Taylor Mays at OLB?

how about we just have Mays lined up backwards and as soon as the ball gets in the air have him track it down and go get it!!!

I commented on Barrows' blog when someone mentioned this..possibly OP.

Just a really stupid suggestion. You want to take a guy who is pretty much all muscle at 230 lbs and having played DB for a long time now and have him add 20lbs of more muscle and convert him to one of the most important positions to the 3-4 defense?

On what world does that make sense? You realize he would have to re-learn like half the stuff he does right? Forget about having him play on the field for a good 2 years. He has no pass rush moves, he would get manhandled if he was going one on one against offensive linemen as opposed to just blitzing from the safety spot.

So he's big for a safety...big whoop. Seems like that's the solution for everyone - convert him to a different position. Size isn't everything people.

Originally posted by KID9R:

Originally posted by 80849er4life:

Originally posted by KID9R:

Originally posted by 80849er4life:
It could work.

no it couldn't

Why not, everybody just drools how great of an athlete, why couldnt it work?

Well maybe if we played the 4-3 he could. but at OLB in the 3-4 he needs to be threat to rush on any given down, otherwise it practically would be a 4-3. So when he rushes in the 3-4 he would be up against a T who would crush him, outweighing him by at least 70lbs. So then what is Mays (who has probably never practiced any pass rush moves in his career) going to do. He's going to be a one trick pony and speed rush off the edge every time or teams will run it down his throat. and I really didn't think he did a good job tackling at all this year. He seemed to be always going for the kill shot and ended up dripping off the guy but still making the ankle tackle most of the time.

Yea I here ya, but just the fact that it makes a good subject to talk about, has something to say about him, maybe he can, maybe he cant, but the name of the game is bringing the man down, and for a rookie I thought he did a decent job.....coverage was a different story, but as OLB he would have a smaller field to cover. I think he has the size and the speed to do it.

if we ran a 4-3 it would be more feasible.

How long do you think it would take teams to gameplan against a 230 lb OLB. Remember how the Cowboys pounded Romanowski and he was heavier than 230.

Lee woodall

Comes to mind...and he was not the only one to do it.

Saftey to linebacker is not an unheard of switch from college to the NFL.


That is polar opposite from the center fielder he was in college

I don't know if has the skill set.

Really Mays is in the wrong era.

Originally posted by Micky6:

Originally posted by nw9erfan:

Originally posted by boast:

Well...to quote Richard Dreyfuss in "Jaws"....."You got any better suggestions?"

"you're gonna need a bigger boat"... why move him to a position that he doesn't... has never played? A better suggestion would be to NOT play him at OLB. Now I'm cool with the notion of him playing a all over the place like Polamalu. In terms of putting a rangey guy at OLB to do a little of everything, Manny Lawson does that pretty well. He plays contain, he covers, he takes a lane for backside pursuit and very rarely he is asked to rush the passer, which he actually does with surprising efficiency.

Using a Safety in the passrush can cause blockers to blow an assignment. Rushing Mays as elephant matches him up against OTs, with doubles from TEs and RBs. Meaning he won't be able to use his speed to his advantage. I think there are many better ideas or 'suggestions' quite frankly.

Good post......because you backed up your opinion with actual knowledge of the game. The facts are these though.....Manny is a FA who may or may not return next season and the Niners need to find a way to take advantage of Mays' speed. Playing him "all over the place like Polamalu" is an actual suggestion. Playing Mays in the box at the line of scrimmage, as many have suggested, does not take full advantage of his strengths IMHO.

When I suggested Mays as an OLB, I was not thinking of him as a starter. I was thinking of him more as a hybrid type of player who plays on certain downs in certain situations....someone that, because of his speed, the offense has to pay attention to. With the Niners undoubtedly being more aggressive next season as far as blitzing is concerned, I thought Mays might be effective in a role where he may have a clear shot at the QB. If they choose not to blitz him, he can cover the TE or RB coming out the backfield.

By the way, I'm encouraged by your Manny figures there. Perhaps a new scheme can help him become the pass rusher we all hoped he would be when he was drafted.....providing he resigns of course....

Originally posted by SybErkRimInAL:

As a former skateboarder and BMXer that is one of the funniest pics I have ever seen

I doubt moving to OLB would be much help to Mays or the Niners overall defense. I'd think if the Niners wanted an undersized OLB with speed, they would have kept Briggs. Granted, Mays is faster.......but still. I just don't see him moving to OLB.

