Myron Rolle or Taylor Mays or other

[jj28west]

There are a lot of "ifs" but if the Steelers were to go this route who would you have as the top safety on your board. Taylor Mays is an incredible physical specimen but the more I read about Rolle the more I become intrigued if he could be the next Ed Reed or John Lynch.

He appears to be the type that would study film and bait QB's from knowing their tendencies. I know its a bold statement since he only played a couple years of college ball.

I know what Taylor can bring but has anyone actually seen Rolle play?

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: Myron Rolle or Taylor Mays or other

Rolle or Mays? The top safety in this draft is unquestionably Eric Berry. The next best safety is Earl Thomas.

[Chadman]

Re: Myron Rolle or Taylor Mays or other

the more I read about Rolle the more I become intrigued if he could be the next Ed Reed or John Lynch.

Reed & Lynch are REALLY different types of player though...strange comparison.

Mays offers the 'physical' attributes many look for. Simply put, if his head is on right, he's a supreme athlete with a football mind- a great option to combine with Polamalu. But some question his football intelligence. If he tests well at the combine, Chadman would be happy with Mays. Options if the Steelers want a "Mays" type Safety would be Kam Chancellor, Chad Jones or TJ Ward.

Rolle is more of a 'smart' player- think Darren Perry. Options of the "Rolle" kind include Myron Lewis, Nate Allen, Darrell Stuckey & Morgan Burnett.

How the Steelers choose to fill the FS position in the draft is going to be decided by FA. If Hampton & Clark are resigned, the Steelers could look at the physical talents of Taylor Mays, and decide they can 'coach him up' for a year or two before inserting him in the starting role.

No doubt though- if Mays proves he is a 'football player', not just an athlete, it's very difficult to look past him.

[jj28west]

Re: Myron Rolle or Taylor Mays or other

the more I read about Rolle the more I become intrigued if he could be the next Ed Reed or John Lynch.

Reed & Lynch are REALLY different types of player though...strange comparison.

Actually I meant to compare the smarts of a John Lynch. Your right John was more a head hunter who relied on his hitting while Ed is more like Rod Woodson.

[Chadman]

Re: Myron Rolle or Taylor Mays or other

the more I read about Rolle the more I become intrigued if he could be the next Ed Reed or John Lynch.

Reed & Lynch are REALLY different types of player though...strange comparison.

Actually I meant to compare the smarts of a John Lynch. Your right John was more a head hunter who relied on his hitting while Ed is more like Rod Woodson.

Fair enough.

For the record, Chadman has the Safeties rated as such-

1. Berry (duh)
2. Mays
3. Thomas
4. Nate Allen
5. Morgan Burnett.


It would not surprise Chadman to see Berry, Mays & even Thomas off the board by #18, and if Safety was 'the way to go' for the Steelers FO, Chadman would suggest trading down to the end of the 1st, beginning of the 2nd to grab Nate Allen would be a smart option.

[Shawn]

Re: Myron Rolle or Taylor Mays or other

Rolle or Mays? The top safety in this draft is unquestionably Eric Berry. The next best safety is Earl Thomas.

Agreed.

But, I will say this...the idea of Taylor is growing on me. I think his coverage skills are questionable at best. With that said, he is a freak in the box...a true marvel in the likeness of Troy around the LOS. With Troy having injuries I would love to extend his career. I would like to keep Troy out of the box more and use Taylor in Troy's role.

I wouldn't cry if that was our pick any longer.

[Mister Pittsburgh]

Re: Myron Rolle or Taylor Mays or other

I like Myron Rolle in the 3rd or 4th if he is still there.

[Oviedo]

Re: Myron Rolle or Taylor Mays or other

the more I read about Rolle the more I become intrigued if he could be the next Ed Reed or John Lynch.

Reed & Lynch are REALLY different types of player though...strange comparison.

Mays offers the 'physical' attributes many look for. Simply put, if his head is on right, he's a supreme athlete with a football mind- a great option to combine with Polamalu. But some question his football intelligence. If he tests well at the combine, Chadman would be happy with Mays. Options if the Steelers want a "Mays" type Safety would be Kam Chancellor, Chad Jones or TJ Ward.

Rolle is more of a 'smart' player- think Darren Perry. Options of the "Rolle" kind include Myron Lewis, Nate Allen, Darrell Stuckey & Morgan Burnett.

How the Steelers choose to fill the FS position in the draft is going to be decided by FA. If Hampton & Clark are resigned, the Steelers could look at the physical talents of Taylor Mays, and decide they can 'coach him up' for a year or two before inserting him in the starting role.

No doubt though- if Mays proves he is a 'football player', not just an athlete, it's very difficult to look past him.

I also like Chad Jones and TJ Ward.

As good a person as he seems to be I'm not sure I take Myron Rolle. Football for him seems to be more a means to an end than a passion. I doubt he is in the NFL more than 5 years.

This is a very deep class for safeties which means we don't have to grab one in Round 1.

[steelblood]

Re: Myron Rolle or Taylor Mays or other

the more I read about Rolle the more I become intrigued if he could be the next Ed Reed or John Lynch.

Reed & Lynch are REALLY different types of player though...strange comparison.

Actually I meant to compare the smarts of a John Lynch. Your right John was more a head hunter who relied on his hitting while Ed is more like Rod Woodson.

Fair enough.

