at 0.23. Best, is now putting his hand back to try and stiff arm Mays and Taylor has forced Jahvid to change the angle as he no longer believes he can get to the corner. Taylor stays with him and forces Best out of bounds before he can get the first down, forcing Cal to punt. It’s a phenomenally athletic play from a 231lb safety against a 195lb 100m state champion to the wide side of the field.
That play epitomises something that you see all too infrequently with Taylor; when he has the correct angle and he’s running in space to the ball carrier, then he’s as good as there’s been. Unfortunately it rarely happens. He has the athletic and physical make up that has scouts drooling and doubtless he’s going to turn in some spectacular performances at the Scouting Combine. Tested last summer, he ran a 4.34 forty and jumped 41 inches. I cannot underestimate just how mind boggling those numbers are for a man of his size. But it’s not all about the numbers. In man coverage his technique is poor – those hop steps need to be eliminated and his poor hips showed up time and again both on film and in Mobile. As the deep safety, he shows a poor understanding of the defense and will take some truly horrendous angles to the football, as bad as any I’ve ever seen – the Ohio State and Boston College passes will live long in the memory as moments of safety ineptitude. For all the talk about his hitting prowess, he all too often ducks his head and leads either with the crown of his helmet or his shoulder, never using his hands. He will try for the knockout blow with impunity, rather than wrapping the ball carrier or looking for the ball in the air. And given that he creates so few turnovers playing that way, you’d think he’d change his style. Fundamentally he’s a very poorly coached individual. It seems to me as though the USC coaches should be culpable for allowing his technique to be so mediocre. It’s pretty clear that they’ve assumed he will get by on athletic ability alone. Can he be coached into a better player? Tackling, playing the ball in the air, hand usage, dipping and striking, back pedalling instead of hopping, late hits, etc. Yes. All that can be coached. But football awareness and instinct? You’re either born with that or you’re not. Taylor Mays is not born with it.
You like to see a big thumper at SS and a ball hawk on the free side. Unfortunately, Mays is neither. I came into this review thinking that he had to be a strong safety, but he’s a very inconsistent tackler and that would make me nervous. But if you put him on the strong side, he should be able to match up with backs and tight ends because of his athletic ability. On the free side, he’s going to be manipulated by good QB’s who will see how badly he attacks the ball in space and take advantage of that. Therefore, I think some teams will look to try him as a SLB in a 4-3. He’s clearly strong enough to take on blocks and when the play goes away from him, as evidenced against Terrelle Pryor and Jahvid Best, that’s when he really flashes. There is a level of hype around Mays because of the big hitting reputation and the athletic ability that clearly put him in the top 10. Personally I don’t think he deserves to be anywhere near the first round. He’s a guy whose whole game is going to have to be ripped up and re-started. I don’t doubt that he’ll come off the board somewhere between about 18-32, but I would have grave reservations about selecting him much before round 3 if I planned to play him at safety. I hope that the GM that DOES pick him in round 1 is comfortable with his own job security.
One final caveat with Mays that bears repeating; he can be a vicious, formless hitter and I truly have concerns about serious, long term injuries if he continues to play out of control.
By ConPublished: February 14, 2010
Posted in: Draft, Prospects
Tags: Draft Review, Prospect, Rookie, Safety, USC
By Simon Clahttp://www.universaldraft.com/2010/02/14/2010-spotlight-s-taylor-mays-usc/ncy
Taylor Mays of USC is one of the more controversial prospects in the 2010 draft and opinions on his ability vary greatly. A four year starter at free safety for USC, he is a physical marvel at 6’3, 231lbs. One of the most coveted prep stars in recent history, he was a unanimous All American selection and was the back to back state 100 and 200m champion as a high school junior and a senior, recording a 100m time of 10.88 seconds.
As a junior at USC, Mays was tipped as a top five selection and even entering the 2009 campaign, he was still being lauded as a top 10 pick at worst. However, once evaluators are able to study him play by play, I think his stock will drop considerably. The questions everyone asks is what position is he going to play? Can he play free safety and operate as a traditional ball hawking centerfielder? Will he play closer to the line of scrimmage and support the run from the strong side? Or does he have the game to play outside linebacker in a 4-3? I hope to answer all of these questions. I just want to preface the following by saying that a number of people have talked about how Taylor’s role changed as a senior and he didn’t make as many plays because of it. Well that’s partly true in that he didn’t make many plays, but the reality is that he asked head coach Pete Carroll if he could in essence play as slightly less of a pure centre fielder and, in his words, ‘put him closer to the action’. However, whilst he ended up with more tackles – 88, beating his previous best by 22 – he failed to record a sack, a tackle for a loss, a forced fumble or a pass break up. His one interception took his four year total to just 5. Across 50 career starts at USC, he’s never recorded a sack, a tackle for a loss or remarkably, a pass break up. He has one career forced fumble. These are staggering numbers for a prospect touted as a possible top 5 pick. But is there more to it than just a numbers game?
