3rd pick: Casey Hayward - DB

[emunney]

Watching all the game footage of this guy on youtube, he's as bad/scared tackling as he is great attacking the ball in the air.

Luckily, it's much easier to improve tackling than to improve ball skills.

Sure. Easier, but not easy.

[emunney]

Watching all the game footage of this guy on youtube, he's as bad/scared tackling as he is great/fearless attacking the ball in the air.

He always goes for the legs. Never straight up chest to chest. He doesn't run away though, so he's at least average in the NFL.

Obviously I'd prefer this to him being a great tackler who can't locate the ball.

[Ill-yasova]

Watching all the game footage of this guy on youtube, he's as bad/scared tackling as he is great/fearless attacking the ball in the air.

He always goes for the legs. Never straight up chest to chest. He doesn't run away though, so he's at least average in the NFL.

He definitely always goes low but I saw him come up and hit RBs plenty of times in the videos I saw. If he didn't have a path to the RB he was always smart enough to take out the blockers in front of him and give his teammates a chance. I don't think he's soft, just needs to learn to wrap up better.

[Bucksfans1and2]

Watching all the game footage of this guy on youtube, he's as bad/scared tackling as he is great/fearless attacking the ball in the air.

He always goes for the legs. Never straight up chest to chest. He doesn't run away though, so he's at least average in the NFL.

He definitely always goes low but I saw him come up and hit RBs plenty of times in the videos I saw. If he didn't have a path to the RB he was always smart enough to take out the blockers in front of him and give his teammates a chance. I don't think he's soft, just needs to learn to wrap up better.

Agree with this. I'm scatterbrained tonight.

[Reddeye]

CASEY HAYWARD, CB, Vanderbilt

AFC scout: "He's a heck of a football player, but he's got no explosion. He's going to a team that plays a zone and will be a good player because he's instinctive and can break on the ball. But I don't see speed. He ran much faster at the combine than what I thought he could run. The coaches there (Vanderbilt) didn't think he could run."

AFC scout: "Third rounder."

NFC scout: "He's an instinctive zone guy. Struggles in man. Got migraine headaches."

AFC scout: "I like him. He's a possible starter."

AFC scout: "He's a solid college starter who will come in the league and can definitely play a role quickly."

NFC scout: "Very productive player. Not very fast."

AFC scout: "He had a lot of picks. I worry about his top-end speed, but he ran better at the combine than I thought. He's mid-4.5s. Everybody is worried about his deep speed. He's got some savvy. He can play in Cover 2. He pattern reads pretty good. He's a pretty instinctive guy. Being at Vandy, he's a smart guy. He will be a serviceable nickel corner. Some people think second, third round. I don't think he'll go that high. I'd say bottom of the third, fourth round. I think he will play."

NFC scout: "I think he's going in the second to Chicago because he's a Cover 2 corner."

[Bucksfans1and2]

He went up against AJ Green, Alshon Jeffery, and Reuben Randle and held his own against all three.

He's better than his physical tools would indicate.

[AJD]

Somebody wrote that Hayward looks like he tackles scared. Have you ever tackled anybody? Try getting lower than a running back at the point of contact, hitting him in the knee or thigh with your shoulder, and the wrapping up and bringing him down. Hayward's technique is text book. His "scared" wrap up tackles below the waist look straight up violent.

[emunney]

How many examples of textbook tackles are there here vs. examples of diving at someone's feet, getting run past, getting swallowed up by any block, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nyANTnwBEI

[Newz]

Is it possible that they could move Hayward to safety?

[wichmae]

Is it possible that they could move Hayward to safety?

A little on the small side to play there. Maybe as a FS. I think he is an ideal nickel corner with amazing ball skills.

[mlloyd10]

Woodson has to be moving to safety or they're going to move Bush to backup safety. Or their not as high on Shields anymore?

Speaking of Bush, saw him at the bar yesterday, Flashed his ring

[Profound23]

Either way it's pretty amazing that Ted was able to move up 28 spots just by giving up a late 5th round pick.

[Wise1]

Woodson has to be moving to safety or they're going to move Bush to backup safety. Or their not as high on Shields anymore?

Speaking of Bush, saw him at the bar yesterday, Flashed his ring

Hopefully he can flash more improved defense this upcoming season. I'm steadily getting more confident with him on the field in non-special teams situations.

[Reddeye]

“It’s weird smart," Shoop said. "One of the things he’ll have to do at the next level — and I think he did a good job of this — as he becomes a professional football player, he’ll need to watch film. He’ll need to prepare like a pro. Not that he didn’t do that, but he has that weird kind of smart where he has that savvy and instinct where he can just see things as they develop on the football field and put himself in a position to be successful. That was really neat. Trust me when I tell you this, that wasn’t him being coached. That guy has the ‘it’ factor.”

[Ayt]

How many examples of textbook tackles are there here vs. examples of diving at someone's feet, getting run past, getting swallowed up by any block, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nyANTnwBEI

I honestly don't see a problem here. He's not Antoine Winfield, but he wasn't shy about taking on pulling OL to get them out of the play (which is basically what a CB needs to do in those situations). In situations where he was taking on lead blockers, I thought he reacted fairly quickly and did a good job of getting low and taking the blocker out of the play. He badly whiffed on a crossing pattern at around the 1:50 mark. That can't happen. He's 5-11, 190. He's not going to fly up and crush people like a 205+ pound safety or a midget missile like Winfield.

If he tried to tackle or take on blockers like Wood, he'd end up getting himself killed. The same is true of Tramon, who I see as a really similar tackler to Hayward, at least based on the youtube videos I've watched. TBH, a lot of CBs this size actually suck at tackling low, but Hayward doesn't miss tackles even though he goes low against guys that outweigh him by a lot. He seems willing to do what needs to be done to get a guy down, but he's not going to blow people up which is fine with me for a 190lb CB. A major red flag I'd look for is an allergy to physical play (like Sam Shields at times), but I don't see that here. I think he'll be a solid tackler on the pro level. I don't see any fear when tackler, just an understanding that he's not a big dude and the ultimate goal is to not let the guy get past him. Or, if his assignment ends up being a defender who needs to take on a blocker, to stick his nose in as soon as possible to get the blocker out of the play and make the runner make a decision.

[Bucksfans1and2]

Reports of Hayward around the line of scrimmage vary. He's not going to kill somebody going chest to chest like Dre Kirkpatrick, but he's not going to run away from a running back like several corners in the NFL. He typically tries to cut a guy's legs out from under him which can be successful but isn't what scouts wanted to see. When he doesn't have an angle to the ball carrier, he'll go low and take out blockers to open things up for his teammates. It's hard to consider him a good tackler, but he isn't so bad that you ignore his obvious abilities in coverage. One thing he does do well is blitz; he disrupted quite a few plays at Vanderbilt blitzing off the edge, totaling 11 tackles for loss.

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