Could Taylor Mays be The #1 Pick in the 2010 draft?

Could Taylor Mays Be Picked Number One in the 2010 Draft?-By Will Osgood For Football Reporters Online

“Thud… Whack… Bam…Ouch!” That is an edited version of what you will hear when on the field at a USC practice or game when Taylor Mays is playing safety. Mays is the hardest hitting safety to play for the Trojans since Steelers’ All Pro Safety Troy Polamalu wore Cardinal and Gold at the beginning of Pete Carroll’s magical run atop the College Football world.
Some wonder if Mays is actually a better version of Polamalu. Right now, I will tell you flat out… NO!
But, almost as interesting, is he better than Tennessee’s Eric Berry? And are either capable of being the number one pick in 2010’s NFL Draft?

Rare is the day when two safeties dominate so much of the talk involved in the NFL Draft. To think that it’s even worth mentioning either as a potential number one pick is really mind-boggling. 2006 is the first year in which two safeties have been drafted in the top-10. They were Michael Huff, drafted by the Raiders out of Texas, and Donte Whitner, from Ohio State drafted by Buffalo. Neither of those two players had nearly the fan fare or anticipated stock heading into their final years in college as Mays and Berry.
To be real honest, though, the better comparison, at least stylistically is Polamalu and Ed Reed. Mays compares to the former Trojan, while Berry compares favorably to the current Baltimore Raven, Reed.
Berry is always making plays on the ball and is dangerous with the ball in his hands. It is not to say he won’t hit someone, but he’s not as well known for that as Mays.
Mays even compares to Rodney Harrison a bit, in that he’ll hit you so hard, and sometimes illegally, that he’ll literally knock you out. He nearly did that to his teammate Kevin Thomas in the Rose Bowl game against Penn State this past season. Of course, Jordan Norwood of Penn State was down for quite awhile as well.
And that is exactly what Mays does, he makes you fall over as you see just how much talent God blessed him with. The guy is 6 foot 3 inches tall and 230 pounds, yet he runs like a cornerback. If the guy was playing running back, no one would want to tackle him. If he were playing receiver he’d be like Terrell Owens. He has a recorded 4.47 40-yard dash. A lot of corners and running backs don’t even run that fast. Here’s a linebacker-type doing that. The guy is absolutely ridiculous.
When you add in Mays’ football intelligence, you have a guy who automatically projects to being an elite safety at the NFL level. Why you ask? He’s always in good position. He keeps the ball in front of him at all times. He takes good angles to the football, both versus the run and the pass. He reads plays and breaks on them very quickly, most of the time he gets to the ball just in time to knock it away from the receiver.
He may not always be around the football, but remember he played with eight guys on that defense who are now in the National Football League. They were making plays, and that’s also partially because offenses tried to keep the ball away from Taylor Mays. They knew what would happen if they attacked him too often; they’d have an injured player or two.
So why would Taylor Mays not be a top-five pick if he has so much talent and is so intelligent? Well, unlike Berry, he hasn’t shown an ability to make plays with the ball in his hands. That is what makes a great safety in today’s NFL. That’s why in my books, Berry is slightly ahead of Mays at this point. Mays has more talent, but Berry has produced more. If Mays can produce equally, he will go ahead of Berry next April because of his size and ferocity. He plays the game with an attitude and defensive coaches love that. Mr. Mays could be the number one pick next year if he can just turn all that ability into production. “Thud…Bam…Whack…Ouch” needs to be accompanied by “Mays picks that ball off and takes it 50 yards to pay dirt for a pick-six”.