#10 BUST-O-METER: Taylor Mays

BUST-O-METER

The NFL Draft is suppose to be a time where teams fill their rosters with young promising players that will ensure success in the future, unfortunately this isn’t always the case. Year in and Year out players are selected and fail to live up to their potential and are labeled BUSTS. These Busts could potentially have a crippling affect on a franchises future. Some of the more famous draft Busts are Ryan Leaf, Akili Smith, Lawrence Phillips, and Ki-Jana Carter. How a bust is determined is too undefined to get into details about.

A prime example is the 6 straight losing seasons following the Bengals failure to develop Akili Smith into a capable NFL starter. Compare that to the 6 straight winning seasons produced by the Chargers after drafting Phillip Rivers in 2004. Of course these players are not solely responsible for their team’s success or failures but they did have a major impact.

After looking over the players projected to go in the first round I was amazed how many gave me an uneasy feeling. This week we are going to count down the top 10 players with the most bust potential. I encourage that all the readers get involved and suggest potential busts of the week. Leave comments to help me feel better about a player or continue to add on the pile.

Player:

Taylor Mays- S- USC

BUST-O-METER:

5 out of 10

Thoughts:

Taylor Mays comes in at #10 on our top 10 list.  Out of the players we are going to highlight I feel he has the least chance of Busting.  The thing that plays a major factor in Mays’ ranking is that he is projected to go near the end of the first round.

Mays is a physically gifted athlete who has run a 4.3 40 yard dash, which is more impressive because of his size (6-3 230lbs).  During his career at USC Mays was an intimidator how has a large highlight reel of big hits.  There are many scouts that feel Mays wasn’t always used correctly, often asked to play centerfield.  His misuse has been cited as the reason for lack of impressive stats.

While Mays is an impressive athlete there are some concerns.  He has shown that he has tight  hips which limits his ability to cover in 1 on 1 situations.  Some are concerned with his low interception total (5 career).  Mays is criticized for too often going for the big hit rather than making a play on the ball.  In the NFL it is very important to be able to make the interception.  Football is a game of possessions and the more turnovers you force the more possessions for you offense.  While Mays is a strong tackler he struggles with being over aggressive and taking poor angles to the ball carrier.  This poor angles have lead to big plays or extra yardage for the offense.  In the NFL Mays cannot only rely on his physical abilities he is going to have to refine his techniques.

The NFL is obsessed with 40 times so this could lead to Mays being over drafted.  Regardless of his draft position Mays is going to be expected to be a playmaking safety and the fact that he didn’t dominate in college could lead to disappointment.  Mays could go as high as #10 to the Jacksonville Jaguars or as low as #29 to the Jets.  He has also drawn attention from the Eagles, Cowboys, Cardinals, Ravens, Packers, and Texans.