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?

[Tylerthigpen!1!]

Originally Posted by Mecca

This idea that he doesn't wrap up is bunk, his highlights are full of big hits cause well no one is going to make a highlight tape of a guy making form tackles.

Yeh you have a point. No picks in 08? I gotta think thats because he is looking for the big hit. Or is that just usc's scheme?

[Kyle DeLexus]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

I'd feel better about taking Mays if he didn't have below-average athleticism.

[Mecca]

It's the scheme, he is a cover 1 safety his entire job was to play the deep middle and not give up the big play because everyone else was up on the line.

And guess what, USC gave up the fewest passes over 20 yards in college football finished with the #1 defense etc etc.

[Tylerthigpen!1!]

Originally Posted by Mecca

It's the scheme, he is a cover 1 safety his entire job was to play the deep middle and not give up the big play because everyone else was up on the line.

And guess what, USC gave up the fewest passes over 20 yards in college football finished with the #1 defense etc etc.

Dayum

[googlegoogle]

Terrible thread. Very negative.

[Hammock Parties]

We should draft Mays and harvest his seed in order to breed future Chiefs.

[Hammock Parties]

Will we even get a chance to draft Mays? The US Military might want him for their biological weapons program.

[KCChiefsMan]

I don't know too much about them, I just know they are the best safeties. So from what it sounds like Taylor Mays is just a great athlete but not that smart or makes mental mistakes? Eric Berry is the smarter player and knows where he is supposed to be and makes plays? In that case, I'd want Berry. A lot of freak athletes only try to rely on their athleticism and end up not that great.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Too early for this shit Goddamnit.

[Mecca]

Uh no Mays is not dumb...it's the way they are used in their schemes.

USC runs an NFL style of defense that is based upon playing your assignment and doing your job so he isn't allowed to really freelance.

Mays is a cover 1 FS that doesn't allow big plays, he never allows them. If Mays made mental mistakes SC wouldn't have led the nation last year in fewest big plays allowed.

[Mecca]

You can also read this debate on many a draft forum, both guys have big supporters who will comically knock the other guy to absurd levels.

The bottom line is they are both top of the line prospects that would immediately make us better.

[Micjones]

Berry for my money, but Mays is a HELLUVA consolation prize.

[Mecca]

I will say this, one thing I like about Mays is his professional attitude. His dad played in the NFL for a long time and not one time at SC has he ever not shown up to work hard or had a bad attitude about anything.

Mays is a guy who is everything the new regime here talks about wanting in players.

[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."

[El Jefe]

Originally Posted by Mecca

Uh no Mays is not dumb...it's the way they are used in their schemes.

USC runs an NFL style of defense that is based upon playing your assignment and doing your job so he isn't allowed to really freelance.

Mays is a cover 1 FS that doesn't allow big plays, he never allows them. If Mays made mental mistakes SC wouldn't have led the nation last year in fewest big plays allowed.

Well he had no impact plays against a sub-par Ohio State offense, and actually was the reason Sanz got an extra 25 yards after his catch. I think of Mike Doss when I think of good safeties, hard hitter,play maker, ball hawk, very disciplined, he always made plays. Mays seems to disappear a lot, until the announcers start slobbering on his sack. Not to mention the fact that Boom Herron truck sticked him in the first half, that was awesome. Mays just doesn't impress me that much, I'd be happy with either guy. But IMO Mays isnt anymore spectacular than Berry, yea he does have freakish size. I'd take either one and be happy.