Former Notre Dame and Cincinnati Bengal Safety, Chinedum Ndukwe worked out for our G-men.  He could add some nice bench strength to our secondary with the loss of Deon Grant and Michael Johnson.  That coupled with durability concerns around Kenny Phillips knee, he could be a good fit.  He seems to look like a hard hitter with decent speed who can play well against both the pass and run and might be able to help with turnovers.  Check out some highlights below.  What do you guys think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I8BAcUlq9c

Taylor Mays has received a lot of scrutiny for blowing coverage formations during his last year at USC.  As a result, I think people have over looked so many of his positive attributes due to a few poor performances.  Was he overrated during his college career?  Perhaps he was, but I find it surprising that people seem to be focusing on the negatives of Mays and completely over looking his positives.  I’m not suggesting that he doesn’t have a lot of maturing to do however I think many fans are overlooking his positive attributes and are quickly assuming he can’t play coverage defense.  On this fan site, I’ve heard people compare Mays to most notably to Roy Williams, and even some comparisons to CC Brown and Aaron Rouse.    

While at Oklahoma, Roy Williams fit Bob Stoops defense perfectly as Stoops utilized a 4-3 defense and would frequently walk the a safety up to the line of scrimmage or into a linebacker position to add pressure to fill seems, put pressure on the QB and create a man-robber coverage in the middle of the field.  Williams dominated in this defensive scheme however when put in true man-coverage scenarios, he struggled.  Roy Williams was never a balk-hawking safety but more of a hitter / run stopping safety.  At the 2002 combine, Williams came in at 6’1’’, 219lbs, and ran a 4.53 40 yard dash.

Mays entered the combine at 6’3", 230lbs and ran a controversial 40 yard dash that was clocked between a 4.24 (NFL Network) and a 4.43 (NFL.com). 

http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/03/02/did-the-nfl-screw-up-taylor-mays-time/

This kid is a beast and if he works on his angling and learns to stay ahead of receivers, he could be a force to be reckoned with.  That will come with good coaching.  Frankly, Mays reminds me a little of Sean Taylor who entered the combine in 2004 at 6’2", 230lbs and ran a 4.51.  One criticism that Sean Taylor faced according to SI.com is that he was "Better facing the quarterback and slow to locate in the man-to-man coverage."  We all know that Sean Taylor became a dominant force in the secondary for the Redskins and if not for his tragic passing, might have become one of the best safeties in NFL history. 

Am I suggesting Taylor Mays is going to be Sean Taylor?  Not at all!  What I’m suggesting is that rather than writing this kid off simply because he’s made some bad plays in college, let’s look at his tremendous upsides.  Given his raw talent, with the right coaching, he could potentially become a very good NFL safety.  In the NFC east where there are dominant receiving tight ends, we could use a player with Mays’ upside.