I was pleased to see backup middle linebacker Joe Mays play with a great deal more confidence and knowledge of the team’s defense.¬† Mays has had trouble grasping the team’s defense during his two years as an Eagle.
Sean McDermott and his staff were so unsure about Mays’ grasp of the team’s defensive system that they wouldn’t put him on the field despite the fact that Stewart Bradley went down with an ACL tear.¬† They signed former middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, who hadn’t played in a couple of years rather than put Mays on the field.
So far at the mini-camp and OTA’s, it’s looks like Mays understands what he’s supposed to do in the pass coverages.
Yesterday he dropped into his zone in the middle of the Bears defense, then read the route of a receiver hooking up beside him and broke in front of him when the ball was thrown.  He caught the ball and was off to the races with an escort down the sidelines.
This was a good sign to me for Mays who has been regarded as a liability in the passing game when he’s on the field.¬† A couple of plays after the interception, he got his hands on another pass but wasn’t able to pull it down.
The grasping of his defensive assignments aren’t coming too soon for Mays because his time is up this year.¬† He’s going to have to beat out rookie draft pick Jamar Chaney who is considerably faster.
You know this team wants to get faster, so it’s not going to be easy for Mays to win this job.¬† He’s bigger and probably more physical than Chaney, so he’ll have to seperate himself from him in the running game.
Mays showed us all when he first got here a couple of years ago, that he can will hit people.¬† He’s also a good athlete who is capable of defending the pass when he knows what he’s doing.
He’ll be fighting for his career when he gets to camp in July.
I hope this is a good sign and means it will be better. For some players it takes longer. If he can play better against the pass, then he’s definitely an everydown linebacker because he’s very good at the point of attack against the run.
I agree…if Mays can get down the passing game he is very valuable. Dude can straight blow up the run. If he’s picking passes off now…he will be legit.
Mays is also a great ST player. But he better be impressing a lot of people because IMO he has a very small chance to make this team. The change better be pretty dramatic too since just last year we were so scared to play him we brought Trott of the street instead. With all of this defensive help they brought in, thru both draft and trades, his chances got a whole lot slimmer…and they were pretty slim to begin with..
Paulman’s Eagles LB Roster for upcoming 2010 Season (barring injuries)
OLB’s Fokou,Jordan,Sims,Hall and Sapp
ILB’s Bradley, Gaither
I think 4th Draft pick OLB Clayton can make the Squad if they move Sapp to the DE position
and 7th Rd Draft ILB Chaney lands on the practice squad
Paulman, gotta disagree with Hall. I think he doesn’t make the team. I could be wrong of course, just my guess.
I think LB Hall may be one the surprise players out of this LB group this camp..
(along with DT J Owens who I think will replace T Laws as the 4th DT)
There will be about 15-20 players fighting for about 4-5 spots on this defense this year…
Yeah, I agree about Laws (duh) but it could be Boo over Owens, we’ll see. I hear Hall is lining up at DE though…he does have good size. We will see.
It appears the Eagles will carry 12 DE’s and have no OLB’ s this season outside of Fokou/Jordan/Sims ..
G:
The only place that any one can judge a back-up player is at camp, at Lehigh. I would like to think that my observation skills are honed – at least a little bit. I NEVER even noticed Mays. On special teams or otherwise. I hope he does well for himself because the dust bin is calling.
Here are your starters…
Jordan – Bradley – Simms
Reserves:
Fokou – Mays – Hall – Sapp
The Chaney kid at Mike LB might beat out Mays and Gaither. He good for one thing, and the Eagles actually traded to pick him up in the 7th instead of waiting for their compensatory 7th round picks. I do realize I’m talking about a 7th round pick, but he may make the team or practice squad at worst. All these young guys better make a terrific set of special teams. I really expect the Eagles to have the best special teams in the NFL with April coaching and DJax returning punts.
Can I get an AMEN!?!?!?!? It’s about doggone time this guy caught up. We need all the players we can get. God forbid this guy gets cut and goes to another team, it’ll take him three years to learn anybody’s system.
I’m crackin on you Joe, but I hope you knock it out of the park this year.
Good insight, G. I hope he can make it. He can hit and has a history (pre-Eagles) of getting to the ball.