Uconn’s Haynes gives the scouts close-up look at his strength, skills
STORRS — Christian Haynes went through a new set of drills, working with his raw power, his footwork, as Jets assistant offensive line coach Ben Wilkerson held up the shield.
Another day of work, another day closer to the NFL Draft for Haynes, who put together All-american level performances with Uconn’s offensive line the past two-plus seasons.
“Nothing has been very surprising,” Haynes said Wednesday, as Uconn’s Pro Day was wrapping up. “A lot of it is, have confidence in yourself. Just have confidence in your game, confidence in yourself.”
Haynes, 6-foot-3 and 317 pounds, is widely projected as a second- or third-round pick in the upcoming draft, April 25-27 in Detroit. One of 10 Huskies, with nine other area college players, he worked for coaches and scouts from 30 of 31 NFL teams on Wednesday; only the Titans were not represented. Scouts were murmuring about Haynes’ strong hands and immovable strength. NFL people have been telling Haynes, “just be yourself.”
“… Just work on being consistent,” Haynes said “Just keep working on my game and making sure once I get to that next level I can be up and running.”
So far, the pre-draft process has drawn strong reviews for Haynes, who played in 37 games across his five seasons at Uconn, starting all 25 the last two seasons. An AP and College Football Network third-team All-american, a Sporting News secondteamer in 2022, Haynes was a mainstay at guard for Uconn, a force in a fairly successful running game, but he is working at both guard and center for pro teams. Uconn coach Jim Mora considered using Haynes at center last season. The ability to play both could benefit Haynes in the draft and in competition for roster spots and snaps in the league.
Playing for independent Uconn, matchups against schools like Tennessee, Michigan, Syracuse, NC State, Duke, Boston College, Clemson the last three years may not have gone well on the scoreboard, but Haynes got his opportunities to show he could complete at highest level.
“It gave me a lot of confidence, but it’s the same — it’s just ‘ball,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re Power Five (conference), FCS, FBS, regular (Group of ) Five, if a guy’s good, he’s good. It doesn’t matter what team it is, you’ve just got to go out there and play.”
After the season ended, Haynes played in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., in early February, and in the workouts leading up to the game and in the game itself, he won matchups against high-level players like LSU’S Jordan Jefferson, Texas A&M Mckinnley, Jackson and Alabama’s Justin Eboigbe, Auburn’s Marcus Harris. He punctuated some of those one-onone battles with brash talk, telling Jefferson, “if you’re scared, go to church,” and another lineman, “not today,” exchanges caught on video and posted on social media, creating extra buzz around Haynes.
“It was just crazy, but it was just something I do as a natural thing,” Haynes said. “I knew I may get a little camera show, but I didn’t know it was going to get blown up. That’s just something I do every day, that’s how I play. … The Senior Bowl was really great. I just wanted to go out there and show my versatility and show I’m dominant, I can play on any level, go against the best and still be the best.”
From the Senior Bowl, Haynes moved on to the NFL Combine, where he ran the 40-yard dash in 5.03 seconds, and registered a 33-inch vertical jump, both in the top five among the 19 offensive guards. He also showed good athletic ability in the broad jump, 8 feet, 6 inches.
“There were a lot of different things I did throughout the week,” Haynes said, “at the end of the day it was a great experience.”
Uconn defensive lineman Eric Watts joined Haynes at The Combine. Watts and linebacker Jackson Mitchell were among the Huskies working out for NFL evaluators Wednesday. They’re both considered potential late-round picks or post-draft signees. Yale receiver Mason Tipton created some buzz when he ran the 40 in 4.31 seconds in a Pro Day in Toledo on Tuesday, and he was running routes again for scouts at Uconn as Yale quarterback Nolan Grooms and former Husky Steven Krajewski, who played last season at Wagner, were throwing.
Haynes’ next step will be workouts for individual teams. He was wellprepped for this process. Former Huskies offensive tackle Matt Peart, a third round pick of the Giants in 2020, now with Denver, and defensive lineman Travis Jones, taken by the Ravens in the third round in 2022, filled him in, and his brother, linebacker Marcus Haynes, who played at Old Dominion and is now with the Houston Texans, also offered advice.
“Play with a chip on your shoulder, they told me,” Haynes said. “And just have fun with it. The process might be stressful, but at the end of the day, you’re blessed. Just go out there and do your thing.”.