[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by Chiefnj2

What is he asked to do?

Read these.

Originally Posted by Mecca

Taylor Mays is never going to jump off the screen at you when you watch games because of what he's asked to do.

He's a very scheme disciplined player and he's basically used to let the other players make plays because he can do the job of 2 guys by himself.

Originally Posted by Mecca

Berry is allowed to freelance alot more, he makes alot of plays on the ball and has better ball skills than Mays does but he's also prone to getting beat because he goes for big plays.

This year may be a big one for Berry because he's in a scheme that is alot more about discipline now with Monte Kiffin being there.

One thing I think about them is Mays best football is ahead of him he'll be a better pro than college player, Berry I'm not so sure he translates quite the same.

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Here you go:

Taylor Mays, USC, safety: Scary. That is the best way to describe Mays. His combination of size and speed in a safety is freakish. And in the Trojans' spring game, Mays obliterated Patrick Turner, the team's towering 6-foot-5, 230-pound receiver on a play when he came over the middle. I suspect many Pac-10 receivers envision similar scenes before they face the Trojans and their super-fast, super-sized DB. Mays' workout numbers are ridiculous. He's 6-3, 226 pounds, with 6 percent body fat and ran an electronically timed 40 this spring in 4.32 seconds. He did 26 reps with 225 pounds while also vertical jumping 41 inches and doing a standing broad jump of 11-4. (As evidence in his growth, Mays arrived at USC weighing 215 and posted a vertical jump of 35 inches and a broad jump of 10-0.)
Asked if he's even seen anything that big, move that fast, USC strength coach Chris Carlisle paused for a few moments: "Maybe when I walked by the cheetah cage at the wildlife park." Mays' athleticism actually presents USC with a different kind of issue: a talent with such growth potential that you have to guard against him outgrowing the position. "Our big thing is he could get too big too fast," says Carlisle, who also gushes about the player's work ethic. "He could easily be like his daddy [former NFL defensive lineman Stafford Mays] so we have to make him better without making him bigger because he could be like 260 in a month."
Carlisle predicts Mays could still run a sub-4.4 40 at that size, but says the key is keeping the DB from bulking up too much in his lower body. "We could use him like a science experiment, but that really wouldn't be of value to him or the team."


http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/column...uce&id=3420212

Originally Posted by Mecca

Here's an article on Mays from before the year to give some people an idea on him...

http://www.azstarnet.com/sports/303208

UA Sports
He's a-Mays-ing: USC safety wows coaches in Pac-10
By Patrick Finley

Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.01.2009

LOS ANGELES — Taylor Mays didn't have a single interception last year. On a USC team filled with elite football players, he doesn't return kicks or punts.
He's not Charles Woodson, the flashy Michigan cornerback who in 1997 became the first defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy.

Yet Mays might be the best bet to follow in Woodson's footsteps at the Heisman presentation ceremony.

"I want to get to New York," Mays said Thursday, smiling. "But I've got to get some interceptions first."

He might be right. A few picks would add a dose of the obvious to football fans obsessed with highlights.

But one look at Mays, a two-time first-team All-American, tells you what you need to know.

"He's a freak of nature," said Steve Sarkisian, Washington's first-year coach and former USC assistant. "Look at him."

Interceptions are beside the point.

At 6 feet 3 inches and 235 pounds, the senior intimidates as much as Ronnie Lott, Dennis Smith, Troy Polamalu or any in the line of the Trojans' greatest safeties.

The son of former NFL player Stafford Mays can run a 40-yard dash in 4.25 seconds. His 41-inch vertical leap is half a foot higher than former UA basketball player Jordan Hill. He bench presses 425 pounds.

"He's all that you could ever ask for physically," UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. "He's got size. He's got speed. He's got flexibility. He's got instincts. He's got intelligence. And he loves to play the game, and it shows. It exudes around him."

Here's how much: Mays said Thursday that he is so focused on football this season that he won't go to parties, lest his teammates see him unfocused.

Mays didn't eschew the NFL draft this spring so he could end up "walking through campus and having all the girls," he said.

"I've got no problem sitting in my room and looking at the wall," he said.

The singular focus pays respect to the Trojans greats at the position.

"There's a tradition about it, and Taylor embraced that from the start," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "He came in really willing to understand what he was getting into, to become part of that lineage."

On some level, he has surpassed Lott, probably the greatest safety in the history of football.

"I don't think — and I think Ronnie would be the first to tell you, and I don't want to ever cross Ronnie — that there hasn't been a guy more physically fit, faster, stronger, more committed than what Taylor is," Carroll said. "Those guys all get the chance to live through his performance, and he carries that responsibility with him."

The Trojans' history and exposure, of course, could contribute to Mays' hype.

"He's going to get a lot of preseason publicity, not only for his exploits, but he's been on that stage for a while, given what SC's accomplished," Neuheisel said. "But who knows? Woodson did it."

In an ideal world, that would be the end of the conversation. After three years as one of the game's best defensive players, Mays would project as the same in the NFL.

Truth is, some pro scouts don't know if he's a safety, or if he needs to play closer to the line of scrimmage.

"They're looking for specific things in specific areas," Sarkisian said. "It's almost like you have to fit inside a box — 'OK, he can play at this spot. Well, he doesn't fit that spot, he has to play in this spot.'

"I think the challenge for Taylor is to possibly show he can fit in that box, because he's out of the box."

Neuheisel said "there are people who wonder about his ability in open space," but then smiled.

"I'd take a flier on him," he said, cheekily stating the obvious.

The NFL will find a place for Mays in the first round, especially if he posts another stellar season. Mays could graduate with three first-team All-America honors, and maybe a national championship.

"He's a guy in our program that is the epitome of maximizing his experience at USC," Carroll said. "He had a chance to go out last year, but wanted to graduate. He wanted to see what it was like to be a senior and have a chance to be a leader of this team.

"He wanted to maximize his ability for the next level."