Let’s start by looking at May’s tackling ability. Known to have a reputation as a ferocious hitter, he’s going to have to be able to consistently take opponents down at the next level regardless of his position. When you watch the tape, you’ll see three things that happen again and again; when working across the formation, especially coming from deep, he’s athletic and can make the play on the perimeter or sliding down the line of scrimmage. However, in the open field, he’s an atrocious tackler. He has a tendency to drop his head into what I would call a ‘neck break’ position and he rarely wraps up properly. The third part of Mays’ tackling game is the kill-shot, where he tries to use his imposing physical gifts to wipe out opponents. Before we get to the bad and the ugly, let’s look at the good.
I’d like you to watch the very first play of the film at 0.07. He’s lined up uncovered in the slot to the strong side of the formation. At the snap of the ball he jumps down and attacks the edge. Now if you stop the action at 0.09, you can just see Mays on the edge of the melee. First thing that you notice is that he’s taking a horrendous angle. He’s taken hard steps inside and his shoulders, pointing into the backfield, leave him susceptible to the back bouncing it outside, especially when you see the position of the two USC defenders on the goaline with blocking receivers out in front. However, the BC tailback tries to run it off right tackle and Mays dips low and makes an excellent form tackle, stopping him in his tracks. When he tackles properly, opponents tend to stay tackled.
Move the tape forward to 1.12 and you’ll see the good and the bad in Mays again on the same play. He shows outstanding athletic ability to track across the field, redirecting slightly as he closes in on the ball carrier to make sure he has the angle. It’s a key tackle because if he doesn’t make it, the likelihood is that it goes the distance. However, when it comes to finishing the play, his tackle form is atrocious. He drops his shoulders, but not his hips and he ducks his head somewhat. Worse still, his arms never move from his side. Yes, he makes the tackle and he shows decent recognition and above average athletic ability to get to the corner, but you’d hardly call it textbook.
Shuffle forwards to 1.41 on the tape. Here you’ll see Mays sneaking up to the line of scrimmage against Cal from the strong side of the formation. It’s a Wildcat play with Jahvid Best at QB. He – Mays – is aware of the threat of the triple option and, as Best cuts inside the first tackle, you see Taylor gear down and back up again with minimal fuss and run Jahvid down from behind. That’s textbook; he shuts down the backside, he’s aggressive, taking a good angle and he stops Best a yard or two past the line of scrimmage.
Now, move on to 1.55 because it highlights a couple of issues. If you count, USC have 10 defenders within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. The only player who isn’t is Mays. They’re in what looks like man free or cover 1 at the snap of the ball, which is an alignment that Taylor often finds himself in, although as the play unfolds you’ll see that actually it was probably cover 8. As the play begins, Mays takes two steps back and then a step left as he sees the slot corner allow his man the release to the inside. But Taylor peeks into the backfield and sees that it’s a designed run that will fake to the strong side, but cut back intentionally to the weak. We know this because of the route that the slot receiver runs. Now if you pause the action at 1.59 you’ll see Pryor is escaping contain with a lead blocker in front. On the perimeter the receiver has excellent position on the corner and there is a huge play in the offing. When Pryor is at the USC 45, Mays is at the 30. He closes quickly and forces the Buckeye QB out to the perimeter, although again it’s not a form tackle and he tries to grab him awfully high.
Clearly Mays possesses very strong hands because not only is he able to corral Pryor, but he also slings him to the ground. At no point does he look to take him down properly which is strange considering that they first come into contact about a yard and a half past the far left hash. Stop the tape again at 2.01 and look at Pryor’s body shape. His shoulders are almost squared away to the sideline and his back is straight. Taylor is in the perfect spot to simply take him down around the waist with the sort of tackle that we saw in the previous clip on Jahvid Best. It takes him three more seconds and 9 more strides until he’s finally down. Pryor is a big boy, but this should be a routine tackle.
Shuffle to 2.57 and a play against UCLA. It’s another designed QB run. It’s pretty good diagnosis by Mays as he shows outstanding speed to get out into the left flat to make the tackle. But if you watch the play again, he’s very lucky not to have overrun it completely because it’s actually a pretty poor angle that he takes. Again he tries to make the initial contact up high around the shoulders of Kevin Prince. His hands slide down and he gets him around the waist and records the takedown. Now you may think I’ve been overly harsh, especially on plays where he’s made tackles. But later on I’m going to show you that actually his inability to take good angles to the ball carrier is a real issue in the run game. However, before we get to that, I want to look at the second part of his tackling which is open field tackles.
I mentioned in the introduction that this part of his game was ‘atrocious’ and for a player considered by many as a top 10 pick, then it’s truly shocking. What’s worse for Taylor is that it’s actually very dangerous and he clearly hasn’t been coached out of what is very poor technique. When the play comes head on at him, he doesn’t look to run through the tackle. He tends to come towards the ball carrier, then stop and get very square. He then has to restart. But his feet come to a complete standstill and he does this over and over again, losing any momentum built up as he approaches the ball. When initiating contact he will duck his head, leaving him susceptible to serious injury. He tries to tackle with his shoulders or the crown of his helmet, yet his arms stay by his side. Let me show you what I mean.
