CB D.J. Hayden, Houston
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ckparrotheadmoderatorOPDeserves his own thread.
This guy is as good as just about any corner in the Draft. I would probably take Dee Milliner over him. I'm still not sure about Xavier Rhodes and Desmond Trufant. I would take him over every other corner, from a pure talent perspective.
The story on him is that he was a JUCO guy, big time standout at the JUCO level who transferred to University of Houston (he's from Houston) and immediately lit up the C-USA. He got Conference Newcomer of the Year if I recall correctly. He had 66 tackles, 2 interceptions, an amazing 5 forced fumbles, 1 sack, 8.0 TFLs, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 touchdown. He broke up 11 passes.
In 2012 he was looked to as a leader. During a spring ball interview his head coach said he talked individually with every kid on roster and "6 or 8 of them" singled out Hayden as a guy that was a leader for them and had helped them with technique or gone out of his way to show them things.
He played 9 games. He scored 2 more touchdowns, lol. He had 4 interceptions, 61 more tackles, 1 more forced fumble, 8 PBUs and 1.5 TFLs. His tackle total was 5th on the team despite playing 3 fewer games than everyone else. Quinton Patton was a statistical monster. In 2012, Hayden helped him have literally the worst game of his year, 4 catches for 36 yards and 0 TDs.
The tragedy began when he had an accident during a collision at practice in 2012. He got up off the field and saw the trainer, and felt funny. The trainer was asking him questions and he he started to feel cold, and eventually started to black out. It turns out, he tore his inferior vena cava which supplies blood from the lower half of the body to your heart. It is 95% fatal when it happens outside of a hospital setting. He was rushed to the hospital and doctors cracked open his chest and miraculously repaired it.
The injury is obviously a big red flag, but maybe not the red flag people think. I am not a doctor and I don't play one on TV. But I have seen some research on stuff like this that suggests that he's less likely to tear the same vein in the same way because of the way veins heal and accumulate scar tissue. The bigger concern is what they had to do to repair it, which is crack open his sternum. Bruised sternums happen in the NFL. This kind of thing is serious and it can affect players. He wasn't even allowed to break a sweat in his workouts until around time for the NFL Combine. He hasn't been cleared for contact yet although he's been able to train enough to complete a pro day.
Now that the NFL has outlawed runners lowering the crown of their helmet into the bodies of defensive players, I think that's a rule change that actually benefits a guy like this. That was probably the biggest threat to him, someone lowering the boom right into his sternum.
Three weeks ago when I was participating in #MockTwo, because of my trading activities I had a bit of a lull in the middle of the Draft. I picked at pick #74 and didn't pick again until the mid-6th round, 100 picks later at pick #174. When Hayden was still on the board, I ran up to the podium with his name:
The Miami Dolphins waited nervously through nearly 100 picks from their previous selection to this one, and ran to the podium to turn in the card for corner back D.J. Hayden of Houston. Hayden has the potential to be one of the three best corners in the entire Draft, based on film study. The former JUCO transfer lit up the tape with Houston in 2011, his first year off JUCO transfer. He forced an amazing 5 fumbles, intercepted 2 passes (returning 1 for a touchdown), tallied 66 total tackles including 8.0 tackles for loss, and broke up 11 passes. That forced fumble number was second only to Heisman candidate Tyrann Mathieu amongst defensive backs. This year, he was blossoming as a cover corner with 4 interceptions (2 returned for touchdowns) in only 9 games, while also contributing 61 more tackles and 8 more pass breakups. He is an extreme play maker with the length and explosive strength to erase receivers physically, while also possessing the explosive speed and instincts to jump in front of passes and make up lost ground in man. Explosive is the word for D.J. Hayden, as it proved both blessing and curse. He is so explosive, he exploded his own heart, literally, in a collision during a practice. He tore his inferior vena cava, which supplies the heart with blood from the lower half of the body. The injury is 95% fatal, yet he lived due to the diligence and quick thinking of his team doctors. Amazingly, his doctors told him that he would be back to playing football once his sternum heals from the surgery, perhaps as early as four months post-op. Because of the way veins heal, he is not in danger of re-injuring the same vein at the same spot. Already a high character, high work ethic guy, the scare has given him a new perspective on football. He says one of his greatest regrets would have been that in the final game prior to his injury, he did not play as hard or as well as he could have. If not for this momentum-stopping, scary injury, he would have proved an extremely fast riser a la Darius Slay, and gone all the way into the highest parts of Day 2. The Miami Dolphins feel blessed to take him in the 6th round. Almost as blessed as Hayden is to be alive today.
