In 2013, GM Reggie McKenzie made cornerback D.J. Hayden his first 1st-round draft pick. And by the time 2015 came and went, he was widely considered a bust. It got so bad that in December, his starting position was taken from him because of his waiver pickup Dave Amerson was ballin’.
And at the same time, defensive coordinator Ken Norton grew frustrated with his practice habits. He told the media at a press conference, “It’s competition and we just want to keep stressing you practice hard, you perform, you’ll play and the same thing on the adverse side of it.
“If you don’t practice hard and you don’t perform, you won’t play. We have a competitive group and it’s week to week. You play hard, you perform, you’ll play and that’s what practices are for. You can’t waste your time in practice. It’s a time to get better.
“The only place we have to get better, that players have to get better, is practice, so use your practice time to get better and then you’ll play.”
Then comes the offseason, where fellow corner Sean Smith was brought in to help in coverage. Amerson and Smith were then expected to be the starting corners with T.J. Carrie and Neiko Thorpe expecting to fight it out to be the team’s Nickel corner.
But Hayden seems to have decided to fight to carve out a role for himself on a defense that appears to be ready to go great things. Head coach Jack Del Rio is thoroughly impressed with what Hayden has been showing all offseason, particularly at minicamp.
He told the media after a minicamp practice, “DJ Hayden had a really good spring. He really did,. “I’m excited about his development.”
A couple of weeks ago, Smith weighed in on Hayden at a press conference, saying, “I tell all the guys, regardless of who you are, myself included, the past is the past,” Smith said. The thing about football is you can always reinvent yourself.
“I had a chance to meet with him just for a brief second. There wasn’t too much to talk about, ‘Just come out here with a whole new mind frame, a whole new mindset, trying to repaint your image.’”
Del Rio confirmed that at a press conference, saying, “You have a chance to redefine yourself, I really believe that,” “As a player, it’s never too late. You can redefine yourself, turn the corner and peel labels off that maybe people have for you and create your own.
“I feel like he’s on his way to doing that this year.”
When asked about a possible role as a nickel corner, Del Rio said, “He has terrific foot quickness,” “He’s intelligent. Those things are definitely factors that help you in that slot.”