Sorry if already posted...... By Dale Lolley Courtesy of the Observer-Reporter Date: Mar 22, 2006 Ike Taylor tied for the NFL lead with 25 pass defenses last season. The New York Jets have been a thorn in the side of the Pittsburgh Steelers thus far in the offseason, first signing former Steelers defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen and then outbidding them for the services of wide receiver Tim Dwight. Now, the Jets may have cornerback Ike Taylor on their radar. With their trade of digruntled defensive end John Abraham to Atlanta Tuesday, the Jets now own two first round picks in next month's draft, their own pick (fourth overall) and the 29th thanks to the Abraham trade. Negotiations between the Steelers and restricted free agent cornerback Ike Taylor have been sparse, leading the team to re-sign cornerback Deshea Townsend to a four-year contract earlier this week. The 25-year-old Taylor has received some interest on the open market, according to agent Scott Smith, but the Steelers? decision to make a high tender offer to the third-year cornerback has kept some teams from trying to pry him away from Pittsburgh. ?It certainly makes things more difficult,? said Smith of the Steelers? one-year $1.55-million tender offer to Taylor. ?But for the right situation, the right fit, something could be done.? By offering Taylor a high tender, Steelers guaranteed themselves the right to match any offer he might receive in free agency or receive a first-round draft pick from the team that signs Taylor in return as compensation. That would prohibit a team that does not have a first-round pick from making an offer to Taylor. That means Washington ? which dealt its No. 1 pick to Denver for a first-round pick last year ? and Atlanta ? which shipped its No. 1 pick to Denver as part of a deal that landed Abraham ? can?t make an offer to Taylor. But the Jets and Broncos, who now have two first-round draft picks each, could be tempted to take a run at Taylor, particularly New York, which released starting cornerback Ty Law. ?Ike is certainly an intriguing guy,? said Smith. ?Really, he?s only started two years as a cornerback, one year in the NFL and one year in college, so he?s got a ton of upside, maybe more than any player in the NFL.? Courtesy of the Observer-Reporter
http://mboard.steelers.com/fanzone/mboard/news/55394 No way do i give up a first round pick for him by signing him. Please dont make this terrible mistake. Just offer pittsburgh a third round pick.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/sports/steelerslive/s_388234.html There's a lot to like about Ike Photo Gallery click to enlarge Taylor Chaz Palla/TRIBUNE-REVIEW Tools Print this article E-mail this article Subscribe to this paper Larger / Smaller Text By Joe Bendel TRIBUNE-REVIEW Thursday, October 27, 2005 Before there was the lockdown of Chad Johnson and the knockdown of a sure touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars, there was the tire, the rabbit and Deion Sanders for Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor. "He's done a lot and been through a lot to get where he is today," said Taylor's uncle, Herman Francois, who raised Ike on the outskirts of New Orleans since the seventh grade. "It's been a long road." And a road less traveled. Francois assisted in developing Taylor into the speedster (clocked at 4.2 seconds in the 40-yard dash) he is today with, arguably, the most unconventional workout program in modern history. To build power in Taylor's thighs, hips and hamstrings, Francois sat in a truck tire each night and had a pre-teenage Taylor pull him with a rope wrapped around his waist for 2-3 miles. Francois wouldn't let Taylor quit until he was on the verge of passing out. "Then, I would give him some water and tell him, 'Son, it's the fourth quarter now, so you have to keep on going,'" Francois said. "It'd be 2 in the morning and we'd be out there doing this." But the training didn't end there. To give Taylor an understanding of the dimensions of a regulation football field, Francois would line the ground near his home with baking flour at 5-yard increments. "I didn't know how else to make the stripes. I didn't know where to buy the stuff they use on real football fields," Francois said. "But it worked. I had him stride those lines. I'd say, 'Son, if you can stretch along those lines, you're going to be faster.'" Before long, Francois' nephew was the fastest kid in Harvey, La. But there was still one more challenge. The rabbit. To find out how swift Taylor was, Francois oversaw Taylor-and-the-hare races. He would have Taylor line up in a three-point stance on one side and have the rabbit in the cage on the other. "I won't tell you if he ever caught that rabbit," Francois said, slyly. "You can be the judge." Taylor claims the rabbit always got away, but just by a hare, er, hair. "Almost got him a few times," Taylor said.
I actually think he is an outstanding player who is very young. If we were thinking CB with the 29th pick he might be worthwhile instead. On a random note I remember him being insanely jacked for a CB.
are you kidding.. a 25 yr old proven cb who is on the verge at being one of the best at the position for #29. i would do that
give up a 1st for Ike taylor.....um...no. there are other cb's out there yes? let's see who we can get before having to give picks up for a cb that is decent at best.
lol why must we always go get 2nd tier.. ike is way better than plummer and dyson put together and he is younger still got 10 years in him.. you wont find a better player than ike taylor @ #29 imo
apparently steelers fan think he is a monstor corner worth locking up for 7 years rather than drafting an unknown at 29
if you saw him play last year you wouldnt even need steelers fans to tell you that. he had a very good season last year every game i saw him i was very impressed
I didn't realize he was considered so great. Well, if it's for the #29, and we can trade down from #4 to get more picks, then I guess it wouldn't be so bad.
