Fully Healthy, Daelin Hayes Ready to Make Impact for Ravens

OLB had rookie season cut short with knee injury.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens outside linebacker Daelin Hayes is flying under the radar after an injury-plagued rookie season.

Hayes was fully healthy for the recent voluntary workouts and was a force all over the field.

Hayes was able to consistently get into the backfield past offensive linemen and knocked down a couple of passes at the line of scrimmage.

He could be a wild-card playmaker heading into the 2022 season.   

"Daelin Hayes is a guy who we’re excited about that flashed last year when he had the chance," GM Eric DeCosta said. :So, there are going to be opportunities for us to improve at [outside linebacker] as well.”

Hayes 6-feet-4, 253 pounds, was selected by the Ravens in the fifth round (171st overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft.

At Notre Dame, Hayes finished with 95 tackles, 20.5 tackles for a loss, nine sacks, five fumble returns, three forced fumbles, four passes defensed and one interception in 53 career games. 

The Ravens expected Hayes to play his way into the rotation at linebacker but he suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 3 against Detroit. 

It was a common theme for the Ravens last season.

Now, Hayes appears ready to make an impact, 

Hayes has also been a familiar face for rookie first-round pick Kyle Hamilton, who was his teammate at Notre Dame. 

"I know Daelin," Hamilton said. "But I’ve talked to Daelin a good bit, obviously. He texted me right after I got drafted and congratulated me. He said, ‘Let’s go win a Super Bowl.’ I said, ‘Bet, let’s do it.’ I won’t name names, but somebody DM’d [direct messaged] me on Instagram very soon after I got drafted and said, ‘Dinner on you.’ So, we’ll see how that goes down the line. But yes, it’s all been good so far.”