Steelers Opponent Spotlight - Patriots LB Jerod Mayo

by Blitzburgh on Nov 26, 2008 5:32 AM EST Comment 15 comments

The biggest addition to the New England Patriots defense this year, outside of Richard Seymour perhaps from injury, has been rookie LB Jerod Mayo. For those of you who participated in the first ever BehindtheSteelCurtain Mock Draft, you may remember that I was extremely high on Mayo. I had him going #8 to Baltimore in our little draft. Turns out the Ravens wisely traded out of the #8 hole with Jacksonville, only to get their guy later in the first round with Joe Flacco. New England was also able to trade down out of #7 to the #10 hole. They got some extra picks and still got their guy, even though most people had him projected about 8-12 spots lower than that. I do bring that up proudly because I definitely did see something out of Mayo when I watched him in college that couldn't quite be measured by a 40 time. But I'm happy to admit that not 2 sentences into my selection, I claimed I'm not sold on Matt Ryan! Whoops.

Anyway, from all accounts, Mayo has lived up to his billing. I could dig up numerous articles, but I'm hoping some Pats fans will just jump in and fill in the gaps when I say that guys like Tedy Bruschi have been very impressed with Mayo's work ethic and hunger to learn everything he can while his more veteran teammates are still out there succeeding largely on intelligence and experience.

But forget the intangibles, Mayo's productivity has spoken for itself. Mayo is 6th in the league in total tackles (89), 3rd in the league in solo tackles (70), and 1st in the league by a wide margin amongst rookies in total and solo tackles. You can basically engrave his name on the Defensive Rookie Of The Year award right now.

So what can we expect from him Sunday? Well, I unfortunately (or fortunately, considering it's the Pats) have not seen him play too much this year. Just on two occassions, so I'm not overly familiar with how he's deployed. From what I can surmise though, Mayo's done exactly what's been asked of him, which is to A) make it tough to run (Pats are 13th vs rush) and take away some of the easy stuff in the passing game over the middle. Big plays are actually where to find success against New England. Their 29 plays of 20+ yards in the passing game, and 9 plays of 40+ yards rank near the bottom 1/3 and the bottom 1/8 of the league respectively.

I'm concerned about Mewelde Moore making much happen in the passing game. I'm concerned about Heath Miller picking up valuable extra yards over the middle. I'm worried about Hines owning the middle of the field like he so often does. And I'm worried about any of our running backs picking up good angles outside the tackle. All that could lead for a tough day for our offense. Could is the operative word. We all know it takes more than 1 guy to succeed on either side of the ball. As good as Jerod Mayo has been, we still have some legitimate matchup advantages on offense if we simply call a good game and keep the Patriots from teeing off on our offensive line with blitz packages that are not at all diffused or toned down by a well called offensive game plan. And of course, good play up front.

It's going to be a good one!

0 recs | Comment 15 comments |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Jerod Mayo

Major acquisition and thanks for mentioning his name next to Defensive Rookie of the Year. From the start of the season, he’s topped the list of most plays on the field almost every game. I think his weakness right now is pass coverage – he sometimes gets beaten, but that’s youth and a lack of reps. With more experience, he’ll get better. It’s very rare for a defensive rookie to start in Belichick’s defenses (usually takes 2-3 years), so I have high hopes for Jerod.

Blogger at SBNation's New England Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit

by MaPatsFan on Nov 26, 2008 7:30 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I’ve been hearing that Mayo’s been disappointing in pass coverage, not that that’s a shock for a rookie. I wouldn’t say he’s thoroughly impressed though. He might get DROY, but he’s no Patrick Willis. Part of that is because guys like Dorsey and Ellis haven’t blown anyone away. McKelvin has a shot with his return skills being a factor, and I think Chris Horton may still be the front runner.

charity standing orders

by BadMaafala on Nov 26, 2008 7:54 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

mayo vs. willis

First of all, Willis is a total freak. Most ridiculously raw bada$$ LB perhaps ever born. Different scheme too gives him even more opportunities to pile up the numbers.

As for Mayo, I think he can have just as fruitful a career. He’s a really really savvy player. Very fine physical attributes but definitely the head and the moxy to be the best. I think his work ethic will keep him healthy too, but thats really just a wild guess.

