DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2013 NFL Season NFL Draft (2013) Joe Haden

OK, his pro day is today. Mike Florio reports, via a twitter post, that he ran in the high 4.3s / low 4.4s . . . http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/03/17/joe-haden-improves-his-time/

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/article/2010-03-16/joe-haden-i-feel-im-definitely-best-corner

Joe Haden: 'I feel like I'm definitely the best corner'

Dennis Dillon
Archive Email Dennis Dillon

Florida cornerback Joe Haden, a potential top 10 pick in the NFL draft, ran a disappointing 4.57 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine a couple of weeks ago in Indianapolis. He hopes to redeem himself Wednesday at his pro day in Gainesville, Fla. In a conversation with Sporting News' Dennis Dillon, Haden talked about his football career.

Sporting News: How eager are you to run at your pro day?
Joe Haden: I can't wait. My back is finally 100 percent, so I can't wait to go out there and perform. I'm just anxious and ready to do it.

SN: Since the Combine, what have you been working on?
JH: All I've been working on is my 40 starts. That's basically it. I've probably run about a thousand 40s.

SN: You ran a 4.57 40 at the Combine. How disappointed were you?
JH: I haven't run that (slow) since my freshman year in high school, so I was really disappointed. Down in Florida, all I ran were 4.34s or 4.33s. So I'm looking forward to running in the 4.33 range like I always have.

SN: Why was your time in Indianapolis so slow?
JH: I had a back strain while I was working out before the Combine. I didn't think it was going to affect my time like that. When I was running, it didn't feel so good.

SN: A lot of players prepare for the Combine at special training centers all over the country. You stayed home in Fort Washington, Md., and worked out with your dad at his gym. What was that like?
JH: It was great, especially being able to sleep in your own bed at home. I have four younger brothers and just being able to spend time with them was special. And then to work out with my dad‹he's been training me every since I was a little boy‹and to see my mom. Just to be able to come back home and hang out with all of them was a blessing.

SN: Do you feel like you're the best cornerback in the draft?
JH: I feel like I'm definitely the best corner. What you get from me is what nobody else can give you at corner‹a strong, hard-nosed player who can lock down one side of the field and isn't afraid to play man, isn't afraid to blitz and isn't afraid to tackle.

SN: You arrived at Florida as a quarterback, then moved to wide receiver and finally ended up at cornerback. How difficult was it to make that switch?
JH: It was definitely difficult, not having played the cornerback position before. But I had some good coaches who taught me what I needed to know. I had the ability to do what I needed to do; I just needed the coaching to know what was going on.

SN: You were the first true freshman at Florida to start at cornerback. What did that mean to you?
JH: I didn't even know that until after the first game, when my dad texted me and congratulated me. That meant a whole lot to me. When I first got there, I was playing a different position. Just to switch over and start, and then be the first (true freshman) to ever start‹knowing how many great players have played at Florida‹was an honor.

SN: After setting several Maryland high school records for passing, you were recruited as a quarterback by several schools. How different would your career have been if you had played quarterback in college?
JH: It would have been a whole lot different. I don't think I would be in the situation I am now. I know God put me in the best situation for me, and that was to go to Florida and switch over to corner. If I had been a quarterback, I don't think I'd have left school early and I don't think I'd be projected to go in the first round of the draft. I'm 5-10 and three-fourths; I don't think there's too many of those (quarterbacks) that go in the first round.

SN: Is there an NFL player who you admire or have tried to emulate?
JH: When I was younger, my favorite player was Michael Vick because I played quarterback. Then when I started playing corner, I started watching all the corners‹Nnamdi Asomugha from the Raiders; Charles Woodson‹he won the Heisman at Michigan as a corner; and Champ Bailey. This year, I was busy watching Darrelle Revis because what he did is definitely how I want to play in the NFL.

SN: What do you like about Revis?
JH: He doesn't really play with a lot of fanfare. He just takes care of his business. He's out there on an island, and whenever the ball comes over there he makes a play on it every time.

Dennis Dillon is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at ddillon@sportingnews.com.

JH: I feel like I'm definitely the best corner. What you get from me is what nobody else can give you at corner‹a strong, hard-nosed player who can lock down one side of the field and isn't afraid to play man, isn't afraid to blitz and isn't afraid to tackle.


Thats exactly how a corner has to think and how he has to play..unfortuantely that 40 time at the combine made him have to really perform well..but I'm sure smart scouts never dropped him down at all..

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/35912561/ns/sports-player_news/


Florida CB Joe Haden reportedly timed in the mid-4.4 range on both of his forty-yard dash runs at the Gators' Pro Day.

