October 6, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders cornerback DJ Hayden (25) intercepts the ball against San Diego Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen (13) during the fourth quarter at O.co Coliseum. The Raiders defeated the Chargers 27-17. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The Oakland Raiders’ pass defense still needs improvement, as rookie corner T.J. Carrie has been a lone bright spot so far. This is happening right now as 2013 1st-round pick D.J. Hayden is healthy and ready to come back to play ball at any time to bolster a secondary that has been ravaged by injury. Many around Raider Nation question the pick and have already labeled him as a bust but that is far from the case.
The people that have all the negative opinions of Hayden obviously don’t know him so please allow me to re-introduce him. Hayden was the best corner in the 2013 draft class and I believe he was the best football player in the class as well. So all this talk about Hayden being a bust or a bad pick is nonsense as there was no Andrew Luck or Ndamukong Suh coming out.
Some of those picks are helping their teams but none of them are the difference between their teams winning and losing. And absolutely non of them would have helped the Raiders win a single game more than they would have last year. Hayden was a very smart pick by McKenzie and for those that don’t agree, go dig up some tape on him and you’ll see.
Or simply turn the page to see why Hayden was a good pick.