I think Fangio should find a way to use Mays somehow though......maybe like how GB uses Woodson? Play him close to the line, over the slot, blitzing him often..???!! If they cannot find a niche for him, it looks like we have a younger Michael Lewis.

I guess it will depend on what the new coaches think of him. Who knows, maybe they'll try to use him as trade bait.

The new 9er/Stanford staff watched him for a few years at SC and should know his strengths and weaknesses. If his instincts are suspect then no position will likely be good, but if they can find a niche for him why not? Could he become a Fred Dean type guy...just aim him at the QB and say sick?

Originally posted by Dshearn:
Lee woodall

Comes to mind...and he was not the only one to do it.

Saftey to linebacker is not an unheard of switch from college to the NFL.


That is polar opposite from the center fielder he was in college

I don't know if has the skill set.

Really Mays is in the wrong era.

He's not in the wrong era, he was drafted by the wrong team for the wrong reason.

IF you have other players in the secondary, regardless of what position they play or what you call it, who can handle covering receivers, but someone else can freelance and hit any runner, short yardage receiver, qb or anyone else within a 5-8 yards, great.

But if you are looking for a "center-fielder" Mays ain't it. And right now, we don't have the coverage in other areas for either of our safeties to be pure short yardage/hitting specialist.

5 pages really? really?

Originally posted by nw9erfan:

Originally posted by Allx9er:
so how many more pages befor this sucker gets locked. i dont even think it will make it to 4

So...if you are Harbaugh, what do you do with Mays? When he was the coach at Stanford and they played USC, they toasted the guy.

Like I said, I'm just trying to suggest a different approach with him. Not saying I'm right but it is becoming obvious is that Mays has some serious issues in coverage. I just don't want the Niners to waste a second round pick on someone that can't help the team. Therefore, I'm just trying to find ways the team can put him in a position to succeed and help.

If you don't agree, that's cool but at least tell us what you would do with him.
Don't just criticize man, give us something reasonable.

couldn't agree with this more, some of the so called veterans on this site can't disagree with words, they'd rather post stupid pictures so someone else can post a smiley face laughing at it, I didn't know this was an sohh.com board. I was wondering how someone could have over 30,000 posts , but I can see how if 29000 of them are dumb a** pictures that supposedly represent how they feel, I've got a pic for you idiots, but I won't post it out respect for the mods, but let's just say it involves an extended middle finger and a gigantic **** you in all caps. 7th graders need cosigners and followers to feel better about themselves, geez, if you can't disagree with civility then do us a favor and STFU, we re having a grown-up discussion over here. As for mays moving to olb, I say if he comes out after a full off-season and is still getting roasted, might not be a bad idea to look into this.

Originally posted by qwestlove94:

Originally posted by nw9erfan:

Originally posted by Allx9er:
so how many more pages befor this sucker gets locked. i dont even think it will make it to 4

So...if you are Harbaugh, what do you do with Mays? When he was the coach at Stanford and they played USC, they toasted the guy.

Like I said, I'm just trying to suggest a different approach with him. Not saying I'm right but it is becoming obvious is that Mays has some serious issues in coverage. I just don't want the Niners to waste a second round pick on someone that can't help the team. Therefore, I'm just trying to find ways the team can put him in a position to succeed and help.

If you don't agree, that's cool but at least tell us what you would do with him.
Don't just criticize man, give us something reasonable.

couldn't agree with this more, some of the so called veterans on this site can't disagree with words, they'd rather post stupid pictures so someone else can post a smiley face laughing at it, I didn't know this was an sohh.com board. I was wondering how someone could have over 30,000 posts , but I can see how if 29000 of them are dumb a** pictures that supposedly represent how they feel, I've got a pic for you idiots, but I won't post it out respect for the mods, but let's just say it involves an extended middle finger and a gigantic **** you in all caps. 7th graders need cosigners and followers to feel better about themselves, geez, if you can't disagree with civility then do us a favor and STFU, we re having a grown-up discussion over here. As for mays moving to olb, I say if he comes out after a full off-season and is still getting roasted, might not be a bad idea to look into this.

pg 3 bud

No.