People keep asking what players would fit the Dolphins' intended style of defense if they intend to play a lot of zone and quarters. To me, this is one of the few guys that I think not only plays that style, but actually excels and makes plays on the football with the kind of aggressive trigger and read abilities that you need in that style of defense.
Some required film view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J02yDULCkHo (JUCO Highlights)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3QM1-pffFQ (2011 Highlights)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp5VU7e00c0 (2011 Bowl Game)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV5rMIonne0 (2012 Highlights)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DULLKzandYI (2012 UCLA Game)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyJX2QdcqxM (Spring Ball Interview)
This is a guy that I had been comparing to Darius Slay as far as their both being JUCO transfers that made splashes and were destined to have late-momentum because of their being JUCO guys. Darius Slay is gaining a ton of momentum especially after a great Combine showing, and presently the Dolphins might even look at him with pick #42 overall. My argument has been that if D.J. Hayden hadn't suffered the injury, then it would be him right along side Slay gaining a ton of late momentum and potentially going in the 2nd round.
Earlier today, Jim1 posted a great article that I hadn't seen. Evidently scouts are making the same argument.
Hayden was clocked at a blazing 4.33 seconds in the 40-yard dash as representatives from 27 NFL teams watched the University of Houston's pro day at the Athletics/Alumni Center.
"It's the most unique injury in the history of the draft," said Alonzo Highsmith, the senior personnel executive for the Green Bay Packers. "The only people that ever had it aren't alive,
and doctors have never seen it."
With no history to go by, doctors originally said Hayden's prognosis involved at least a one-year recovery before he could resume football-related activity. Other than the scar that runs from below his throat to the tip of his belly button, Hayden showed no obvious effects from the injury.
He has regained the 25 pounds he lost after the long layoff and weighed in at 189.
Hayden could be selected as high as the second or third round, according to two NFL scouts in attendance who asked not to be identified.
"The feedback not only is he's going to get drafted, but it's going to surprise a lot of people where he goes," Nalley said. "We're going to temper expectations just because you never know."
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ckparrotheadmoderatorThe thing about his pro day performance is to think about how long and hard a road he must have traveled just to get there. He couldn't work out during the recovery from the surgery. I read an article right around the Combine that suggested it was only right around then that he got cleared for the first time to break a sweat in his workout. I remember something like him saying when he did it, he was in tears. Football is important to this guy.
He had to gain 25 lbs back that he'd lost in short order. I doubt he could have been training for this pro day as long and strenuously as most guys train for the Combine. He's explosive though so he was able to do well anyway. The 4.33 is about what I see on tape. The 4.40 is just about as good, though.
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Boomerluxury_boxWait, you're not a doctor on TV????
I am the sweat not the swagger.
ckparrotheadmoderatorAll these years the soap opera character I play on TV has just been PRETENDING to be a doctor.
On the bright side, I am a guy who plays a guy who is pretending to be a doctor on TV.
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Boomerluxury_boxThis is a tough one to swallow.
I am the sweat not the swagger.
rafaelforum_veteran"Boomer wrote:
This is a tough one to swallow.
That's what she said.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
djphinfansubscriberWait, where is the thread we were talking about DJ?, was that your mock thread?
You definitely found this kid while noone was talking about him.." The hummingbird"
Check out the back pedal in this dude...it's freakin awesome..he's a fun payer, would take him strait up right now over Sean smith..lol
ckparrotheadmoderator"djphinfan wrote:
Wait, where is the thread we were talking about DJ?, was that your mock thread?
You definitely found this kid while noone was talking about him.." The hummingbird"
Check out the back pedal in this dude...it's freakin awesome..he's a fun payer, would take him strait up right now over Sean smith..lol
Truthfully I've been talking about Hayden since November....November 26th to be exact. The big challenge with him has been getting your arms wrapped around the severity and implications of the injury. The talent was easy to see. At various points I've thought it made him undraftable, possibly even risking that he drops dead on you one day. But then as we got on I saw more research into it, and it seemed to me that wasn't the case...the veins heal and accumulate scar tissue and then they're less likely to tear than they were prior to the injury. That was a real important point to me because you don't want to put a guy out on the field thinking he could just die. That's so ridiculously tragic and such a moral dilemma even if he wants to take that risk.
11/26/2012 wrote:
If the Dolphins are willing to toss another redshirt out to another talented but injured football player (a la Jonas Gray) then D.J. Hayden would be a good guy to keep around. You could sign him as a UDFA and help rehab him, and if he decides he wants to play football again you could help him accomplish that.