0.13 seconds into the tape and this years Emerald Bowl against Boston College. Dave Shinskie the BC signal caller drops back to throw out of the gun. Again it looks like USC is playing cover 1. At 0.16 when Shinskie releases the ball, Taylor isn’t in the picture. No crime there, especially on a four receiver pattern. It’s a flanker screen to the boundary receiver who has two blockers out in front. It’s a well drawn up play and if you stop it at 0.17 you’ll see that the receiver has the ball and his blockers have done a decent job. However, the play is made by the athletic middle linebacker Chris Galippo, the next highly rated Trojan LB, who cuts under the lead guard and makes the tackle. At 0.19, Taylor comes rushing into the shot and even though the runner seems to be on the floor or at least very close to the floor, he bends his knees and curls himself right down to strike a defenceless receiver. He does so with the crown of his helmet. Not only is it a bad tackle, it’s also a borderline flag.
Shuffle forwards to 0.53 and the Notre Dame game. Jimmy Clausen hands off to the back. Again it’s cover one with the SS doubling Golden Tate at the top of the formation. It’s a pretty simple run play through the B gap. Now if you stop the action at 0.58, the ball carrier is at his own 24 and you can just see the shadow of Mays emerging across the yellow first down line and the 35 yard line. But if you stop it again at 0.59, you’ll see the back sandwiched between two Trojan defenders and Mays is leaning the upper part of his body towards the ball carrier, hands by his side. You’ll note that in his approach to contact he takes a jump step and widens his stance to balance and anchor on impact, but he stops his feet again instead of allowing his momentum to carry on through the tackle. On impact, the hands remain by his side and he simply throws his right shoulder at the running back, bouncing off and ending up on his backside. He dips and coils before impact but for some reason decides to simply throw that shoulder in and it has no effect whatsoever, other than to make him look foolish. I’ll touch on what happens after impact a little later.
I’d like you to spool forwards to 1.25 and a play against UCLA. Again, he’s sitting in cover one. The back goes off to the weak side, following his fullback and his motioning tight end, but USC’s #42 Devon Kinnard, gets to the edge and forces the back to turn it up inside. You see Mays enter the screen at the last moment and the back goes down and it looks as though Taylor is in on ½ a tackle at worst. But watch the replay which begins at 1.36. You just see Mays sneaking into the bottom portion of the frame. He makes no attempt at proper contact whatsoever, again throwing his right shoulder into what turns out to be the side of his own man. Arms are by his side – his elbows are tucked right in tight to his frame – and the crown of his helmet is down again.
The next play I want you to watch starts at 1.48 and again it’s the 2010 Emerald Bowl against Boston College, again highlighting his inability to tackle in the open field and showing how he stops his feet before initiating contact. This time Mays is doubling up on the slot receiver. BC run a gut play, but the back, seeing daylight to the weak side, bounces it outside and into the open field. Mays comes into the picture at 1.51 and seems to have the backside cutback protected and is forcing him to the centre of the field. However, if you run the play on, just as the back crosses the yellow first down marker, Taylor takes the now familiar jump step and then stops. His feet aren’t moving and he’s essentially taken himself out of the play. With no ability to gear back up again, the back cuts behind him and is taken down by a Trojan from the backside.
You probably get the clearest idea of what I mean on the following clip. At 2.05 you’ll see a UCLA Wildcat play but it’s the replay that I want you to pay particular interest to. Now first of all, look at the alignment. It’s a two receiver pattern with a motioning wideout coming from the strong side, a la Ricky Williams in Miami. The ‘QB’, playing the Ronnie Brown role if you will, fakes the handoff on the reverse and runs straight up the gut to daylight. Now, remember that part of the play because it’s important when we get to the replay. Taylor comes into shot at 2.08 and initiates contact and the ball carrier goes down. First thing you notice even from that quick shot is that he’s gone high and doesn’t seem to have used his hands. But now, here’s the interesting part because it touches not only on his tackling ability or lack thereof, but also a little on his instincts, which we’ll look at in more depth later on. So the replay begins at 2.11 and you see the runner breaking through containment and yet Mays, on a two receiver pattern, continues to work back towards his own goaline. In fact he takes three steps backwards whilst the play is coming at him.
You see him enter the frame fully at 2.15, but between there and 2.17 he does two things; first of all he slows right down and second, he jumps and comes to a standstill, losing the momentum and power he’s generated running 10 yards towards the ball carrier. You try running ten yards, jumping and coming to a stop and then trying to generate enough power to start back up again and make a tackle. What might help Mays generate inertia is if he used his arms correctly, but at no point does he raise them. Instead, he turns his body, drops his hips far too far down, gets himself off balance and throws that all too familiar right shoulder at the runner. At no point during contact is his head turned towards the ball carrier. The end result is that he actually misses the tackle completely. You’ve heard of a form tackle. Well that was a formless one.
