Hayward emerges as elite corner
Game preparation, confidence help him thrive with Chargers.
There are Arizona’s Patrick Peterson, Seattle’s Richard Sherman, Kansas City’s Marcus Peters, and Denver’s Aqib Talib and Chris Harris Jr. Add in Josh Norman in Washington, Malcolm Butler in New England, Janoris Jenkins with the New York Giants and Xavier Rhodes with Minnesota.
And the Chargers’ Casey Hayward absolutely belongs in that group of the NFL’s best cornerbacks. Just ask him. Hayward, along with the other players mentioned, was selected as one of the NFL’s top 100 players this past offseason. He was ranked No. 64 — eighth at his position ahead of only Rhodes
[Chargers, and Butler in the group mentioned above.
Hayward felt gratitude about his position.
“Salute to everybody that voted for me on the top 100,” he tweeted. “Means a lot coming from my peers.”
Thirty-two minutes later, Hayward told all his peers who didn’t vote for him how wrong they were.
“I was the best corner in the League last year,” he tweeted. “# 1 ints, #6 in PBU, #3 in passes def, #3 in QBR and matched #1 wr most of the year. (Wide-eyed emoji) #NoDebate.”
“I think I’m a confident guy,” Hayward said, flashing the smile coaches new and old coaches and teammates recognize.
Hayward’s coming off his best game of the season against Philadelphia — he graded out significantly higher than anyone else in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. Shadowing Eagles receiver Alshon Jeffery, Hayward got credited with five pass breakups.
And Sunday, he’ll get even a bigger test, matched against one of the NFL’s best, the Giants’ Odell Beckham Jr., and a challenge that’s done little to shake Hayward’s confidence.
“Once you’re prepared, you’re kind of confident,” he said. “I’m always prepared for any challenge. And once you are, you can be confident.”
Hayward’s preparation is often the first trait mentioned when people talk about him. He even went as far as to tweet former NFL corner Asante Samuel, someone he didn’t know, about picking his brain.
“You know they might see it. And, he saw it. He respects game,” Hayward said. “I got in touch with him and he told me I could hit him up. I just never got a chance to go. He’s one of my favorite corners. I love his game.”
Hayward’s preparation and confidence gives his teammates reason to believe he’ll give any receiver, even Beckham Jr., a tough day.
“He’s a Pro Bowler, a guy who can get the job done for us,” Chargers safety Tre Boston said. “It definitely helps going against an elite guy like OBJ to have an elite guy of your own.”
Hayward, a former second-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in his second season with the Chargers, isn’t an elite athlete. But for what he lacks in straightline speed and side-to-side quickness, Hayward makes up for in smarts and instincts — traits football people such as Chargers coach Anthony Lynn value ahead of workout numbers.
Hayward’s teammate, wide receiver Keenan Allen, said Hayward’s ability to use his hands in press coverage can knock any receiver off his route.
And, man, does Hayward like making plays.
New York Giants coach Ben McAdoo coached the Green Bay Packers’ quarterbacks when Hayward broke into the NFL, and he remembers the headaches the playmaking corner caused.
“He seemed to love football whether he was in the locker room or out on the field,” McAdoo said. “He enjoyed getting his hands on the football. I coached quarterbacks at the time. I didn’t like when he got his hands on the football in practice, but I did in the games. He was very good inside and out. Had some skillset versatility. … He could do a lot of those things. But he’s just a very smart, cerebral football player. He got football. He could read concepts, and he wasn’t afraid to take a chance on a big-play opportunity.
“If he saw something, he went for it.”
Hayward intercepted six passes in his first season in the NFL, three in his third and a league-leading seven last season with the Chargers.
But he’s been shut out in the last eight games, dropping what would’ve almost certainly led to a touchdown return in the Chargers’ season opener in Denver.
Forcing turnovers hasn’t just been Hayward’s problem. It’s a defense-wide epidemic. The Chargers have forced just three turnovers, with two coming in the season opener.
“I think teams are taking sacks,” Boston said. “We have guys up front who are getting to the ball, and QBs aren’t just letting the ball go. We have to do a better job of getting the ball out, getting turnovers, switching momentum. No matter how it gets done, it has to get done.”
And Hayward is a logical spot to look for the job to get done, though he’s not as concerned about his interception numbers as you’d think.
“Not when you’re playing well, you kind of don’t worry about it,” he said. “The ball will come to you. It came to me a lot this [past] week. I got my hand on a lot of balls. The interceptions don’t matter to me. Of course you want ’em, but if they don’t come and you’re still playing well, then good.
“If I didn’t have the interceptions and I wasn’t playing well, then you could come talk to me about it.”
And, if Hayward’s playing well, you can talk to him about that too. He truly won’t mind.