D.J. Hayden: Offseason Hype Nothing More Than Fool’s Gold

Cornerback D.J. Hayden is entering training camp fighting for a roster spot and has generated a fair amount of offseason buzz – but the hype surrounding the fourth year cornerback is just more fool’s gold.

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Stop us if you’ve heard this one before – Oakland Raiders cornerback D.J. Hayden is looking really good during training camp. So good in fact, he’s a lock to win the competition for – in this case – the slot corner gig. And while it’s true that HC Jack Del Rio has said a few positive things about Hayden over the course of the offseason, it seems that too many people are taking that to mean that he’s finally figured it out and is going to live up to his status as a first round draft pick at last.

The problem though, is that we’ve seen and heard all of this before. This script is nothing new. Last year, after two injury marred years to start his career, Hayden was finally healthy. He came into camp in solid shape, with a good attitude, and was – in his own words – “ready to roll.”

Last year was the year he was finally supposed to put it all together and be the type of quality cornerback GM Reggie McKenzie thought he was getting when he burned his first ever first-round draft pick on him.

Though he did record a career high 70 tackles and played all 16 games on the schedule for the first time in his career, Hayden also recorded just one interception. He also led the team in penalties drawn and gave up more big plays than he prevented.

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Oh sure, Hayden made a few spectacular plays and tantalized us with how good he can be at times. But far too often, we’d see one of those rock star type plays followed up by an absolutely boneheaded play. It’s that inconsistency that made him a liability last season.

And it’s that same inconsistency that continues to make him a liability.

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He’s flashed a bit during the early part of training camp, sure. He picked off Matt McGloin and took it back to the house. And he’s drawn a little bit of praise from the coaches and his teammates. But you know what? We heard all of the same things last year too – and look how that all worked out.

Hayden found his role in the defense diminished as the season wore on and it became clear that he couldn’t be the sort of lockdown corner the team needed – which is in part, what led the team to decline the fifth year option on his contract this offseason.

It’s remarkable that everybody is finding his boost in confidence and excitement during camp – well – remarkable. It’s amazing that anybody even finds it noteworthy. It is the exact same song and dance we heard last season.

And as for the praise he’s garnered from the coaching staff, notice that none of them are even close to intimating that he’s taking the slot corner gig away from Travis Carrie – who was ranked the eighth best slot corner in the NFL.

And what else would you expect the coaches to say at this point anyway? If you expected them to say he’s as big of a train wreck today as he has been his first three years in the league, you’re clearly either delusional or unfamiliar with how office politics work.

Hayden is a solid athlete. We’ve seen him make some really great plays. But the case can be made that he’s playing out of position. He does not have the sort of instincts an NFL caliber cornerback has to have.

He is often out of position, late on the ball, and when a receiver even threatens to blow by him, he reaches out and grabs – of the dozen penalties that he drew last year (only ten were accepted), four were for pass interference, six were for holding, and two were for illegal contact.

As a safety, Hayden might have a chance to contribute to this team. As a cornerback, he’s not going to do the Raiders a lick of good. We’ve been waiting for three seasons to see some spark of consistency. Some spark that he’s finally putting it together. And for three years, we’ve all been disappointed.

Assuming Hayden makes it through camp and remains on the roster when the season opens, it’s likely going to be his farewell tour. It seems infinitely more likely that Mark Davis will relocate the team to Fairbanks, Alaska than Hayden getting a fifth year with this club.

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They say that insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result – that couldn’t be more true when it comes to waiting for Hayden to finally develop into an NFL caliber cornerback.

Hayden is generating a little bit of buzz for himself this offseason – just like he did last offseason. But when the games start to count, the bloom comes off that particular rose. Believing that Hayden has suddenly – and finally – figured it out this offseason and will be a reliable corner in the slot is simply one more case of fool’s gold.