Let the tape roll to the very next play starting at 2.22 against Cal. This time, you’ll see ILB Chris Galippo drop off from the line of scrimmage. The pass is completed over the middle between four defenders, the deepest of which is Taylor Mays. If you look at his three team mates the moment the ball is caught, you’ll see that Taylor and #19, safety Drew McCallister are in the perfect spots to make the tackle as both are driving from the front foot at the receiver. But Drew is taken out by his own man who makes an ankle tackle on the receiver who himself stumbles and heads towards the ground at his own 39. Taylor has him bang to rights at the 42, yet inexplicably gets too far to the outside and allows #80 to cut inside him. He seems to take three or four stuttering steps, ducks his head right down, tries grabbing the shirt whilst off balance and ultimately allows him to gain an extra 5 yards. And we’ll get to what happens at the end of the play later. But once again, it’s bad form tackling and it’s an inability to run through open field tackles.
One of the biggest parts of Mays’s game is the kill shot, which looks spectacular and draws oohs and aahs from the crowd but ultimately adds very little to his overall resume other than ask more questions. If Taylor was continually forcing fumbles by tackling this way, then you could perhaps understand it more. But he isn’t. What he’s doing is head hunting, using his size and athletic ability to try and take people’s heads off. A few things immediately worry me. First of all, in an era of football where more and more is known and more and more is being done to try and curb head injuries and concussion related injuries, Mays will be finding himself on the end of some hefty fines or suspensions if he continues to ply his trade the way he has done at times for the Trojans. Notoriously against Penn State in the Rose Bowl, he knocked an in cutting Jordan Norwood out of the game and almost took off the head of a fellow team mate with a pretty reckless head shot that cost his team 15 yards. It was a head ducking, crown of the helmet leading, arms down kill shot that has no place in the game. Similarly, he ripped off the helmet of Oregon’s James Rodgers in the endzone in another dangerous tackle. I’m all for big time contact, but in all seriousness, if Taylor Mays continues to ply his trade in this manner, he’s either going to be out of the league in 5 years through injury – because he doesn’t tackle properly – or he will have paralysed someone. And I don’t say that lightly.
He’s already been cited, albeit namelessly, by the House Judiciary Committee investigating destructive brain trauma in football by Republican congressman Dan Lungren who called Mays a head hunter after a play I’ll show you in a minute. But first I want to show you a play from the same game, the 2009 contest against Notre Dame. If you take the tape to 3.54, you’ll see he’s playing strong safety in a two deep defense. It’s 3rd and 12. If you pause it at the start of the play, you can see his responsibilities; at the top of the screen the Irish have a three WR set in man coverage. They have a FS sitting deep to cover that 3 WR set. The SLB has the back. The ILB can either rush Jimmy Clausen or drop off and cover the middle. Mays essentially has responsibility for the flanker, which is Golden Tate. Start the tape and you’ll see that because both the SLB and the ILB blitz, the back has to stay in to protect Clausen. Mays has to see that and know that his ONLY responsibility is Golden Tate. Yet at the snap of the ball he takes three hard jump steps to his right, to the weak side. Why does he do this? Perhaps it’s coaching, but it strikes me as very strange coaching if it is.
If you stop the tape at 3.57, you’ll see that Clausen’s arm is coming forwards on release, but in the split second before it does, Mays still hasn’t come back to the flanker side. Again, inexplicable that he – Mays – should not drop down to the strong side given that Clausen ONLY looks at Golden Tate. If you scroll the tape on, Golden makes the catch at the 3 and Mays is about 3 or 4 yards away at the goaline. He can’t stop the first down, but with a 14 point lead and 7.31 to go in the game, he can at least run some more from the clock by taking Tate down. Remember, this is the same Golden Tate who is about 4 inches and 38lbs – almost 3 stones – lighter than Mays. But Taylor has only one thing in mind – kill shot. There’s no dipping and driving, he merely intends to take Tate’s head off. He turns that infamous right shoulder and delivers the blow. He’s high, his arms are again by his side, he’s got zero leverage on a smaller man and Tate crushes him. He takes the impact being the stud that he is and goes in standing up. It’s a win for Tate because of the score but also because he withstands the kill shot.