He was the C-USA Newcomer of the Year last year when he forced something like 5 fumbles and broke up 11 passes, intercepting 2 of them and returning 1 for a touchdown. He also had 8.0 TFLs and 66 tackles in what was a monstrous season. Then this year 2011 he only played in 9 games but racked up 4 interceptions and 2 more touchdowns (171 yards of INT return yardage), 8 PBUs, another forced fumble and 61 tackles.
During a collision in practice he tore his inferior vena cava, the large vein that brings blood from the lower half of the body to the heart. The injury is 95% fatal when it happens in the field, but somehow he pulled through and they got him patched up. It should take him about a year to recover. His mom doesn't want him back on a football field but she's anticipating that she'll lose that argument. You can file this one in the Mark Herzlich folder...but I'd still take the chance. At 6'0" and 190 lbs he looks fast enough to me.
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KB21subscriberThe IVC is venous return flow to the heart. This is the vessel blood travels from the lower part of the body to the the heart to become reoxygenated. Blood flows through the IVC into the right atrium, then into the right ventricle. and then through the pulmonary artery to the lungs where it gets oxygenated. It then flows back into the left atrium, then to the left ventricle, and then out to the rest of the body through the aorta. Blood return from the head and upper extremities flow through the SVC (Superior Vena Cava).
ckparrotheadmoderator"KB21 wrote:
The IVC is venous return flow to the heart. This is the vessel blood travels from the lower part of the body to the the heart to become reoxygenated. Blood flows through the IVC into the right atrium, then into the right ventricle. and then through the pulmonary artery to the lungs where it gets oxygenated. It then flows back into the left atrium, then to the left ventricle, and then out to the rest of the body through the aorta. Blood return from the head and upper extremities flow through the SVC (Superior Vena Cava).
Did you just have a flashback to a medical school exam?
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KB21subscriber"ckparrothead wrote:
Did you just have a flashback to a medical school exam?
Yeah, but I missed that it gets back to the left atrium through the pulmonary vein.
invidsubscriberGlad you brought him into the light, CK. I really like him. He's big, fast, can create turnovers, plays with some swagger, and can be had with a value pick. I really like his PHYSICALITY the best though.
Edit: Jonathan Franklin is a ****ing gamer.
ckparrotheadmoderator"KB21 wrote:
Yeah, but I missed that it gets back to the left atrium through the pulmonary vein.
Care to drop a medical opinion about the likelihood of him tearing the vein again, or the football impact of his having had his sternum cracked open in order to repair it?
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ckparrotheadmoderator"invid wrote:
Glad you brought him into the light, CK. I really like him. He's big, fast, can create turnovers, plays with some swagger, and can be had with a value pick. I really like his PHYSICALITY the best though.
Edit: Jonathan Franklin is a ****ing gamer.
Wouldn't be shocked if he goes in the 2nd round so I don't know how much of a value pick we can get away with on him.
And yeah, the physicality stands out big time. There's a reason he tore that vein. He's fearless about contact. I wouldn't say he's stupid about it, the tearing of the vein is in the end just a total freak occurrence. But he's fearless. Blidi Wreh-Wilson is an example of a guy that I think has a lot of Hayden's length and athleticism, but doesn't play with his fearlessness with respect to his body. Blidi likes to play patty cake with his hands, go low on the tackle, a tuck-n-roll kind of guy.
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invidsubscriberSo you could say Wilson has a lot of Sean Smith-like qualities.
ckparrotheadmoderatorYou could say it, but I wouldn't agree.
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Triggercutforum_veteranSame chance of him tearing it the first time.
Don't throw to Venus on a Spider-3 Y-Banana
gandalfinforum_veteranI love the way the guy tackles with stripping the ball always in mind. He has really good technique for it and he doesn't seem to miss the tackle while trying to strip it like some players do. He also seems to be very instinctual, and how about that speed!
ckparrotheadmoderator"Triggercut wrote:
Same chance of him tearing it the first time.
I heard it was a reduced chance. I take it you're a doctor?
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ckparrotheadmoderator"gandalfin wrote:
I love the way the guy tackles with stripping the ball always in mind. He has really good technique for it and he doesn't seem to miss the tackle while trying to strip it like some players do. He also seems to be very instinctual, and how about that speed!
Super explosive guy. So explosive he exploded his own heart.
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KB21subscriber"ckparrothead wrote:
Care to drop a medical opinion about the likelihood of him tearing the vein again, or the football impact of his having had his sternum cracked open in order to repair it?
Honestly, I don't know enough about the post op on that to have a good opinion one way or the other. CT surgery is definitely not my field.
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