Great Blue North 3 Round Projection

[rbaloha1]

Packer Picks:

Round 1 Taylor Mays

Round 2 Chris Cook CB Virginia

Round 3 Jared Veldheer OT Hillsdale

Any one have info on the round 2 and 3 picks?

[rbaloha1]

On the other hand, Southern Cal safety Taylor May reportedly struggled in positional drills at the USC pro day. It may no hurt Mays’ ultimate draft grade all that much as pro teams have known all along that he tends to be stiff and mechanical in coverage, but it also certainly isn’t going to his stock. At the same time, USC DE Everson Griffin, who has been flying just below the national draft radar, reportedly had a solid day for himself running the 40 in the low 4.6 range and looking quick and explosive in positional drills.

[HarveyWallbangers]

NFL Network said he was solid in his drills. They said he was a bit stiff, but not bad. Projected him to go late first round.

They also said the only head coach at the USC Pro Day was John Fox, and the only GM was, you guessed it, Ted Thompson.

I always get a chuckle out of that. It seems like Teddy is everywhere.
:D

[CaliforniaCheez]

Almost all of the evaluation done is game tape.

When alleged draft experts claim a propest is rising or falling it is due to their poor original assessment. The players haven't played since the bowl games. No prospect climbs or falls.

Most draft boards are done before the Combine and then adjusted. The interviews are the combine event that changes draft boards the most. Next in importance are the medical exams.

Teams are ready for the draft right now.

Ted will look at the board when he is on the clock and make a decision based on who is available at that point.

There will be good propects at OT and CB available in the 2nd round.

There will be good Safety and RB prospect in the 3rd round.

We just do not know what the names will be.



This 3 round thing by GBN sure looks better than their last 2 round guess.

[b bulldog]

USC's track is notoriously quick. Some scouts clocked Griffin at 4.46. Griffin is a freak!

[The Leaper]

Thompson likes athletes who can play football...USC has a lot of those kind of guys.

[Fritz]

I keep worrying that Mays sounds an awful lot like Rouse.

[rbaloha1]

I keep worrying that Mays sounds an awful lot like Rouse.

There appears to be different opinions of Mays pro day in terms of drills. Still maintain Mays is an Atwater clone.

[b bulldog]

Mays is an athlete with no instincts and who has no fluidity. NO!!

[Lurker64]

Mays scares the hell out of me as a prospect, that being said he could be both great and what we need.

To his detriment, Mays has awful tackling form, poor ball skills and awareness, tends to take bad angles, does not change directions fluidly (though his acceleration is top-notch, so the fact that he basically stops when direction isn't that awful), and wasn't particularly productive in college.

That being said though, some of this might be due to the fact that Carroll simply knew neither how to use him nor how to teach him, as Carroll took this amazing athlete and basically just had him play center field for his whole college career. You see this with USC defenders sometimes, they have mediocre college careers, and they tear it up once NFL coaches get their hands on them (Clay Matthews was much more dominant in the senior bowl than he was at USC, for example). If Mays can be molded into a high end NFL safety, I think we might have the people to do it, as Capers is a mad football genius and will almost certainly get anything he can out of somebody with potential, and (safeties coach) Darren Perry is apparently highly regarded and a rising star. That being said, if we get Mays and lose Capers and Perry in a couple years, we're likely screwed.

So I'm on the fence with Mays, I'll let our GM make that call though, so I really have no opinion. If Thompson really thinks that Mays was squandered in college and he has a lot of untapped potential and can overcome his shortcomings, then I'm in no position to disagree. If Thompson really thinks that Mays is an athlete and not a football player, then I'm likewise in no position to disagree.

He's certainly not high on the list of people I'd like to see us draft at #23. I'd put him behind all of the first round tackles (inc. Charlie Brown), Brandon Graham, Jerry Hughes, C.J. Spiller, and Kyle Wilson. This is a really deep draft for safeties, anyway.

[sharpe1027]

Mays really worries me. At what point do you realize that the reflexes and ability to master fundamental techniques is lacking in a player? I think C. Matthews is not the best comparison because he didn't start playing full time into very late in his career and all reports said he was getting better and better. Mays is almost the opposite, started since he was a freshmen and by all reports he still lacks basic technique/skill.

Maybe he sucked because of Carroll. Maybe Carroll had him play center field because he wasn't able to do much else. IDK.

[rbaloha1]

USC players are difficult to gauge -- players that appear to be good NFL players (Mike Williams, Dwayne Jarrett, Matt Lineart, etc.) are busts.

Agree with Lurker's assessment about the lack of coaching for the scheme -- talented athlete left to roam and make big hits.

Outside of the 4 outstanding lbs how many Pete Carroll defensive players succeed in the NFL? Lane Kiffin has already brought a more serious tone to the USC practices and prohibited celebs from attending.

Too much talent too pass on if available. What about the other 2 selections?

[The Leaper]

Don't like Mays as a safety.

He's intriguing as an OLB prospect...but do you waste a first round pick on a project outside pass rusher? Probably not.

USC has a couple other guys Thompson may be looking at for later in the draft.

[Fritz]

Funny how Ted covers his tracks pretty well. Seems like too he finds guys while he's looking at tape of other guys or at pro days where he's supposedly looking at someone else. I think that's how he got hot for Sitton and then Matthews last year.