Now, the infamous play that congressman Lungren was talking about, which is the very next play, beginning at 4.09. It’s a 3 receiver set with Floyd and Tate to the weakside and Robby Parris as the flanker to the strong side. Again, quite apart from any tackling – look at Mays’s instincts or lack thereof. It’s a 7 step drop. Clausen never looks to the wide side of the field. Golden Tate and Michael Floyd are too far to the top of the screen for him to make any discernible read to that side. So Mays should realise that Parris is the hot route. Yet if you stop the tape at 4.14, just as Parris is making the catch at the 18, Mays still has his back foot planted at the 11. Why? The corner’s certainly expecting help from Mays. Look at the way at 4.12 he passes his receiver off to the safety and sits in trail. Except Taylor is no-where to be seen. As Parris catches the ball and starts to go down, Mays comes in and essentially spears a defenceless receiver, sliding off his back. Parris’s helmet comes off, but it’s not entirely clear whether Mays or the corner is responsible. Regardless, in the NFL that’s 15 yards. Look at the clock. The Irish are behind by 7 and there’s 30+ seconds left. They’ve just converted a 4th down and have the ball at the Trojan 18. 15 yards puts it down at the 3. It’s just not smart football from Taylor Mays. This is another example of bad safety play.
Apart from tackling penalties, he’s also going to incur stupid 15 yarders for the sort of mindless play that you just wouldn’t expect from a 50 game starter. Go to 0.22 on the tape and a reverse against UCLA. Mays is actually out of shot until 0.29. At which point he closes fast and knocks the ball carrier out of bounds. No problem there. Except until you watch the replay, starting at 0.31. You see Mays coming over and taking a shot when the runner is a yard and a half, maybe two yards out of bounds and heading out anyway. It’s not like he was going to be tiptoeing down the sideline. It’s a borderline call, but in today’s safety conscious NFL it will likely get called more than not. And if it was a one off then I could let it slide, but it isn’t. Shuffle forwards to 0.51 and a play we’ve already analysed for bad tackling. You’ll see the Irish back take yet a now all too familiar head duck and right shoulder shot from Mays. Stop the tape at 1.02 and you’ll see 7 USC defenders around the ball carrier. Forward progress has been stopped and the play is pretty much over. No whistle has blown, but to all intents and purposes, it’s over. Then Mays decides to jump on top of the pile. It’s a stupid play. No flag is thrown, but again in the NFL it probably will be.
This may seem like nitpicking, but you hear so many coaches talking about hidden yardage and players playing smart. If you shuffle to 2.31, you’ll again see a play previously reviewed. But if you spool to the end of it at 2.30, watch what Mays does. He begins to drive the receiver out of bounds, he has hold of him and two or three yards off the field, he turns him as if he’s going to throw him. The clip ends suddenly, but Mays was penalised 15 yards for unnecessary roughness. Again, it’s a thoroughly pointless penalty.
Whether Mays plays SS or FS at the next level, he’s going to have to be able to cover. Can he match up one on one with a WR or a tight end? Can he manage a back out of the backfield? Given his size you’d have to wonder, but this is a guy that could run a legitimate 4.35 at the Combine, so you’d expect him to be able to handle coverage responsibilities, either coming from the deep centre or in man coverage. Shuffle to 3.24 on the tape and let’s take a look. You have a 2nd and 1 play against Notre Dame. The Irish have Golden Tate split to the bottom of the screen on the weak side. To the strong side they have two receivers and a tight end in close at the end of the line. There is also a back aligned next to Jimmy Clausen who’s in the gun. You can clearly see Taylor is playing cover one. At the snap of the ball he moves to the strong side of the formation. His responsibility should be looking at Clausen’s eyes. Jimmy manipulates Mays by looking strong side first but at 3.26, his head and body pivot and he only has eyes for Tate running a corner route.
You can’t see Mays, but at that point, his only thought should be getting to that corner route. It’s another two seconds between pivot to release for Clausen. When he releases the ball he does so at his own 44. The ball is caught by Tate at the USC 2 and is in the air for four seconds. That’s 6 seconds from recognition to catch that Mays needs to get across half the field. When he first comes into shot, he has a decent angle, but he never turns round for the ball, he never gets his hands up and he should know that Tate is a high point receiver. Watch the replay beginning at 3.35. Mays’s foot comes into play at 3.38. Golden is at the 22 yard line. I’d say that at that point Taylor is 12-15 yards away. But move the film on and the replay confirms everything that the initial angle showed; Mays never once looks back for the ball, believing instead that a big hit will free it from Golden’s hands. As he closes in, his angle changes slightly. But look at the contact Mays tries to make. Yet again it’s head ducking, shoulder in, arms by his side. Not once does he try and knock the ball away or look back and judge it. Granted it’s a tremendous throw and catch, but Mays, if he plays the ball correctly, if he uses his arms, if he locates the ball in the air, he prevents a touchdown. This is FA grading.
Shuffle back to 0.38 on the tape and a play from the Emerald Bowl against BC. You’ll see a 3 man route to the top of the screen. Two receivers and a man in motion to the strong side. There is a TE to the weak side but he’s covered – if necessary – by the WLB and the right corner. There is a back to the strong side. Mays is again playing cover one. Now watch as the play develops and see what happens to the receivers on the route and to our guy. The TE blocks down the line so he’s not threat. Immediately Taylor knows it’s strong side coverage only. The back is out in the right flat. The motioning WR has run a speed out. The inside receiver has run a 15 yard out and the boundary WR has run a sideline pattern. Nothing remarkable about any of that. As the play progresses, the linebackers and corners drop into a zone. As the play continues the ball is caught by the boundary receiver before being knocked out of bounds by Mays.
