Tag: D.J. Hayden

Jags CB D.J. Hayden designated to return from IR

The Jacksonville Jaguars are getting noticeably healthier this week as there were only three players that didn’t participate in practice Wednesday. However, on Thursday, they revealed some more good news as nickelback D.J. Hayden (hamstring) was …

The Jacksonville Jaguars are getting noticeably healthier this week as there were only three players that didn’t participate in practice Wednesday. However, on Thursday, they revealed some more good news as nickelback D.J. Hayden (hamstring) was designated to return from injured reserve.

The opportunity to get Hayden Back soon is huge as he’s the most experienced member in the Jags’ secondary room. He was placed on IR after their Week 4 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals where he sustained his injury in the second half of that game.

Before his injury, Hayden had 13 tackles and one pass breakup. He was having a rough season during the first quarter of 2020, but the secondary as a whole wasn’t overly impressive as the pass-rush struggled. However, Hayden was lights out in 2019, proving to be one of the best nickels in football with a Pro Football Focus grad of 76.9.

It’s unknown whether the Jags will activate him for Sunday’s game against the Steelers (they have 21 days), but whenever he returns he could be a huge help as the Jags’ cornerbacks had a good showing against Green Bay. If he isn’t back by Sunday’s game, the Jags will continue to use Sidney Jones IV, C.J. Henderson, and Tre Herndon as their top-3 corners.

Jaguars place CB D.J. Hayden on injured reserve

The Jags placed one of their defensive leaders on IR Wednesday, putting an already inexperienced secondary in a tricky situation for Week 5,

The Jacksonville Jaguars have placed nickelback D.J. Hayden on injured reserve after the veteran exited Week 4’s game agains the Cincinnati Bengals with a hamstring injury. The decision comes as Hayden was listed on Wednesday’s injury report and coach Doug Marrone stated that he wasn’t confident in Hayden’s ability to play Sunday against the Houston Texans.

Hayden’s injury came during the second half of Sunday’s game. He had to be helped off the field by a pair of team trainers and was unable to put weight on his hamstring. Once he exited the game, Tre Herndon kicked in to the nickelback position and Sidney Jones played on the outside alongside Chris Claybrooks (for CJ Henderson’s injury).

Herndon will likely be the one to once again play in Hayden’s spot Week 5. The Jags could also play Josiah Scott at the position as he was believed to be Hayden’s future successor at the nickelback spot when drafted in April.

With the team placing Hayden on IR, he won’t be eligible to return to the field until three games have elapsed. That means he can’t return until after the Jags’ game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Nov. 1.

D.J. Hayden confident in Jags’ ability to recover from Week 3 loss

Jags veteran D.J. Hayden is feeling confident in bouncing back from their Week 3 loss with the team showing urgency in practice.

The Jacksonville Jaguars suffered an embarrassing Week 3 loss to the Miami Dolphins, but as many expected, they have already put it behind them. With Week 4 now on their minds, nickelback D.J. Hayden in particular is confident in the Jags’ ability to bounce back as they’ve gotten off to a good week of practice.

“[There’s] a greater sense of urgency, body language,” said Hayden. “You know I’m a real superstitious type of guy and I just get feelings. It’s just something I can’t explain. There’s no textbook of how to explain that. I just get good feelings.”

Up next for the Jags are the Cincinnati Bengals, who have yet to register a win but have been very competitive to start this season. During their Week 1 meeting with the Los Angeles Chargers, they were a missed field goal away from heading into over time. The following week, they had a strong fourth quarter but ultimately lost the game by a score of 35-30. Lastly, on Sunday, they took the Philadelphia Eagles into overtime and ended the battle with a 23-23 tie.

Clearly, with first overall pick Joe Burrow keeping the Bengals in games, the Jags’ secondary is going to need to have a better showing than we’ve seen in the past two weeks. The Jags’ very own first-round selection, C.J. Henderson, in particular is a player who will need to bounce back after a rough night against the Dolphins where he allowed five targets for 62 yards and a touchdown.

With the tough showing now behind him, Hayden stated that he’s also confident in the rookie bouncing back as most of his issues were simple technique flaws that can be ironed out.

 

“CJ [Henderson] obviously had one rookie mistake and I think it was just little mistakes,” Hayden said. “It just kept tagging on. I feel like we didn’t give up any big, explosive plays, but like Coach [Marrone] said, they kind of did this nickel and dime stuff, just stuff here and there. But little technique stuff can fix that stuff right away and we can fix it, so I’m excited.”

