1) Introduction: After a great rookie season in which he graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 4 cornerback, Hayward appeared poised to take on an even larger role in 2013 with Charles Woodson playing elsewhere. But a bum hamstring hampered Hayward (shoutout to alliterations) throughout training camp and into the season. As a result, Hayward was only on the field for 88 snaps in his second season. The Packers dipped to 26th in the league in interceptions without Hayward–who led the team with six interceptions as a rookie in 2012. It’ll be interesting to see a healthy Hayward on the field next summer at training camp.
2) Profile: Casey Hayward
- Age: 24
- Born: 9/9/1989 in Perry, GA
- Height: 5’11”
- Weight: 192
- College: Vanderbilt
- Rookie Year: 2012
- NFL Experience: 2 years
3) Expectations coming into the season: As a rookie, Hayward was clearly the Packers’ top slot cover man. So with Woodson playing in Oakland, the need for a “turnover creator” was pressing, and Hayward was the most logical choice on the roster. The Packers had big expectations for Hayward coming into the season.
4) Player’s highlights/low-lights: Hayward played a season-high 42 snaps Nov. 4 against the Chicago Bears and made five tackles. That’s about it for his highlights. As far as low-lights, it’s pretty easy. Hayward was hobbled by his hammy literally from summer through the winter, and the result was a lost season.
5) Player’s contribution to the overall team success: Hayward was rusty–certainly not in top form–as he battled through his hamstring injury, and 88 snaps can only elicit so much in terms of a contribution.
6) Player’s contributions in the playoffs: Hayward ended up on the I.R. and didn’t appear in the playoffs. If you’re keeping score at home and/or looking for reason to be optimistic about the Packers’ chances against the 49ers, Hayward didn’t play a snap in either game against San Francisco this season and both games were decided by one possession. In fact, Hayward has played a total of 35 snaps in four games against the 49ers.
Season Report Card:
(N/A) Level of expectations met during the season
(N/A) Contributions to team’s overall success
(N/A) Contributions to team during the playoffs
Overall Grade: LS (Lost Season)
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Marques is a Journalism student, serving as the Sports Editor of UW-Green Bay\'s campus newspaper The Fourth Estate and a Packers writer at Jersey Al\'s AllGBP.com. Follow Marques on Twitter @MJEversoll.
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The question I have is, will this mulligan season stunt his growth/potential any? His instincts were his biggest thing, something he didn’t really get to utilize much this season. I hope his hamstrings hold up and it was just a temporary issue, instead of a chronic one.
I’m not too worried about Hayward’s hamstring going forward. Matthews gets them a lot more becuz he’s an extremely explosive athlete. Hayward isn’t explosive like that, so once his hamstring is completely healed he is a lot less likely to have recurring issues a la Matthews.
Even if he’s no better than he was in 2012, Hayward is still a guy who makes a difference in the secondary and has a knack for making impact plays. Someone the defense needs to get back.
Appears that Heyward has great instincts and probably as good of anticipation and ball skills of any of the Packers secondary. It will be interesting to see if over the course of a season he can sustain solid coverage and still be the turnover machine he was in his rookie season.
With the way things have gone, he’s like a poster-child for the Packers – hit, then miss, then?????
A healthy Hayward will make a big difference in 2014. It allows them to deal with Sam Shields from a position of strength, not desperation. Maybe they can move Hyde to Safety with Hayward available.