But watch the replay, starting at 0.44 and specifically the way Taylor attacks the ball in the air and the route he takes to get to the tackle. Remember, he has deep responsibilities on a 3 WR, 1 back pattern where no-one has gone deeper than him. Everything is in front of him. If you stop the tape at 0.48, the back is covered. The motioning WR is covered. The inside WR is in the middle of a 3 man zone. And yet Taylor takes a semi circle angle to come and make the tackle, almost as if he’s somehow expecting the ball to go to the triple covered inside man. When he comes into shot, he’s already running back to the WR with his feet at the 45 yard line. When he makes contact he’s another 4 yards back down the field at the 49. Why is he taking such a bad angle. Why did he instinctively move towards the in cutting, triple covered WR when clearly his play responsibility was the man who ultimately caught the ball?
I really have some serious question marks about Mays’s football intelligence. The next sequence of plays I’m going to show you will open your eyes to what I’m talking about. These next few selections display horrific instincts and awareness and a lack of a football brain that will take a lot of work to be corrected. It bears repeating, but some of this stuff is street free agent ability. It may seem like I’m piling on, but if you were to look at the next sequence and be asked to give a round value, the only thing you could possibly put is ‘late round/FA type’.
Shuffle to 4.27 on the tape and we’ll begin; Again it’s his final game at USC, the Emerald Bowl. Two deep zone. At the snap of the ball at 4.27, he steps up to the LOS from his SS spot. It’s a two man route to the strong side and the corner covering the slot man passes him off to Taylor underneath. If you stop the tape at 4.30, you’ll see that Mays is in no mans land between the man he had in the zone and the man catching the ball on the boundary – he’s the one turning to look down the field. Now watch the replay. He steps up, takes a couple of jump steps and then seems to gear down, before suddenly springing into action like it’s either a delayed draw or a quick inside screen to the slot man. Except that when he makes that move, the QB is past the back who’s staying into block, the QB still has the ball waist high and the receiver whose route he seems to be jumping, hasn’t turned his back, hasn’t got to the top of his route or in fact shown any inclination that he’s about to receive the ball. If you stop the play at 4.36, the QB actually has a big gain in between Mays and Chris Galippo the linebacker standing on the Bowl decal at midfield. If he throws it to where the official is standing, then the slot WR is one on one with the FS because of what Taylor did. The ball instead goes outside, but the replay cannot hide how lost Mays is on what is a very simple route and equally simple coverage.
If you shoot forwards to 4.55 you’ll see another example of how he looks lost when the ball’s in the air. Most safeties are more comfortable when the play is in front of them. In this years draft class only Tennessee’s Eric Berry and Texas’s Earl Thomas seem equally as comfortable tracking the ball deep like corners. But Mays struggles to even look comfy when the ball’s in front of him. Set the action going. Again it’s the same game as before. It’s a four receiver set to the bottom of the screen. 3 corners, two deep safeties. Depending on what MLB Chris Galippo does should depend on Taylor’s responsibilities. If Galippo blitzes, then Mays should have the back. If he doesn’t, then he’s in deep coverage. At the snap of the ball he drifts from SS towards the FS side. The back comes out but is instantly shadowed by Galippo. The ball is thrown to the spot where Mays was standing at the snap as the slot WR works across the middle on a drag route. So why is Taylor so dreadfully out of position? There was no pump fake. There was no great route being run. In fact, before the slot receiver goes out of shot, he’s already making his up-cut to the strong side of the formation. And yet Mays is 4/5 yards out of position covering a very simple drag route.
The next two plays worry me most of all. Especially if I’m investing a high draft pick. The first is at 5.03 and comes against Ohio State. Mays is playing cover 1, down at the far right of the picture. At the snap of the ball and before he goes out of shot, he drifts towards the weak side of the field. Terrelle Pryor never looks him off, there’s no pump fake or physical manipulation whatsoever and a good ball playing safety is breaking on that and housing it the other way. But run the tape and see what happens. Mays takes a terrible angle to the ball and overshoots the pass by yards. Where is he going? The ball ends up at the USC 3 yard line. Now, if you wind it back, you’ll see that the Buckeyes run a man in motion. He’s picked up by the corner covering the slot leaving Mays in isolation on that slot receiver. Pretty simple look as the play is developing. Yet Mays just doesn’t see it. He’s clearly late to the pass. Watch the replay; Pryor takes it from the gun and it’s a pass to that side all the way. The motion has freed up the slot corner and the slot WR is clearly the target. That’s pretty basic coverage. But not for Taylor Mays. He’s absolutely lost covering in space.