As is the case with every team, it would also help if the Jags’ pass rush has a successful day. That may prove to be a little easier than it was in Weeks 1-3 as the Bengals’ offensive line hasn’t been good. If that’s the case, fans could see Henderson and Hayden bounce back, too, which could put the Jags at 2-2 heading into the second quarter of the season.

Jags veteran D.J. Hayden discusses his thoughts on team’s young CB group

With the Jacksonville Jaguars roster consisting of 12 drafted rookies, it goes without saying that the young team will have to depend on various first year players to register a better season than in 2019. One area where they will be particularly …

With the Jacksonville Jaguars roster consisting of 12 drafted rookies, it goes without saying that the young team will have to depend on various first year players to register a better season than in 2019. One area where they will be particularly young is at cornerback, where 30-year-old veteran D.J. Hayden will be the oldest player of the group by five years.

With the team going through the ramp-up phase of training camp at the moment, Hayden told the media that he’s been impressed with the young group around him. He started with first-round pick C.J. Henderson, who he praised for having good anticipation and movement skills.

“I like C.J. [Henderson] a lot,” said Hayden of the rookie. “I actually saw him do a couple of breaks today. You can tell the way somebody moves and how they come out of their breaks, whether they have something or not. C.J. [Henderson], yeah he definitely has some amazing talent.”

As many are aware, Henderson is going to need to go into the regular season with some momentum because he’s going to have to start immediately. With the Indianapolis Colts on the schedule Week 1, this month of training camp is going to be crucial for him, and so far, it sounds like he’s been impressive.

Another player entering a crucial time for his development is cornerback Tre Herndon, who Hayden also spoke about Monday. After multiple seasons of watching him develop, Hayden mentioned the progress Herndon has made since his rookie year while crediting it to his work ethic.

“Over the years that I’ve been here with Tre, he’s shown a lot of grit and he works very hard,” Hayden said. “Probably one of the hardest workers on this team. Just to see him come from his rookie year just doing special team stuff then, his second year when the whole Jalen [Ramsey] thing came on, he kind of got thrown in the fire, but he accepted it. He was ready, played well and I’m excited for him. He’s definitely going to play a long time in this league.”

Herndon could be in line to start again in 2020 after starting in all but two games last season due to the Jalen Ramsey saga and injuries. However, it appears he’ll receive some competition from free-agent addition Tramaine Brock, who brings over a decade of experience to the table. Regardless, Herndon seems to be developing at a fast rate, and when camp ends, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him as a starter once again.

Doug Marrone, D.J. Chark discuss leadership D.J. Hayden brings to Jags’ locker room

The Jags will be enduring a lot of changes to their locker room but one veteran who will return is D.J. Hayden, who the team has praised.

Training camp marks a good time for NFL teams to start establishing their locker-room leaders and Doug Marrone has already singled out a few for the Jacksonville Jaguars in his press conferences. Among them has been nickelback D.J. Hayden, who will be heading into his eighth season in the league and third with the Jags.

“He’s a guy, as a coach, you never want to take for granted,” Marrone said of the veteran. “He’s always doing the right thing. If I was a young player and I walked into a locker room and I was looking to see what someone does, maybe because I didn’t know, he’d be one of the guys that I look at.”

Marrone is right, for a locker-room that will be among the youngest in 2020, Hayden’s experience could prove to be invaluable. That could especially be the case when looking specifically at how young the Jags are at cornerback between rookie C.J. Henderson, third-year player Tre Herndon, fourth-round selection Josiah Scott, and a couple of undrafted rookies.

Like Marrone, those who’ve been around Hayden have come into camp aware of the leadership Hayden brings to the table. That includes one of the team’s ascending stars D.J. Chark, who has battled Hayden for over two seasons now.

“I love going against D.J. [Hayden],” Chark told the media Friday. “He’s very confident, which is something that I always admire about any player. When you’re confident, it allows me to be confident and talk smack with you. You also can learn from guys like that. He’s very smart. He knows route patterns, based off your system.”

Hayden’s play on the field also hasn’t gone under the radar on a national level either. Just recently, he was named to Touchdown Wire’s top-101 players list by Doug Farrar and was the only Jag listed. Now, it will be a matter of finding out if his play will be infectious to the rest of the Jags’ young secondary. If it is, the Jags veteran could end up being instrumental to the team moving closer to a .500 record or better.

Jags CB D.J. Hayden activated off Active/PUP list

The Jags are getting back their highest-graded player (per PFF) back of the PUP list.

Quarterback Gardner Minshew and safety Andrew Wingard weren’t the only players the Jacksonville Jaguars added to the active roster Tuesday morning as one other player joined them. They also got their highest-graded defensive player back off the Active/ Physically Unable to Perform list in nickelback D.J. Hayden.