http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=68&p=8&c=1&nid=1822310 Ht: 6-0.5 Wt: 202 Position: CB Projected as: CB Position Rank: 13 Date of Birth: 5/5/1980 Birthplace: New Orleans, LA Experience: 3 High School: Abramson, Marion, Senior HS (New Orleans, LA) College: Louisiana-Lafayette Biography: 2004 - Pittsburgh: 2003: 18 TT, 18 Solo, 0 Assts, 18 SpT, 0.0 Sacks, 0 TFL, 0 FF, 0 FR, 0 Ints, 3 PDs (Kickoff returns) 37 Atts, 831 Yds, 22.5 Avg, 53 Lg, 0 TDs Ike Taylor impressed the Steelers coaching staff early, earning a kick returner spot and eventually becoming a regular in the pass defense packages. Taylor’s 831 return yards led the team. Against Cleveland (10/5) Taylor averaged 31 yards on four returns, one of them for a 53 yards and another for 38 yards. He also downed a punt on the Browns’ one yard line that game. The Steelers have to be satisfied with the considerable progress Taylor made over the season, on both special teams and in the secondary. Improving the secondary was a high priority for the Steelers in the 2003 draft and in the 4th round, although higher-profile cornerbacks were available, they decided on Louisiana-Lafayette's Ivan Taylor. The Steelers were impressed with Ivan's raw physical ability, even though he had played only two seasons of college ball and only his senior season on defense. They also saw good potential for him as a kick returner At Louisiana-Lafayette, Ivan proved himself to be a hard hitter with good concentration on the pass and great speed to recover if beaten on the long pass. He also dispayed nice timing and jumping ability to fight for the pass. He was considered one of the finest athletes to enter the draft by many. As a walk-on his junior year, Taylor played running back and flashed some of his athletic potential with a 48-yard touchdown run in the game with Arizona State. Then, against North Texas, he recorded a 65-yard run for a touchdown. He moved to cornerback as a senior and showed that he had all the tools for the position except for the ability to catch the ball, which is something the Steelers will no doubt have him working hard on. Ivan recorded 49 tackles (37 solos) with 8 pass deflections and 2 forced fumbles in his one season on defense and averaged 18.1 yards on kickoff returns over two seasons. 2003 - Pittsburgh: Improving the secondary was a high priority for the Steelers in the 2003 draft and in the 4th round, although higher-profile cornerbacks were available, they decided on Louisiana-Lafayette's Ivan Taylor. The Steelers were impressed with Ivan's raw physical ability, even though he had played only two seasons of college ball and only his senior season on defense. They also saw good potential for him as a kick returner At Louisiana-Lafayette, Ivan proved himself to be a hard hitter with good concentration on the pass and great speed to recover if beaten on the long pass. He also dispayed nice timing and jumping ability to fight for the pass. He was considered one of the finest athletes to enter the draft by many. As a walk-on his junior year, Taylor played running back and flashed some of his athletic potential with a 48-yard touchdown run in the game with Arizona State. Then, against North Texas, he recorded a 65-yard run for a touchdown. He moved to cornerback as a senior and showed that he had all the tools for the position except for the ability to catch the ball, which is something the Steelers will no doubt have him working hard on. Ivan recorded 49 tackles (37 solos) with 8 pass deflections and 2 forced fumbles in his one season on defense and averaged 18.1 yards on kickoff returns over two seasons.
http://www.btgsports.com/nfl_draft/draft_2003_defense.htm Rank Cornerbacks School Ht. Wt. 40 1 Newman, Terence Kansas State 5-10 189 4.39 2 Trufant, Marcus Washington State 5-11 199 4.44 3 Woolfolk, Andre Oklahoma 6-1 197 4.48 4 Davis, Sammy Texas A&M 6-0 186 4.46 5 Tillman, Charles Louisiana-Lafayette 6-1 207 4.49 6 Asomugha, Nnamdi California 6-2 213 4.38 7 Wilson, Eugene Illinois 5-10 192 4.49 8 Weathersby, Dennis Oregon State 6-1 204 4.38 9 Florence, Drayton Tuskegee 6-0 198 4.44 10 Scott, Bryan Penn State 6-1 219 4.45 11 Garrett, Kevin SMU 5-9 194 4.32 12 Strickland, Donald Colorado 5-10 187 4.44 13 Manning, Jr Ricky UCLA 5-9 185 4.42 14 Taylor, Ivan Louisiana-Lafayette 6-1 191 4.32 15 Babers, Roderick Texas 5-9 192 4.46 16 Groce, DeJuan Nebraska 5-10 192 4.50 17 Tucker, B.J. Wisconsin 5-11 188 4.32 18 Walton, Shane Notre Dame 5-11 184 4.67 19 Samuel, Asante Central Florida 5-11 185 4.51 20 Lehan, Mike Minnesota 6-0 196 4.46
what steelers fans are saying is that we cant sign him and give them the 29th pick because under the collective bargaining agreement you cant use picks that are acquired from another team for signing a tendered free agent. SO if we did sign him we'd have to give them the fourth pick which obviously isnt happening.
so what happened with us taking a lineman with the 29th? I mean yes I would love to bring in a CB to replace law but am looking at it from the perspective that we need alot of help in alot of areas and to basically give up abe for ike taylor which is what we would be doing in essence, I don't think that would be the best move. Now if we could maybe talk them down to a 3rd sure do it but Pitts. FO isn't stupid either so I dont see it happening. Just seems to me like it's too much to give for a cb.
The article misses one HUGE RULE. When signing a restricted free agent, you must give away YOUR PICK, or a pick HIGHER than your pick. The Jets could not give away #29. They'd have to give away #4. What would happen is the Jets would work a deal for Ike Taylor.. probably the 2nd round selection if they choose to do something.