A one off? Unfortunately not. It’s a recurring theme. Shuffle forwards again to 5.44. Again it’s the Emerald Bowl and again Mays is in cover one. It’s a similar play to the Ohio State pass, except without the motioning receiver. But it looks to me as though the BC coaches have seen on film how badly Mays breaks down in space in coverage and have worked it to their advantage, to great effect. At the snap, Taylor moves down towards the weak side. It’s man coverage at the top of the screen and Chris Galippo is moving out there to help, allowing Mays the freedom on the strong side. If you stop the clock at 5.45, you’ll see the BC QB releasing the ball and the slot receiver cutting in, being passed off by the corner. Run it on a second and he’s making the catch in space. But where’s the safety that we know has deep responsibility to this side of the field? He’s not only not in shot, but he’s at least 10 yards away. Shuffle on a second more and all of a sudden you see Mays, but he’s not where he should be. He’s actually overrun the play by about 10/12 yards. This is phenomenally bad coverage. Genuinely, I cannot begin to tell you how appalling this is. There is no discernible reason for him to have overrun the play this badly other than he simply lacks the instincts and intelligence to play safety at a high level. These are not complicated routes. He’s now firmly out of the play and for all his 4.3 speed, he makes up not one yard over 50. When I saw this play live I was staggered. It doesn’t get any easier on repeat viewings.
Go to the very next play against Cal. It’s a screen to Jahvid Best, but again, Mays takes a terrible angle. He runs around the lineman, rather than cutting underneath him, then displays the turning circle of a large passenger steamer to try and get back into the play. One play later at 6.01 it’s the same thing. Wildcat with Best again playing the Ronnie Brown role. He takes the snap, fakes the hand off on the reverse and then dives up inside. Taylor comes into the screen from the strong side, takes that familiar hop which leaves him flat footed and momentum-less and then gets lost behind the official as Best works back across the field. It’s a bad angle, but what’s also worrying is how sticky his hips are. For the second play running he displays a very mediocre ability to change direction quickly. Allow the tape to run to the next play beginning at 6.10 against UCLA and again, instincts and angles have to be called into serious doubt. Not sure exactly what happens in the backfield, but the ball is bouncing around and gets picked up by the back. Taylor comes into shot at 6.15, but he’s weaving around like a drunk on a bicycle. He takes three different angles, none of them right before seemingly running away from the ball carrier altogether. Where is he going? I’m speechless.
Same game and the very next play at 6.20. He’s in man coverage on the slot receiver. There’s no backfield trickeration, it’s just a power draw of LT. What I don’t understand is that at 6.22 Taylor has an angle to the ball carrier, but if you press play, inexplicably, he goes BEHIND his blocker as if to hide. I assume he’s covering the back bouncing the ball outside, but that never looked like happening. Again you have to question his instincts and his football brain.
What’s he like in pure man coverage? I want to show you two quick examples at 5.31 and 5.38. What I’m looking for are four things; stance, start, back pedal and break. He’s playing off man, so his stance is a little more lax. He’s flat footed at the snap of the ball, but then proceeds to hop backwards rather than back pedal. Part of me believes Mays thinks he can land, plant and drive more comfortably when it comes to mirroring a receiver in and out of his breaks, but realistically, against a good route runner, he’s going to get turned all over the place because he’s going to be so flat footed. His steps should not be too large and the feet should be kept low to the ground. Any large steps or high lifts require more time for the Defensive Back to gain control over his legs and feet and therefore waste too much time. Ideally, the feet drag over the grass. Look at his arms. They’re way too low yet again. He needs to get those hands up much quicker. It’s not a well sold route, but he turns his hips fluidly and is glove like in coverage as the ball goes to the other side of the field. At 5.38 he’s in the strong side slot. Again, it’s hop, hop, break rather than back pedal, break and his hips are much less fluid, mainly because the receivers break comes just as he lands on that second hop. Yet again it’s poor technique from Mays.
Let’s try and end on a positive note. If you take the tape back to 4.42 against Cal and an endzone pick. I say ‘positive note’ but if you start the play, he immediately shows you the bad side; trying to anticipate a play that would have been thrown into triple coverage. He vacates the middle of the field and is lucky that the QB is forced out of the pocket to the strong side. Mays wheels back into the play and works back across the formation, reading and anticipating to make the pick in the back of the endzone. This was a much better job of reading the play, but even then there is the caveat that he nearly blew it.
