UrlachersOranjKleats wrote:Who's your guy? Rd 1, 2, whatever. Who are you eyeing?
Mine is Taylor Mays, S from USC.
Here's a scouting report on him:
Seconded... if he is entering the draft. Is he for sure?
I've been on board for Safety as the #1 priority in the draft. I've seen Mays play a few times this year, and he's a stud. Fast, tough, hard-hitting. Seems smart. An important part of a truly great defense. If someone can sell us a better one, let's hear it. Until then, I'm going to Taylor's bar mitzvah...
http://usctrojans.cstv.com/sports/m-foo ... lor00.html
2008: The hard-hitting Mays returns for his third season as the starting free safety as a junior in 2008 and could earn repeat All-American first team honors after doing so in 2007 (he's also a Thorpe Award candidate). He had arthroscopic surgery on his ankle prior to 2008 spring practice. He was named to the 2008 Playboy Pre-Season All-American team. He is on the "Watch List" for the 2008 Bronko Nagurski Award and Lott Trophy.
2007: After a decorated freshman season in 2006, Mays returned for his second season as the starting free safety as a sophomore in 2007 and continued his stellar play. Overall in 2007 while starting all 13 games, he had 65 tackles (third on USC), 1 interception, 6 deflections, 1 fumble recovery and 1 forced fumble. He was named a 2007 The Sporting News All-American first team, SI.com All-American second team, AP All-American third team, Jewish Sports Review All-American, Collegefootballnews.com Sophomore All-American second team, All-Pac-10 honorable mention and Rivals.com All-Pac-10 first team pick.
He had 5 tackles versus Idaho, 6 stops and a deflection at Nebraska, 3 tackles against Washington State and 2 tackles at Washington. He added 2 tackles, 2 deflections and an interception (to set up an USC TD) against Stanford. He had 4 tackles and forced a fumble against Arizona, then had 5 stops at Notre Dame, a career-best 12 tackles at Oregon, 6 tackles against Oregon State and 10 tackles and 3 deflections (both team highs) at California. He had 4 tackles at Arizona State and 3 stops and a fumble recovery against UCLA. He had 3 tackles against Illinois.
2006: Just a first-year freshman, Mays took over the free safety job in 2006 after Josh Pinkard suffered a season-ending injury in the opener and he ended up starting USC's final 12 games. Overall in 2006 while appearing in all 13 games, he had 62 tackles, a team-best 3 interceptions that he returned 40 yards (13.3 avg.) and 3 deflections. He made the 2006 The Sporting News All-American second team, Collegefootballnews.com Defensive Freshman of the Year, The Sporting News Freshman All-American first team, Rivals.com Freshman All-American first team, Scout.com Freshman All-American first team and Rivals.com All-Pac-10 second team and was named Pac-10 Co-Freshman of the Year, The Sporting News Pac-10 Defensive Freshman of the Year and Rivals.com Pac-10 Freshman of the Year.
After getting 2 tackles at Arkansas, he had 5 tackles against Nebraska while starting for the first time at free safety. He then had 3 tackles at Arizona, 4 tackles, a deflection and an interception near the goal line on the game's last play at Washington State, 8 stops with a deflection against Washington and a tackle versus Arizona State. He made a game-best 11 tackles (with a deflection) at Oregon State, added 4 stops at Stanford, had 4 tackles and returned an interception 38 yards against Oregon and 6 tackles and an interception against California. He had 7 tackles against Notre Dame, 3 at UCLA and 4 versus Michigan.
HIGH SCHOOL: He was named a 2005 Parade All-American (he was the defensive back MVP), USA Today All-USA first team, EA Sports All-American first team, Super Prep Elite 50, Prep Star Dream Team, ESPN 150, Super Prep All-American, Prep Star All-American, U.S. Army All-American Game participant, Old Spice Red Zone Player of the Year, Super Prep All-Farwest, Prep Star All-Western, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West first team, Orange County Register Fab 15 first team, Tacoma News-Tribune Western 100, Tacoma News Tribune Northwest Nugget, Gatorade Washington Player of the Year, All-State first team and All-Metro League Mountain Division Offensive MVP and Defensive Co-MVP pick as a senior defensive back, wide receiver and quarterback at O'Dea High in Seattle, Wash. He had 166 tackles, 5 interceptions returned for 98 yards (19.6 avg.) and 5 deflections in 2005, plus caught 36 passes for 765 yards (21.3 avg.) with 15 TDs and rushed for 3 more scores.
As a junior in 2004, he made Student Sports Junior All-American while posting 89 tackles, 5 interceptions and 5 deflections, catching 25 passes for 614 yards (20.6 avg.) with 7 TDs and returning 12 punts for 392 yards (32.7 avg.) with 3 TDs.
He also ran track (best of 10.88 in the 100 meters) at O'Dea, where he was a 2-time (2004-05) state 3A champion in the 100 and 200 meters.
PERSONAL: He's a sociology major at USC. His father, Stafford Mays, was a defensive lineman at Washington in 1978 and 1979 who then played in the NFL with the St. Louis Cardinals (1980-86) and Minnesota Vikings (1987-88 when current USC head coach Pete Carroll was an assistant coach there).
TAYLOR MAYS ON: The advice he received from his father: "He retired in 1989, so it wasn't like I ran around NFL practice fields when I was young. But he gave me a lot of insight. He could tell me about things because he went through them."
His bar mitzvah: "I don't think at the time I really understood what it meant. Now, looking back on it, I feel like I have come a long way in regards to maturity and becoming an adult. I think it helped me do that."
WHAT OTHER SAY: USC head coach Pete Carroll: "Taylor did a remarkable job of jumping in so early. He did such a great job of applying himself and learning his position. He did a fine job of playing back there and keeping things in front of him and playing like he's been around. He played with experience that you didn't know where it came from, but he had it. He's now faster than ever and he's a very good learner. He's a high achiever, driven, all of the positive things. He wants to be great and he's willing to do what it takes to be great. He doesn't just talk about it, he does it."
