Two Possible Long Term Starters?
by James Brady on Oct 4, 2010 2:47 PM PDT
in San Francisco 49ers News
Email
PrintWe're a day out from the 49ers loss to the Atlanta Falcons and it's time to take a look at what the positives and negatives are. More aptly, I'm going to spend some time looking at a couple positives. It's always good to see a young guy come in and prove he is capable of being a starter, and that's what happened with your new starting strong safety Taylor Mays.
With the whole Michael Lewis situation, Mays was inserted faster than the team had anticipated. He even leap-frogged Reggie Smith on the depth chart while reprising his role on special teams units. Aside from one or two plays, Mays held his ground on coverage units, which was the big question mark going into this game. He did play some soft coverage at times, but I imagine the rookie was a little bit on edge throughout.
He was in on eleven tackles, nine solo and two assisted. People have been identifying Mays as a "boom or bust," kind of player, and it's an apt description, but it was certainly boom on Sunday. That special teams play was fantastic. The presence of mind to get the feet down wouldn't have been there for a large portion of defensive players.
There's still a lot of room for him to grow and improve on his performance, to rectify the soft coverage and get some more tackles without having to turn upfield and drag a guy down. There's also a lot of room for him to crash and burn, even though I don't want to think about that. It would be silly to declare a guy the long-time guy at a position after one game, but hey, we can at least forget about this Michael Lewis silliness for the time being, no? Make the jump for more.
Another guy I wanted to highlight didn't do much yesterday. In fact, he hasn't done much in the NFL, but every time I see him, I get this little bit of hope that he can be a future feature player on this team. While I think it's possible that Frank Gore has a few more 1,000 yard seasons in him, I think it's important that we find a replacement as soon as possible.
It's a bit more outlandish to outwardly declare Anthony Dixon as the future feature back after only a couple NFL carries than it is to declare Taylor Mays the starter at strong safety for the long term, but I'm coming just short of doing so, regardless. Dixon has two carries in the regular season, one of them for a two-yard touchdown and one of them for a three-yard first down. He's definitely being brought along sparingly.
Every time he's got the ball though, he's fighting, he's moving like he should, and has come out on top 2/2 times thus far. During the preseason, I was very impressed with everything he was able to do. I know that's not a good indication of things (see Coffee, Glenn) but it's still something. Is he the future starter at the running back position? Out of the sixth round? Just something to think about.
46 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Anthony Dixon
That young man is showing some real potential and the good thing is that he is learning from not 1 but 2 Pro Bowlers in Gore and Westbrook. I just wish that we could see more of Westbrook on the field!
Mays
The apparent upgrade over Lewis in coverage helped yesterday and will going forward. I’m sure Atlanta was hoping to light Lewis up and had to be somewhat disappointed when he was replaced.
How about some credit to the coaches, from DB coaches Lynn & Joseph, to Manusky and Sing, for how well prepared the rookie was? They get all the blame when a player does poorly so why not some credit when a rookie safety does well?
You gotta bring ass to get ass.
Because!
I agree. The rook was ready to rock
by mcwagner on Oct 4, 2010 3:17 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
TMIOPAF!!!!
Taylor Mays Is Our Present And Future
Trust me, learning english isn’t a waste of time. It is actually sort of useful.
-randolphforpresident
by Dubs fan in Boston on Oct 4, 2010 4:45 PM PDT up reply actions
he is only going to get better
I do want to see him light somebody up like Patrick Willis hit on turner.
Watching his USC highlights has me anticipating some big hits.
by HUNGRY HUNTER on Oct 4, 2010 4:51 PM PDT up reply actions
Taylor Mays
When drafted, I felt like he wasn’t what our defense needed. But through the whole offseason he has been one of our hardest workers. He sees that he cannot win on talent alone and has studied hard. What got me excited about Mays was this: he was always near the end of the play. Even when a player was clearly tackled Mays still hustled to be apart of it. That is defense. You never know when a broken tackle happens, or fumble, you get to the ball. I am very excited about Taylor. He will need some more experience, but we may have an Adrian Wilson type player that paired with Patrick Willis is a very good thing
by mcwagner on Oct 4, 2010 3:07 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
we need more
more of those types of players on offense that is what we are lacking
willis takeo and maybe mays are leaders and vocal leaders on the team.
we need more of them on offense.
inspirational vocal leaders.
alex is not crabs is not, morgan is not.
vernon is and that is the only vocal leader. offense needs to be pushed.
by HUNGRY HUNTER on Oct 4, 2010 4:53 PM PDT up reply actions
Taylor Mays
he is our future Anthony Dixon is gonna be great also
Mays looked good. Definintely starter material.