Hayden, 30, was placed on the Jags’ Active/Physically Unable to Perform list alongside tight end James O’Shaughnessy on August 1. Per coach Doug Marrone, the reason for his placement on the list was because he had a minor procedure done during the offseason, but wasn’t able to see the team doctors in the process to monitor his progress.

“D.J. [Hayden] had a minor procedure done, in the offseason, we knew about it. If we would have been able to bring him in here [he could have rehabbed here] but because of the pandemic we were not able to do that,” Marrone said to the media Monday. “Obviously, we are just being cautious with that and making sure that he’s fine.”

Hayden, who battled a neck/shoulder injury in 2019, will be coming off a solid season where he was able to help in a variety of ways, totaling 41 tackles (five of which were for loss), two sacks,  and six pass breakups. He looked about as good as any starting nickelback in the league, which also helped him to be named to Touchdown Wire’s top-101 players list last week.

With the Jags secondary being young, it’s good to see that Hayden is trending in the right direction. He’ll now be set to take the field with rookie corner C.J. Henderson on one side and Tre Herndon or Rashaan Melvin on the other.

Listen to the latest from Jags Wire’s own James Johnson and Phil Smith on their podcast “Bleav in the Jags.” Subscribe via Apple Podcasts and check out our archived episodes via Bleav Podcasts.

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Jags CB D.J. Hayden finds himself on Touchdown Wire’s Top-101 Players list

The Jacksonville Jaguars may not have received any love from NFL Network’s “Top-100 Players” list/show, but that wasn’t the case for our comrades with Touchdown Wire. In their recent top-101 players list by Doug Farrar, the Jags made an appearance …

The Jacksonville Jaguars may not have received any love from NFL Network’s “Top-100 Players” list/show, but that wasn’t the case for our comrades with Touchdown Wire. In their recent top-101 players list by Doug Farrar, the Jags made an appearance with a surprising name fans might not be expecting.

91. D.J. Hayden, Slot CB, Jacksonville Jaguars

In 335 slot coverage snaps last season, Hayden allowed 24 catches on 38 targets for 195 yards, 110 yards after catch, no touchdowns, and an opponent passer rating of 76.1. He has the quickness and route awareness to track the game’s best receivers from the slot, and judging by his two sacks, seven total pressures, 18 stops, and five tackles for loss, he’s more than just a coverage guy.

Although the argument could be made that the list could’ve had more Jags, putting Hayden on the list is one I can understand. In fact, in our discussion with Shant Club, I deemed him a top-3 to top-4 nickelback.

On film, Hayden is very comfortable in the slot, smothering receivers. When a ball is occasionally caught by his man, he’s quick to bring that player down. As mentioned by Farrar, offenses also have to be aware of him behind the line of scrimmage as he is a player who can deceptively get to the quarterback and could easily have 10 career tackles for loss (currently at seven) with the Jags by the end of 2020.

With the highest defensive Pro Football Focus grade on the team, Hayden will be viewed as a leader for the Jags’ locker room, which is amongst the youngest in football. Additionally, he’ll be on a contract year so fans may see him play on an even higher level in 2020.

Feel free to listen to the archived episodes of “Bleav in the Jags,”too, and subscribe via Apple podcasts, Google Play, or Spotify.

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The NFL’s 11 best outside cornerbacks

Boundary cornerbacks who can erase an opponent’s best receiver are more important than ever. Here are the NFL’s 11 best.

Let’s say you’re an NFL team, and you need a bunch of really good cornerbacks. Step one, of course, is determining which characteristics define your version of that ideal. Last season, the Chargers led the NFL by playing 75% zone coverage, so their definitions are going to be different than the ones the Patriots come up with — because the Patriots played man coverage on 54% of their snaps. Only the Lions played more man coverage, and the extent to which the Lions failed to do so at a competent level implies that perhaps they weren’t exact enough with their definitions.

Add in the fact that teams are playing more dime than base defense these days (20.9% dime to 18% base), and it’s an NFL that demands more cornerbacks, and more of those cornerbacks, than ever before. It used to be enough to press up against your receiver and work him to the boundary; now, you may have to move from zone to man to combo with different numbers of defensive backs around you. And you’re doing that against offenses that present more receivers in more complex formations and route concepts than ever before.

The outside cornerback position has never been more valuable than it is now as a result, and here are the 11 best at the position as we head into the 2020 season.

