Another guy that made some good plays is Joe Mays. I think Joe plays by the philosophy of “if it moves, hit it.”
But his biggest challenge will be in games when teams do things that he isn’t expecting. How will he react? They will probably attack him in pass coverage as well.
But Mays had a good day today. He made some very good open-field tackles. He had one on LeSean McCoy where it was just the two of them out there in space. He got McCoy to the ground. He did a great job of taking away McCoy’s cut-back lanes and using the sideline as a defender. It was a very nice play.
And I couldn’t see who it was, but he tattoed a couple of running backs coming across the middle. He’s extremely difficult to cut back against, but you’ll see teams use the play-action pass against him and use his aggression against him.
But the play that I saw that impressed me most, was his read and recognition on a screen play to McCoy. He dropped into his coverage and saw the screen developing. He was able to beat the offensive lineman and give him a move to free himself up. He was then able to make the play on McCoy.
 
When it comes to hitting people, Mays has absolutely nothing to prove. This guy can hit. But he’ll either make it or break it when it comes to recognizing what teams are doing and what their tendencies are in certain situations. That’s why I was so enthused with him making that play on the screen because those are the kinds of plays that destroy young linebackers.