There is no doubting his athleticism; to be that quick in such a big body is a rarity. If you spin to 3.46 on the tape and see the play against Ohio State, Mays is lined up on the strong side, cheating up inside the 7 technique. At the snap of the ball he attacks the LOS and is engaged and forced out wide, but he stays alive as the play comes towards him, grabbing the hands of the tackle and pulling him past him. The RT has pushed him out wide and created a nice lane, but he sees the play, performs the pull and spins back under the tackle and into the lane at 3.51. From there he closes with speed, but still faces an Ohio State blocker engaged with a team-mate. He does a sound job of running through the back of the block and pulling down the runner from behind. Shuffle forward s to 5.22 and the Notre Dame game. You see that the Irish are lining up for a FG and Mays is second from the end of the line on the strong side. He gets up to rush the kick, but it’s a fake and at 5.24, the ball is passed out by the holder to the sidelines where an idling Irish receiver is waiting. If you stop it at 5.24, Taylor is square in the middle if the field – look between the uprights and he’s dead centre. A second later, when the ball is caught he’s at the hash marks and he closes effortlessly for such a big man, to shove the receiver out inside the 5. He’s such a long strider and covers so much ground. It’s a terrific show of athleticism from Mays.
There is one final play that I’d like to show you which doesn’t appear on our cut ups, but you can see it here:
It’s a 3rd and 1 play against Cal. Mays is lined up as the strong side linebacker and he’s being asked to defend one my very favourite short yardage runs which is the fake handoff inside and then the QB pitches back outside. Why is it a favourite? Because the inside fake and the way the QB’s body is turned on delivery means that edge defenders automatically take one or two steps to the inside. That gives the outside pitch man the yard or yard and a half’s head start required to get to the corner and collect the first down or touchdown. Here Cal are pitching to first round calibre back Jahvid Best, who, apart from his skills on the field, is quite the track star as well. He’s a gold medal winner in the USATF junior Olympic Games and was the 2007 state 100m champion with a time of 10.31 seconds. At the snap of the ball, Mays takes a step and a half inside. If you stop the tape at 0.21 you’ll see that Mays is shifting his body and working to get his feet out from underneath him. Look at Best and he already has the angle for the first down and is a stride and a half or two ahead of Mays in terms of his body alignment. Now stop it again at 0.23. Best, is now putting his hand back to try and stiff arm Mays and Taylor has forced Jahvid to change the angle as he no longer believes he can get to the corner. Taylor stays with him and forces Best out of bounds before he can get the first down, forcing Cal to punt. It’s a phenomenally athletic play from a 231lb safety against a 195lb 100m state champion to the wide side of the field.
That play epitomises something that you see all too infrequently with Taylor; when he has the correct angle and he’s running in space to the ball carrier, then he’s as good as there’s been. Unfortunately it rarely happens. He has the athletic and physical make up that has scouts drooling and doubtless he’s going to turn in some spectacular performances at the Scouting Combine. Tested last summer, he ran a 4.34 forty and jumped 41 inches. I cannot underestimate just how mind boggling those numbers are for a man of his size. But it’s not all about the numbers. In man coverage his technique is poor – those hop steps need to be eliminated and his poor hips showed up time and again both on film and in Mobile. As the deep safety, he shows a poor understanding of the defense and will take some truly horrendous angles to the football, as bad as any I’ve ever seen – the Ohio State and Boston College passes will live long in the memory as moments of safety ineptitude. For all the talk about his hitting prowess, he all too often ducks his head and leads either with the crown of his helmet or his shoulder, never using his hands. He will try for the knockout blow with impunity, rather than wrapping the ball carrier or looking for the ball in the air. And given that he creates so few turnovers playing that way, you’d think he’d change his style. Fundamentally he’s a very poorly coached individual. It seems to me as though the USC coaches should be culpable for allowing his technique to be so mediocre. It’s pretty clear that they’ve assumed he will get by on athletic ability alone. Can he be coached into a better player? Tackling, playing the ball in the air, hand usage, dipping and striking, back pedalling instead of hopping, late hits, etc. Yes. All that can be coached. But football awareness and instinct? You’re either born with that or you’re not. Taylor Mays is not born with it.
You like to see a big thumper at SS and a ball hawk on the free side. Unfortunately, Mays is neither. I came into this review thinking that he had to be a strong safety, but he’s a very inconsistent tackler and that would make me nervous. But if you put him on the strong side, he should be able to match up with backs and tight ends because of his athletic ability. On the free side, he’s going to be manipulated by good QB’s who will see how badly he attacks the ball in space and take advantage of that. Therefore, I think some teams will look to try him as a SLB in a 4-3. He’s clearly strong enough to take on blocks and when the play goes away from him, as evidenced against Terrelle Pryor and Jahvid Best, that’s when he really flashes. There is a level of hype around Mays because of the big hitting reputation and the athletic ability that clearly put him in the top 10. Personally I don’t think he deserves to be anywhere near the first round. He’s a guy whose whole game is going to have to be ripped up and re-started. I don’t doubt that he’ll come off the board somewhere between about 18-32, but I would have grave reservations about selecting him much before round 3 if I planned to play him at safety. I hope that the GM that DOES pick him in round 1 is comfortable with his own job security.
One final caveat with Mays that bears repeating; he can be a vicious, formless hitter and I truly have concerns about serious, long term injuries if he continues to play out of control.