Casey Hayward Looks like a Gem so far

Sat, July 28, 9 pm:

I have to be honest: I excepted Davon House to beat him out for the nickel or dime this year... depending on where Woodson was playing, and thinking Shields would improve.
But Jarrett Bush has currently passed Shields, and everyone is raving about Hayward.‏

Cool. Thanks for posting.

I really hope Sam Shields can get back on track... He was looking so promising his rookie year. He's that type of player that needs a high boost of confidence to play well. If we can get Shields rolling, we could have 2 great corners for another generation of Packer football.

That is great. If we have Tramon, Shields, and Hayward playing well then Woodson can move to safety.

Pretty sure that decision has already been made, at least for now.

Thinking this could be the last or one of the last years for Woodson its really nice to think that we have young talent in the secondary to move forward with. I think Williams Shields House Hayward is a pretty good group of guys and I wouldn't be apprehensive moving forward with them. Add in a young Morgan Burnett who IMO has been a very welcome addition to this defense and I think the secondary should be on the rise for the next few years.

Matter of fact the entire defense is so infused with young talented guys right now I really think over the next few years really they will be able to dig out of this hole they are in and return to dominant status in this league.

IMO Hayward has been somewhat overlooked by fans until now. Thompson and his staff liked him so much they traded up 28 spots to grab him. IMO he is a classic example of the contrast between “workout warriors”/“combine guys” and football players. This is from McGinn’s article on him:

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/packers-hayward-playing-like-a-pro-r369frj-164162436.html

Short arms, “can’t jump”, and small hands but the kid reads routes and knows where to be when the ball is snapped and that’s makes up for a lot of physical limitations. Those limitations are why he was available at the end of the second round. And while there’s no obvious measurement for football instincts knowledgeable fans, like Justice Potter Stewart on an altogether different subject, ‘know ‘em when they see ‘em’ and that’s exactly what I was hoping we’d see once camp began. And it was those instincts that were translated into production in his college career that caused Thompson to pull the trigger on the trade-up to get him.

I am anything but a “draftnic” (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but as I look at the talent available in the draft every year, I favor players who performed in college and those who displayed the instincts for the game Hayward did. No matter how a team evaluates talent, mistakes are going to be made in the draft, but IMO more significant mistakes are made in selecting players who ‘look like Tarzan, play like Jane’ than in selecting players whose upside may be limited but who also displayed a knack for the game. When the two come together along with a desire to be great, players like Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews emerge. Casey Hayward doesn’t have to achieve that level to be a great CB and a vital cog in the defense for seasons to come. Here's hoping...

Very well said JackVan.

Woodson won't be gone that soon, but his best days aren't ahead of him, so some of this talent at CB has to develop and stay healthy for us.

Like someone said earlier, if the pass rush is good, they'll all look good back there.

He makes good posts on a consistent basis.

As I mentioned when Casey was drafted. He is a quality person. A very good athlete. The Packers just might have a diamond. Pencil Casey in for the next ten yrs

I wouldn't pencil him in just yet. Time will tell. I tread slowly on early training camp reports.

Well put. I'm really looking forward to seeing him play in the pre-season games.

Davon House has also shown significant improvement so far in training camp. CB maybe one of our deepest positions after WR.

According to MM as recently as last week, Woodson is only going to man the Safety spot in the BASE 3-4 DEFENSE. MM also clearly stated this wasn't anything really different than he had been doing in the past. Woodson will return to the slot CB position in Nickel where he can be the impact player he's been for years. They love him to be close to the line of scrimmage where he can be a threat to blitz off the edge and help stuff the run

We didnt play much base defense last season, we were in nickel the majority of the time

Its exciting to hear Hayward is turning heads. The coaches raved about him being a very cerebral player a lot like Woodson is

Well, 4 1/2 months later, it's now come to this for Casey> https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2012/12/11/race-for-rookie-of-the-year-week-14/



I don't think anyone in the NFL has a better 1-4 set of pretty young still CB's than we do with:

Tramon
Hayward
Shields
House

Woodson doesn't have to play cornerback anymore with those 4 guys..... but they have to keep improving, especially House.
House & Shields have to try and add some muscle to their frames because they have to tackle.

Should we get the #2 seed it's possible the road to the SB goes through GB after Falcons loose. I could see the NYGs making it that far. Should we have to go to Atl for the NFC Championship we get butt in domes.

huh? get butt in domes?? lol

Arod has a great dome record, hope you meant "kick butt in domes", look what he and the pack crew did the last time we faced off in the ATL dome??? We made a puddle out of Matty Ice.

Strange way to judge a CB, but I'm curious. Which would your rank as the prettiest?

Did I log into the wrong website? Now we are getting butt in domes?

"Fairly" young, really young, pretty young, kind of young.
Hey, if you think Tramon and Davon with their long dreads are "pretty", that's your thing haha!

I've seen the kid now and he is a keeper. No doubt his future is bright. Anyone who has followed my posts knows how much I like our young secondary.

Gotta get dat!

Really?

looks like the contrary.

I think you have me mixed up with someone else.

I'm messing with you ... I actually have followed your posts and you are probably the one that talks them up the most. I agree with you though about our secondary.

Next time put a wink at the end of your posts.