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Taylor Mays # prospect in 2010 NFL Draft.

Taylor Mays NFL Draft Bio

Taylor Mays (born February 7, 1988) is an American football safety for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Southern California (USC), and was a three-time All-American. Mays was chosen in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers.

Before the start of the 2008 season, Mays was honored with a 2008 Preseason All-American selection and was on the early watch list for both the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, awarded to the best defensive player in the nation, and the Lott Trophy. Mays stated in a Los Angeles Times interview on November 10 that he would decide whether or not to forfeit his senior year at USC to enter the 2009 NFL Draft after the 2008 post season, saying that a big factor in his decision would come from his father and head coach Pete Carroll Mays entered 2008 as one of the nation's top safety prospects in the nation.

The USC defense turned in the second-best defense in the nation and some argued one of the best college has ever seen. Through the air, the USC defense held opposing offenses to only 6 touchdowns while collecting 19 interceptions as the best pass defense in the nation with Mays being a key factor in their success. Though he didn't register an interception throughout his junior season, Mays had a team-leading 8 pass deflections with four of them coming in a week 9 matchup against California who averaged almost 40 points per game to that point. Mays had a spectacular performance in the game delivering several big hits in the game which jarred balls loose from the receiver's hands. What would have been Mays' first interception of the season was called back on a penalty by Kaluka Maiava. Through regular season play, Mays collected 53 total tackles and 8 pass deflections. The Trojans would go on to face Penn State in the 2009 Rose Bowl where the defense shut down one of the most explosive offenses in the country in the 38–24 win. A memorable play in the game by Taylor Mays was a devastating helmet-to-helmet hit on wide receiver Jordan Norwood which momentarily knocked Norwood out of the game and incidentally his teammate Kevin Thomas as well.

Mays ended his junior season as a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award after being beaten out by Ohio State cornerback Malcolm Jenkins. He finished 3rd in the running, coming in behind Jenkins and Tennessee safety Eric Berry. He earned First-team All-American honors from several sources such as Sporting News, Walter Camp Football and the Associated Press as well as Second-Team All-American honors by Rivals.com and All-Pac-10 First-team honors.

On January 13, two days before the deadline for college players to declare for the Draft, Mays announced that he would return to USC for his last year. Mays was regarded as unanimous first-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft but opted to return to continue to develop and to complete his education at Southern California, citing the importance of graduating to himself and his parents as well as giving his last shot at leading USC to the BCS National Championship.

2009 season

In a Lindy's Football article, Mays stated that he wanted to play a different role in the defensive secondary that would call him to be more involved in the action. "I want to be closer to the action. People who know football know what my role on the defense is, but I'd like to be more involved this season," Mays said. The usual duties of a free safety in Pete Carroll's defense calls for him to be a center fielder preventing plays being made deep downfield, keeping him from doing much else in the box. Carroll said he agreed to tweak Mays' duties for the 2009 season, Mays' last at USC. In his last season with the Trojans, one ending with the roughest record (8–4) of his 4-year tenure at USC, he tallied a career-high 96 total tackles for the season while adding another interception to his career total.

In October, he was named a midseason All-American by The Sporting News. The withdrawal of several key players from last year's Trojans team was heavily felt on the defensive side of the ball, with Mays and the secondary surrendering 211.5 passing yards per game, 126 more yards than the defense surrendered in 2008. The lack of playmaking and leadership-by-performance from Mays has led experts to quote his stock for the upcoming NFL draft as one that is heavily slipping, though his pre-draft workouts are expected to impress NFL managers the league over. Mays was named First-team All-Pac 10 for the second year in a row and was named First-team All-America for the third consecutive season.

Draft Year: 2010 NFL Football Draft Prospect Stats for Taylor Mays

Pre-Rank	Prospect Name	Position Played	Height	Weight
	Taylor Mays	Safety	6 ft 3 in	220 lbs
Round	Selected	Team	School	Hometown
2	49	San Francisco 49ers	USC	Seattle, Washington, United States

Learn more about 2010 NFL Draft Prospect Taylor Mays

Sportspool.com pre ranked Taylor Mays as a projected # prospect for the 2010 NFL Draft

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Taylor Mays is a top NFL prospect from the 2010 NFL Draft. 2010 draft prospect Taylor Mays player profile, bio, statistics, pre ranked mock draft and more. Enjoy our information database on Taylor Mays a 6 ft 3 in' 220 lbs lbs Safety from USC.