Daelin Hayes Named A Sporting News Preseason All-American
Notre Dame senior defensive end Daelin Hayes earned his second preseason All-American honor, this time from Sporting News. Hayes was named to the Sporting News second team, and he was also a second-team honoree from Street & Smith’s.
Hayes was injured in the fourth game of the 2019 season, which allowed him to get a medical redshirt, and while that might have been bad news for the Irish veteran last season it is a huge bonus for the Irish in 2020.
Prior to his injury a strong case could be made that Hayes was Notre Dame’s best defensive lineman. His all-around game was strong, and his performance against New Mexico was one of the best performances from a lineman all season.
Hayes enters his final season with 78 career tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss and six sacks. He was on pace for 13 tackles for loss last fall prior to his injury, and his ability to play the run and drop into coverage is outstanding, especially when you consider his size (6-4, 266).
The veteran won’t be in a rotation with Julian Okwara in 2020, and that should allow him to increase his production. Hayes is a strong run defender and a quality pass defender, but if he wants to earn All-American honors he needs to become a more impactful pass rusher.
Hayes has shown flashes of being that kind of pass rusher in practice, and I’ve had conversations with Notre Dame sources in the past that said offensive linemen would often say it was Hayes that was the hardest to block in practice.
If we see Hayes start to show that in games he’ll have a chance to develop into one of the nation’s best ends, and along with classmate Adetokunbo Ogundeji he could help form one of the nation’s best edge tandems.
Nine Notre Dame opponents made the Sporting News list along with Hayes. Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Clemson running back Travis Etienne and Pitt defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman all made the first team.
Louisville running back Javian Hawkins, Stanford offensive tackle Walker Little, Pitt safety Paris Ford, Duke returner Damond Philyaw-Johnson, Wake Forest defensive end Carlos Basham Jr. and Wake Forest kick Nick Sciba all made the second team.
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