But Dixon needs to be used more often. A 60/30/10 carry split between Gore/Dixon/Westbrook would be awesome. Gore is still ‘the man’ while remaining fresh, Dixon is the bruiser who can get those tough yards, and Westbrook is a part-time 3rd down back with Gore.
I survived the David Carr Press Conference Thread 3/06/2010
Credit to iaalexeeff
The New and Improved Bay Area Connections:
Alex Smith to Michael Crabtree
Stephen Curry to David Lee
Madison Bumgarner to Gerald Buster "Jesus" Posey
by Hoopers Judge on Oct 4, 2010 3:31 PM PDT up reply actions
I would be happy if that was the case
I think this is how it is going to go
gore 100% upon a injury (hopefully not)
westbrook 70% with dixon 30% of the time
I personaly do not think westbrook was signed to play that much at all, very very sparingly in reserve until a injury.
by HUNGRY HUNTER on Oct 4, 2010 4:57 PM PDT up reply actions
big time play
both these guys have made some really amazing plays.
that Mays TD was pure art. can’t think of any other way to say it.
dixon’s stiff arm in INDY was pretty fantastic too. Although it occurred in preseason, he showed that he can develop into a full-time player.
definitely something to look forward to as 49er fans.
stiff arm was off the hook
i also love it when he lowers his shoulder right into the DBs.
even are DBs looked like they would avoid tackling turner,except nate loves to ankle tackle
imagine Dixon in open field just laying out a safety or corner with his shoulder
thats smash mouth football. let him play, please
by HUNGRY HUNTER on Oct 4, 2010 5:00 PM PDT up reply actions
Isn't it cool seeing dixon on the sidelines getting pumped up!!!
He just seems like he cares. Love the attitude!
right next to the coaches
i saw that too, he should be on the field.
i would rather have those missed catches on third down been throw to Dixon then to morgan.
by HUNGRY HUNTER on Oct 4, 2010 5:01 PM PDT up reply actions
Sobering Thought
Taylor Mays has more TDs than Michael Crabtree in 2010.
But, he deserves it, and this in no way is meant to compare or bash one or the other, it’s just a weird stat that encapsulates our season so far.
49er 'til I die! (if they don't kill me first)
Yeah
I believe Mays accounts for….1/5 of our TDs now?
by Badly Browned on Oct 4, 2010 4:07 PM PDT up reply actions
and he has matched TDs of Vernon Davis
that is what is really disturbing.
it seems they have no game plan or new plays this year just for vernon davis.
how come he only has one td?
even that one td he made a heck of effort to get that ball in there, good play and stretch was awesome. where are the new deep passing plays to vernon?
I cant beleive raye raye went whole offseason with no new plays for vernon davis?
crazy- he should have been fired before training camp for this fact alone.
by HUNGRY HUNTER on Oct 4, 2010 5:04 PM PDT up reply actions
the team is 0-4
You would think Dixon would get more playing time especially in the blow out.
So took over Michael Lewis’s roster spot.
TMIOF!!!
Lol I just made a fanshot about this and then Ninjames creates this post.
Who is going to replace Mays as the gunner on punts? He was doing his part on that. I really like his speed.
P.S. Mays is a pure BEAST to user control in Madden. I have more INT’s and Forced Fumbles in 5 games with him than I ever got with Lewis.
Dixon
I don’t see him as a future full time starter. He’s got some talent for sure but he doesn’t have the speed or pass catching ability to be a difference maker. He can learn to pass protect but catching the ball at game speed is not an acqsuired skill. That’s why some guys play DB because they can’t catch.
Michael Turner isnt fast either
And yet he seems to do pretty well in the NFL. He only caught 5 passes last year.
Big backs like Turner and Dixon are bell cow type of guys. The longer the game goes LB’s and DB’s will get tired of trying to tackle them because of the punishing type of runner they are.
Turner is fast enough
They called him Turner the Burner in San Diego. He has just enough speed like Gore break a big run.
