Cornerback/Safety
Vanderbilt
5-11 192
Draft board overall prospect rank: #35
Draft board cornerback rank: #4
Overall rating: 80 (borderline 1st/2nd round)
40 time: 4.53
Games watched: South Carolina/Vanderbilt, Alabama/Vanderbilt, Florida/Vanderbilt, Kentucky/Vanderbilt
Positives
· Ball hawk (13 interceptions and 21 pass deflections in last 2 seasons)
· Good awareness and trusts eyes
· Smart player with high football IQ
· Makes quick breaks on the ball
· Scrappy, gritty, tough player
· High motor
· Fearless against the run
· Aggressive player
· Great tackler who had 2 solo TFLs against Trent Richardson (7.5 TFL total)
· 3 year starter
· Very good in zone coverage
· Physical in coverage
· Uses his hands well
· Shut down Alshon Jeffery in their matchup
· Solid 40 (4.53)
Negatives
· Not overly athletic
· Not as fast as his 40 time (4.53) might suggest
· Can be a bit overly aggressive
· Prone to pass interference penalties
· Stiff hips
· Can be burned by speed receivers
· Not as comfortable in man coverage
· A system specific player?
· Doesn’t have the size to make up for his lack of speed
· A bit of a cornerback/safety tweener?
NFL Comparison: Devin McCourty
As a prospect, I compare Hayward to McCourty. McCourty went in the first round in 2010. Hayward won’t go nearly that high, but they’re similar prospects. Both are average to below average sized cornerbacks (Hayward is 5-11 192, McCourty was 5-11 193), who play a lot bigger. McCourty is a scrappy, physical cornerback who had 7.5 TFLs in his senior season. Hayward had that same amount, including 2 on Trent Richardson, which really impressed me.
Both are strong, fundamental, and high motor players against the run, in spite of their size and in coverage, they’re physical and instinctive with great ball skills, but definitely better in a zone scheme than in man to man coverage. Their lack of athleticism shows in one on one coverage. McCourty had an impressive 40 time with a 4.34 at The Combine, but he doesn’t play quite as fast. He can be a little flat footed and stiff and struggle against more athletic wide receivers. Hayward is the same way.
McCourty burst onto the scheme with 7 interceptions as a rookie and made the Pro Bowl, but he struggled some in his 2nd season in the league. There’s room for a bounce back season, but the Patriots could be moving him to safety for his 3rd season. Free safety might be Hayward’s best position going forward. His lack of athleticism and stiff hips won’t be a big problem there, but his ball skills and physicality against the run will be huge assets. He will have more positional value as a cornerback so whichever teams drafts him should use him there, but he’d definitely be better off in a zone heavy scheme than any other scheme.
I have a borderline first round grade on Hayward, who I think is one of the most underrated players in college football. I think his weaknesses are ones that can be masked in the right scheme or with a position change. Worst case scenario, I think he can be a solid nickel back at the next level, but I like his ability to be a starting cornerback or free safety in the NFL.
I love his attitude and I have since the Alabama game. In that game, he allowed just one completion on a perfect throw in a game where Alabama threw the ball well overall and he looked like a safety against the run. He impressed me more than Dre Kirkpatrick in that one. Against South Carolina, he had 2 interceptions and held Alshon Jeffery to 2 catches, though he did commit 1 pass interference penalty and another borderline one.
Against Arkansas, he displayed his ball skills, breaking up 6 passes against a good pass attack in Tyler Wilson and Arkansas. Against Florida he shut down Andre DeBose, a one trick speed receiver, who burned both Dre Kirkpatrick and Morris Claiborne for long touchdowns this season. He was good against Kentucky too, but relatively untested.
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