Eric Berry vs. Taylor Mays

[RealSNR]

No, I'm not giving up on this season. This team isn't going to the playoffs. Plain and simple. But I'm still going to watch them and be encouraged by any progress I see. So if you want to bitch at me for starting a draft thread this early, go **** yourself in the eye with a sharp stick.

I've seen a couple Tennessee and USC games from last season. Taylor Mays looks MUCH better to me. He hits hard, wraps up, and is an athletic freak. Most boards I see though have Berry going before him. Granted, I'm not an NFL talent scout, but why is that?

Also, it would seem to me that this defense needs a big playmaker and that Taylor Mays is the perfect kind of athlete to fill that position versus a guy like Berry. Which one would be best for this team if we had an opportunity to draft either player this spring?

[Gadzooks]

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.

The idea of Taylor Mays being a LB is reatardered. He wouldn't even make a good 3-4 ILB. He'd be run over down after down.
The guy's an optimal SS and fast enough to play FS and scare the shit out of anybody daring to cross the middle.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Gadzooks

He'd be about 50 lbs underweight these days.

He's 230 lbs. The nutritionists at USC have said multiple times that they have to watch his nutrition and lifting very closely, because if they don't, he just packs on muscle. His dad was a DT. He can very easily put 30-40 lbs on his frame and play as an OLB, but that's not the point.


He's sturdy enough to do it in situations, a la Polamalu, and he hits like a ****ing mack truck, a la MLBs.

There's a lot more to Mays than just looking at his height/weight/40.

When you think about ways to use Mays, you almost need to think about how the Rams used Marshall Faulk. He's that versatile.

[-King-]

Mays is a bigger Polamalu to me

Berry is a Ed Reed type of player.


So... basically, I will jizz if we get either.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by Gadzooks

The idea of Taylor Mays being a LB is reatardered. He wouldn't even make a good 3-4 ILB. He'd be run over down after down.
The guy's an optimal SS and fast enough to play FS and scare the shit out of anybody daring to cross the middle.

I don't know why you're quoting me I didn't say I'd play him at LB.

I think playing him at SS is kind of a waste too since the guy is great in coverage and has amazing range.

['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

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

He's 230 lbs. The nutritionists at USC have said multiple times that they have to watch his nutrition and lifting very closely, because if they don't, he just packs on muscle. His dad was a DT. He can very easily put 30-40 lbs on his frame and play as an OLB, but that's not the point.


He's sturdy enough to do it in situations, a la Polamalu, and he hits like a ****ing mack truck, a la MLBs.

There's a lot more to Mays than just looking at his height/weight/40.

When you think about ways to use Mays, you almost need to think about how the Rams used Marshall Faulk. He's that versatile.

WTF?

[El Chapo]

Mays is a labratory creation much like Ivan Drago.

[Gadzooks]

Originally Posted by Mecca

I don't know why you're quoting me I didn't say I'd play him at LB.

I think playing him at SS is kind of a waste too since the guy is great in coverage and has amazing range.

My deepest apologies. I pressed the wrong buddin.
I'm getting ready for the Chargers game.
But I agree with you 100%. FS is where he'd do the most damage.

[dirk digler]

After watching the highlights Mecca posted I favor Berry because he is more of a play maker. I see Mays always going for the big hit and rarely wraps up which isn't going to work in the NFL. Also after his appearance the other night I wasn't very impressed but I realize he got hurt early and that probably had alot to do with that.

But I see Tennessee playing Florida this Saturday so I will watch and see how Berry does.

[KCrockaholic]

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

If he could weigh 260 and still run a 4.3 He would be an automatic #1 pick. Thats just unreal

[KCrockaholic]

Originally Posted by dirk digler

After watching the highlights Mecca posted I favor Berry because he is more of a play maker. I see Mays always going for the big hit and rarely wraps up which isn't going to work in the NFL. Also after his appearance the other night I wasn't very impressed but I realize he got hurt early and that probably had alot to do with that.

But I see Tennessee playing Florida this Saturday so I will watch and see how Berry does.

Berry is actually more of a power hitter IMO. Its kind of funny, hes a lot smaller than Mays yet ive seen Berry always going for the power hits.

[HolmeZz]

Berry and it's not even that difficult a choice in my mind.

[Mecca]

On draft day there's a pretty good chance Mays goes first...it's going to be hard to ignore the 5 inches and 40lbs.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Gadzooks

The idea of Taylor Mays being a LB is reatardered. He wouldn't even make a good 3-4 ILB. He'd be run over down after down.
The guy's an optimal SS and fast enough to play FS and scare the shit out of anybody daring to cross the middle.

He could potentially play WLB in a 4-3. But he could definitely be a nickel backer. No, he won't ever play LB in a 3-4, but he could play LB in other defensive schemes.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

He could potentially play WLB in a 4-3. But he could definitely be a nickel backer. No, he won't ever play LB in a 3-4, but he could play LB in other defensive schemes.

Look at the article I put up.