Anyway, whether its political or not, Mayo is the front runner and will win it again unless Horton continues to put up crazy INT numbers, which frankly just isnt very likely given the historical precedent. Didnt Rogers Cromartie last year for SD put up silly numbers and not even sniff the trophy? Mayo’s only going to finish 20-30 tackles behind him.

by Blitzburgh on Nov 26, 2008 8:46 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

behind willis i mean

by Blitzburgh on Nov 26, 2008 8:47 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

From what I’ve seen, though, Horton has been a better player. Antonio Cromartie didn’t get it because he sucks. Horton has been a Colston-like story, in that he’s a late round rookie who plays like a 3-year vet. It’s not like he’s letting up 2 TD passes for every pick he’s gotten; he’s made impact plays and routine plays. Mayo has made more routine plays, but not many impact plays (0 FF, INT, SCK). If he has a couple more games like the second Jets one, it could make a difference, though.

charity standing orders

by BadMaafala on Nov 26, 2008 9:25 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

MPF hits the main point

The reason Pats-watchers are so high on the kid is that he’s making an impact now, where it usually takes time in Belichick’s schemes. We feel like, if he’s doing well enough to be in the DROY conversation then his upside is enormous.

As Mr. Sloan always says, there is no "I" in team, but there is an "I" in pie. And there's an "I" in meat pie. Anagram of meat is team... I don't know what he's talking about. --Shaun of the Dead

by JohnHannahRules on Nov 26, 2008 8:43 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

let me clarify

That I didn’t not emphasize the impact Mayo could have in the running game because frankly I don’t see us looking to the run to try to win this game. I think that we’ll air it out at least 38 times this game. I think Bellicheck might be expecting that and use Mayo accordingly.

by Blitzburgh on Nov 26, 2008 9:03 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

If it’s tough to run we’ll never pass.

The genius of arians.

by steelguy99 on Nov 26, 2008 9:35 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

that one made me laugh out loud

just what i needed to start the work day.

by NoCal-SteelCity on Nov 26, 2008 11:30 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

But the Pats defense hasn't been great this season...

…I think that Mayo had a ridiculous number of tackles in the game against the Jets, but N.Y. offense beat them up. It could have been a lot worse if the Jets didn’t back off in the second half offensively, and go into a prevent defense allowing the Patriot offense to control the ball.
The team was undefeated and had a much tighter defense a year ago without Mayo in the lineup.

by robert ethan on Nov 26, 2008 3:47 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Their D was average at best last year too, even though the yardage didn’t show it. Their offense putting up 40+ a game scared teams into abandoning a balanced attack. This year, they lost Samuel, and the utterly crappy Hobbs is their top CB. They also lost Adalius Thomas, who was probably their best backer last year. I seriously doubt the defense is significantly upgraded by the addition of Mayo in his rookie year, but it’s pretty clear he’s had an impact on the running game. They’ve gone from giving up 4.4 ypc to 4.0, although I’m sure Seymour has had something to do with that as well.

charity standing orders

by BadMaafala on Nov 26, 2008 5:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yea, Mayo is a Beast.

Following the mock drafts blitzburgh, I was also convinced that my Ravens would draft Mayo. He is definitely the front runner for Def ROY. He reminds me of Jonathon Vilma when I was him play. Very smooth on his feet and swarms on the football.

I can say right now that I think this is going to be the game of the week. The Pats hold the edge over the Steelers from the past meetings, and both these teams need the win. Should be a fun one to watch. Moss against the injured 2ndary of Pitt, but Cassel and that very strong O-Line vs that vicious blitz scheme of Pitt. I cannot wait to watch this game after B-More smacks up on the Bungals. Good luck guys

by Mr MaLoR on Nov 26, 2008 4:16 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Mayo

I just wish you weren’t so right on this one, Blitz. I had a bad feeling about it after seeing the Pats take Mayo in last years’ draft, especially reading your write-up on him. Of course, I didn’t want the Ravens to get him either. Anyway, I seem to remember passing on Matt Ryan for the Falcons’ pick, too. He has certainly out performed what anyone expected.

by WolfpackSteelersFan on Nov 26, 2008 4:56 PM EST reply actions 0 recs