For the record, Chadman has the Safeties rated as such-

1. Berry (duh)
2. Mays
3. Thomas
4. Nate Allen
5. Morgan Burnett.


It would not surprise Chadman to see Berry, Mays & even Thomas off the board by #18, and if Safety was 'the way to go' for the Steelers FO, Chadman would suggest trading down to the end of the 1st, beginning of the 2nd to grab Nate Allen would be a smart option.

I would think that Chadman would like Chad Jones.

I believe he is a top 5 safety and unlike Allen, Burnett, Mays, and Thomas, Chad Jones can be effective at both FS and SS.

Mays and Burnett have both had struggles in coverage. I think they are both bad fits for the Steelers since we desparately need DBs that will improve this area of our team. Mays and Burnett are probably both SS only players.

Unless we plan to move Troy to FS, we can't really take a SS only in the first or second round. I'd rate the FS candidates this way:

1. Berry (top 10 pick)
2. Thomas (round 1)
3. Chad Jones (round 2)
4. Nate Allen (round 2-3)
5. Reshad Jones (round 2-4)

[steelblood]

Re: Myron Rolle or Taylor Mays or other

Rolle or Mays? The top safety in this draft is unquestionably Eric Berry. The next best safety is Earl Thomas.

Agreed.

But, I will say this...the idea of Taylor is growing on me. I think his coverage skills are questionable at best. With that said, he is a freak in the box...a true marvel in the likeness of Troy around the LOS. With Troy having injuries I would love to extend his career. I would like to keep Troy out of the box more and use Taylor in Troy's role.

I wouldn't cry if that was our pick any longer.

We can't waste a 1st round pick on a DB who may not help us in coverage. How much help would Mays be against teams that spread us out and go 3 wide all game like Indy, NE, or NO?

[ramblinjim]

Re: Myron Rolle or Taylor Mays or other

I like the idea of Rolle later on in the draft. Obviously the kid is intelligent, there are too many idiot Rhodes Scholars out there and he could be the braniac safety that we could use. It'll be interesting to see how he does at the combine.

The knock on Mays is that he isn't good in coverage, wasn't that a knock on Troy coming out of college too? I could be wrong. If we had some head hunting safety that could play in the box and let Troy play the pass more often, that should definitely extend Troy's career and would help out secondary.

[Oviedo]

Re: Myron Rolle or Taylor Mays or other

I like the idea of Rolle later on in the draft. Obviously the kid is intelligent, there are too many idiot Rhodes Scholars out there and he could be the braniac safety that we could use. It'll be interesting to see how he does at the combine.

The knock on Mays is that he isn't good in coverage, wasn't that a knock on Troy coming out of college too? I could be wrong. If we had some head hunting safety that could play in the box and let Troy play the pass more often, that should definitely extend Troy's career and would help out secondary.

You do not misremember. The same things they say about Mays are the things they said about Troy. Let's see now they come from the same university and play the same position. Blinding flash of the obvious: Maybe it is the defense and the scheme not the player!!!!!!

I would have no issue with Mays in Round 1 especially given that he would have the ability to play both FS and SS and with Troy's history of injuries having a player who can step in at SS is critical as we saw with disasterous outcomes last season.

[Chadman]

Re: Myron Rolle or Taylor Mays or other

Chadman is going to disagree slightly with the viewpoint that the Steelers need 'a coverage FS'. They won a SB perfectly well with a FS that plays more like a SS in Ryan Clark.

No, it's not their coverage ability that is important- it's the 'Playmaking' ability.

Outside of Troy, the Steelers DB's make few Big Plays.

Taylor Mays can deliver fearsome hits, much in the same way Bob Sanders does. Just because Bob Sanders doesn't have great coverage skills, doesn't make him any less a playmaker.

Taylor Mays, coupled with Troy, is a pretty impressive combination.

A good coverage CB, Chadman will agree with.

[Oviedo]

Re: Myron Rolle or Taylor Mays or other

Chadman is going to disagree slightly with the viewpoint that the Steelers need 'a coverage FS'. They won a SB perfectly well with a FS that plays more like a SS in Ryan Clark.

No, it's not their coverage ability that is important- it's the 'Playmaking' ability.

Outside of Troy, the Steelers DB's make few Big Plays.

Taylor Mays can deliver fearsome hits, much in the same way Bob Sanders does. Just because Bob Sanders doesn't have great coverage skills, doesn't make him any less a playmaker.

Taylor Mays, coupled with Troy, is a pretty impressive combination.

A good coverage CB, Chadman will agree with.

[anger 82&95]

Re: Myron Rolle or Taylor Mays or other

ESPN article regarding Taylor Mays:
[url="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft10/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=4935397"]http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft10/c ... id=4935397[/url]

Mays' 40-yard dash time could be a huge story. It's hard to believe he has something to prove, but he does. A year ago, many considered Mays a top-five pick, but he elected to stay at USC for his senior season. Now, he's considered the second-best free safety in the draft behind Berry. If Mays runs a sub-4.4 40, he could jump back into the top 10 overall, but he's currently expected to be drafted in the middle of the first round. Physically, Mays is a freak. He's 6-foot-3, 231 pounds, and a sub-4.4 40 could be huge in improving his stock. Berry is considered a top-three pick because of his playmaking ability and is expected to establish himself immediately among the top safeties in the NFL.

A great safety with mobility and playmaking ability is vital in this day and age, as teams routinely face quarterbacks throwing from three- and four-receiver sets. Too often, defenses with average coverage at the safety position get carved up by good quarterbacks. Mays needs a fluid workout and a great 40 time to come closer to the perceptions scouts had of him in 2009.