Casey Hayward

[Flugel]

Thanks Gabe! Claiborne is a very good corner; BUT I think we can get similar value a little bit later. I watch a ton of SEC where I live. Therefore, I think Vandebilt has a grand theft waiting for somebody in a mid round (Casey Hayward). Keep in mind he doesn't have the front 7 of Bama or LSU hurrying throws to make life wonderful. I'll bet he could increase his INT volume in such circumstances though. Anyway, here's his highlights from 2010 when I had season tickets to Vandy. He had an even better year in 2011. Check it out (just mute the trashy music):

You Tube

Here's the SEC INT leaders in 2011:

INTERCEPTIONS	INT
1. Bacarri Rambo, UGA	8
2. Casey Hayward, VAN	7
3. Morris Claiborne, LSU	6
4. Johnthan Banks, MSST	5
5. Tramain Thomas, ARK	5

Understanding where Hayward ranked in 2011 with INTs, he had 6 in 2010. What jumps out at me is when he KNOWS he's not in position to make the tackle after a reception - he's terrific at outside leveraging/funneling the receiver inside back toward pursuit of teammates. Seems to play cornerback with great instinct in the sense that he's always in ideal position to make a play on the ball in spite of not having elite speed. Corner is more about agility, changing direction, flipping the hips and running fast forward and backward. For example, while Joe Haden ran disappointing Indy 40 times - he had elite cone drill times that kept many scouts from panic about his ability to play corner. Hayward is a really sound tackler like Joe Haden; but I get the impression he can make more interceptions after watching a lot of both kids in recent years. They would make great teammates here in Cleveland especially knowing we wouldn't have to burn a first round pick to land him.


Staying on topic - here's a video collage of somebody's list of top corners:

You Tube

[TheBestPlayersPlay]

Nice post Tom, I gave it it's own thread ...and I agree, no way we should be using our #4 pick on Claiborne when we can target guys like this later in the draft. I haven't watched Hayward at all, but I'm going to go dig up more info on him shortly.

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by TheBestPlayersPlay

Nice post Tom, I gave it it's own thread ...and I agree, no way we should be using our #4 pick on Claiborne when we can target guys like this later in the draft. I haven't watched Hayward at all, but I'm going to go dig up more info on him shortly.

Thanks Gabe! In thinking of the transition from college to pro, he's faced a lot of guys headed to the NFL such as Randall Cobb, Julio Jones, AJ Green, Reuben Randall, Alshon Jeffery, and many more. I don't think he ever did a bad job on anyone especially considering Vandy's front 7.
He also had an INT in the Senior Bowl. On another pass that looked like he broke up, the commentators disagreed with the pass interference he got flagged for. I thought it was a good call to be honest. Mayock and Davis spoke highly of him so I think he is definitely somebody our brass should look into for a mid round.

One thing to remember heading into the draft is there is a record volume of underclassman declaring for this draft so it'll be deeper than we're accustomed to.