Raiders Roster Evaluation: Casey Hayward Jr.

New Las Vegas Raiders' multi-time Pro Bowler, Casey Hayward, has been one of the better cornerbacks in the league since he was drafted in 2012.

The 2021 NFL Draft is now behind us, and that means teams across the NFL are in the process of piecing together their entire rosters.

The Las Vegas Raiders are likely no different before what could be a pivotal fourth season of the second Jon Gruden era.

That's why we'll be going over roster evaluations for the Raiders players and position groups to see how everyone's stock measures up heading into the summer.

The notion that the Raiders should look to bring a veteran cornerback was a popular one at the start of the offseason. 

Many of those wishes centered around former All-Pro Richard Sherman, but instead the team ended up signing a different veteran, Casey Hayward Jr. 

Hayward was a second round pick of the Green Bay Packers in the 2012 NFL Draft, and showed right away that he had the ball skills to be a top-flight corner. 

He had six interceptions his rookie year and currently has 23 total, tied for 14th among active players. He's a two time Pro Bowl selection, making it in 2016 and 2017, and led the league in picks in 2016 with seven. 

Hayward has also consistently been ranked among the top 20 cornerbacks  by Pro Football Focus. He was ranked as high as No. 2 in 2017, although he is coming off ranking a career low 69th in 2020. 

Some of that could have been due to health, as Hayward missed three games last season because of injurues. It was the first time he hadn't played in all 16 games since 2013. 

In his last fully healthy season in 2019, he was ranked as the fourth best corner in the league by PFF. 

If he's able to return to that level of play with the Raiders and his former defensive coordinator, Gus Bradley, Hayward could be a steal on a one-year contract. 

Not only that, but he'd be able to take some of the pressure off of the Raiders young cornerbacks by taking on those No. 1 assignments. 

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