I'm so happy you brought up Dixon
I thought I would be bringing down walls saying Dixon needs to see the field more. I hope our OC can get him involved. Not saying Gore needs to see the bench, but we really need to show defenses different looks.
As for mays, he’s a stud and football is in his veins. Needs more time to develop into an all pro but yes, two positives for the 49ers future.
by LADubbz45 on Oct 4, 2010 4:14 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
dixon been in on only two or three plays that I have seen so far.
gore does not need to be on the field for 99.99% of the plays
by HUNGRY HUNTER on Oct 4, 2010 5:06 PM PDT up reply actions
Just another opinion, but it's mine ...
I’ve got a lot of comments about the Atlanta game, but I’ll post them later. On this topic, and I know that it will be highly unpopular, but one of my negatives about this game was TO MUCH FRANK GORE. Frank is obviously a good player, but IMO not as good as many people would like to believe. Yes, he gets the occasional big run, and yes, he gets an occasional big reception; but, on balance, he is NOT producing as in the past … too many 1-2 yard gains. In the past we needed to rely on Frank because we didn’t have much else on offense. That is no longer true! My belief is that we would have had a greater opportunity of winning yesterday if we had used Frank less and others more. Sorry. But that’s my opinion.
by 49erFanSince1950 on Oct 4, 2010 6:01 PM PDT up reply actions
I voted maybe
I still find it too early to say for sure, but the optimism is good.
Dixon is gifted
Coffee never showed cutback vision or outside speed, and that was visible in the 2009 preseason. Dixon has those skills and is much better in short yardage.
It pains me to watch Gore catch a few passes, carry the ball 3x in a row, look exhausted and ineffective, then be unable to pick up a 1st down which kills a nice drive when we have Dixon (and Westbrook) ready to go. Coach Johnson needs to design a few AD-specific plays just to have an excuse to rest Gore.
dont like this boom or bust title
he would have been if he was a top 10 pick which he certainly was a lock to be in 2009. a second round pick is a bargain for a physical specimen like mays, regardless of how you look at it
Nate Byham
This is a guy who doesnt get too much credit cause we have Delanie Walker and Vernon Davis, but he has a bright future.
And Taylor Mays WAS a top 10 pick yes, but only because of his physical abilities, he struggles in coverage so yes he is a Boom Bust… although i think he is going to make it.
imo i dont think hes a boom or bust for a late second round pick
for a top 10 pick in 2009, yeah sure its boom/bust. but not where we selected him.
even with his well documented 'struggles' in coverage
for a late second, he was always going to be a good hard-hitting safety… and a great special teamer. so no risk imo what-so-ever.
I voted no
Not that I don’t think he wont be good or great. I just don’t exactly see him being “the guy”. I see something more in the lines of getting a smaller speedy back and pairing the two. Both being “the guys”. I’d like to see us have a guy that can open things up and then have a finisher in Dixon to beat the defense down.
Mays has so much potential. Can someone be a bust after following Roman and Lewis. I don’t think so. If he can even make it look like the tight end isn’t running down the field wide open on every pass play, he’s a major upgrade.
by wtlichens on Oct 4, 2010 6:13 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
Mays, Dixon, Bowman, etc.
Wow what a great draft! Its darkest just before the dawn and the sun is about to rise on the 49ers.
Right on rileyg1
Coaches don’t like so many rookies but fans can anticipate a better future.
what? No t brown on this list? I love watching this guy chasing down recievers after getting toasted in the 4th quarter. No not really, I get drakeford flashbacks.
by wtlichens on Oct 4, 2010 7:03 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
Don't care if we are 0 and 4, Gore is still our best player.
I don’t like suggestions that he’s not carrying the team or is somehow a problem. I know we must diversify, Moran is a luxury, etc. The focus on Dixon suggests the need for scapegoating. The team has great players and is slowly coming together. Dixon’s success so far is the product of play calling. I love what I see in Mays.
Gore for president
I don’t think he is overused or ineffective. I think he is misused. I think Raye having him dive up the middle, when our line was collapsing in the middle, was the problem. I don’t want to see another run up the gut for at least a few games. Gore can run outside. He can make people miss.
I am excited about Mays and Dixon too btw.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Niners Nation
Related FanShots on Niners Nation
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