Other Top 11 Lists: Slot defenders | Safeties

Honorable Mentions

(Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports)

Assembling a list of the NFL’s 11 best outside cornerbacks in 2020 is a brutal exercise, because there are so many good cornerbacks in the NFL out of necessity. There were instances in which the players fell just short of the 50-target limit — our apologies to Jason McCourty of the Patriots and Jimmy Smith of the Ravens, who each had 49 targets (including the postseason) and would have challenged for the top 11 with an extra rep or two. Sidney Jones of the Eagles and Jamel Dean of the Buccaneers are two younger players who also didn’t make the target limit, but are excellent talents on the rise. In other instances, overall coverage numbers represented a primary focus on the slot, and while guys like Brian Poole of the Jets, Marlon Humphrey of the Ravens, K’Waun Williams of the 49ers, and D.J. Hayden of the Jaguars also played well outside to a point, it wasn’t their primary focus. So, you’ll find all of those guys on our list of the NFL’s top 11 slot defenders.

There were other cases in which cornerbacks had high interception totals and good overall charting stats, but their touchdowns allowed (stats backed up by tape study) got in the way. So it was for Pittsburgh’s Joe Haden, who allowed 49 catches on 79 targets for 468 yards, 139 yards after the catch, had five interceptions, and allowed an opponent passer rating of 70.0… but also allowed six touchdowns. Marcus Peters of the Ravens barely made this list because of a similar touchdown problem, but the negative plays he did create for opposing offenses were frequent and important enough to be considered.

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The NFL’s 11 best slot defenders

More and more, your slot defender is your third starting cornerback or safety. Here are the 11 slot defenders who do it best in today’s NFL.

In the 2019 NFL season, per Sports Info Solutions, there were 19,933 total quarterback dropbacks. Against those dropbacks, NFL defenses put four defensive backs on the field just 18% of the time (3,579 snaps), while nickel defense (with five defensive backs) ruled the league by far with 59% of all snaps (11,780). And if you want to know how much the NFL isn’t a base defense league anymore, consider this: Defenses lined up in dime coverage (six defensive backs on the field) on 20.9% of total dropbacks (4,091), which means that teams played more dime defense than base defense. The Seahawks were the only team to play base defense more than 50% of the time (67%), and the Cardinals finished second at 37%.

All this is to say that unless you’re the Seahawks, you’d better have some top-level slot defenders if you want to put a credible pass defense out there in a league where offenses are implementing more kinds of receiver sets and route combinations than ever before.

And it’s not as if the skill sets required to be a slot defender are the same as those for an outside cornerback. You might be up against a 6-foot-5, 250-pound tight end on first down who can body you right out of the paint, and on the next play, you may have to deal with a small, speedy option-route receiver whose job is to juke you right out of your shoes. And as Richard Sherman once told me in his Seattle days, the thing about playing outside cornerback is that the boundary is your friend. That’s not the case when you’re in the slot, where you’re defending in space pretty much all the time.

So, which slot defenders were the most effective and valuable to their teams in 2019, and thus should be set up to do the same in 2020? With help from Pro Football Focus’ metrics, and a whole lot of tape study, here’s one list. To avoid small sample-size results, each of these defenders played at least 50% of their snaps in the slot.

Mike Hilton | Chris Harris Jr. | Jourdan Lewis | Tramon Williams | Mackensie Alexander | Nickell Robey-Coleman | Marlon Humphrey | D.J. Hayden | Brian Poole | K’Waun Williams | Tyrann Mathieu

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Podcast: Which Jags free-agents could re-sign in 2021?

The Jags’ 2021 free-agency class is full of receivers including Dede Westbrook and Chris Conley. Who could they end up keeping though?

With the football season slowly approaching, Jags Wire contributor Phil Smith and I recorded yet another episode of the “Bleav in Jags Podcast.”

We started this week’s episode off discussing the latest in preseason and training camp news as the league announced that the preseason would be cut in half. Additionally, we discussed the contract signing of DaVon Hamilton and where he fits in the Jaguars plans heading forward.

Afterward, we discussed the latest on defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, who reportedly hasn’t changed his stance about wanting to be traded. With the deadline coming up, we also discussed the possibility of trading him to the Cleveland Browns for David Njoku as proposed by ESPN recently.

Lastly, we tackled our main topic, which was a preview of the Jags’ 2021 free-agency class. With several notable names on the list, we gave our analysis on who could stay or go with notables like Leonard Fournette, Dede Westbrook, Keelan Cole, and more on the last years of their deals.

Feel free to listen to the archived episodes of “Bleav in the Jags,”too, and subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or Spotify.

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