According to some stopwatches, Haden clocked as fast as the 4.3s despite a soggy, sloppy grass field in Gainesville. The draft's top cornerback, Haden has helped his stock immensely after timing in the 4.57-4.60 range with poor running technique and a lower back sprain at the Scouting Combine. We no longer see him getting past San Francisco at No. 13 overall.
Source: TFY Draft Insider

And just like that he will climb back up draft boards. My guess is some never dropped him to begin with.

I was thinking he never dropped. Especially after it came out the he had a sprained back during the combine.

For me it's Haden or Berry at #7, no one else is really an option.

Me too. I saw what I needed on the field.

If Berry doesn't drop and we don't give up half the national debt to get Bradford, bring on Haden . . .

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SN: Since the Combine, what have you been working on?
JH: All I've been working on is my 40 starts. That's basically it. I've probably run about a thousand 40s.

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This is why you have to keep the combine numbers in context... when is the last time a corner had to run stride for stride with a WR and they both started out of a sprinters stance and ran in a straight line? That is all he has practiced, is his sprinters start, which in football terms, is relatively useless... but because he got better at something totally irrelevant to football, he made himself some significant coin today.

I agree with you. But he also supposedly had a sprained back at the combine.

What's his excuse for the official 4.52, he said he typically runs low 4.3's?

I imagine his excuse will be the sprained back.......pretty good darn excuse.

If Berry is gone (and we don't trade up for Bradford) this is the kid I want. With him and Wright we would be able to dial up some exotic blitzes, becuase you can put both of those guys on an island.

Wasn't that his excuse for the combine? If his back is hurting him that badly why risk running the slow times?

Haden, to me, is the "worst" case scenario. Best case is either Suh or Bradford slides to us, but that'll never happen. After that, it'd be drafting either Berry or G. McCoy. Then Haden, CJ Spiller, Earl Thomas or trade down.

Just from reading about Haden, I'd be very happy with him at #7... we need help in several places, and DB is definitely one of those... the one thing on D we have to improve on the most.

How do U figure worst case senero?
Sun isn't sliding that far and if he does,plus Berry..than U have 3 starters in your lap.
But the biggest need is actually IMO a tie between safety/corner.
Pool/McFluff are the weak links..geta starter to replace either and you've upgraded .

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Pool/McFluff are the weak links..geta starter to replace either and you've upgraded

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Pool is already gone.. who's McFluff?

Brandon McDonald, I'd guess.

McDonald...McNugget..McFlurry....

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McDonald...McNugget..McFlurry....

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Ok,, thanks. Why not just call him McDonald?

Isn't he a Corner, not a safety? What did I miss...

I did call him McDonald's..the value menu..not worth more than a buck.

He should be the next one out the door after St.Turnstile.

Looks like Our old coach is still trying to help us Maybe this will make Berry slide to us..

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/03/17/eric-berry-sprains-his-toe-at-pro-day/


Eric Berry sprains his toe at Pro Day
Posted by Michael David Smith on March 17, 2010 6:52 PM ET

Tennessee safety Eric Berry had to cut short his workout at the Volunteers' Pro Day today, pulling up with an injury described as a sprained big toe during his first positional drills.

Steve Wyche of NFL Network reports that Berry suffered what has been initially diagnosed as a left big toe sprain that cut short his workout.

Berry suffered the injury while doing backpedaling drills run by Chiefs defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel. He went into a training room to ice his foot and was described as "wearing sneakers and walking with a slight limp" afterward.

Berry is considered the top defensive back in the draft, and after his impressive combine performance, he really didn't need to do much at his Pro Day. All indications are that the toe injury will be a minor annoyance, not a major concern

Leave it to Rac...

"Kids hurts themselves all the time!"

Back to Joe Haden, if you draft the best corner in the draft, you could have the next great corner, or the next Adam "Pac Man" Jones.

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Berry suffered the injury while doing backpedaling drills run by Chiefs defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel.

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Romeo Step on his toe or what

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I thought this as well. Why not have them backpeddle the first 10 yards, then rotate and finish the 40. This would at least factor in their hip movement and foot skills which is actually a useful measurement for a DB.

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Actually they do that drill, I don't remember if it was 40 yards or not. The commentators said the guys doing it right wouldn't wobble one direction or another, and only use a couple steps in the transition. Seems like I remember the Boize guy doing really well on that one.

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The Browns conducted a private workout Monday with Florida cornerback Joe Haden in his hometown in Maryland, and will bring him to Cleveland for a visit in early April, his agent Malik Shareef told The Plain Dealer.

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Mary Kay Cabot, The Plain Dealer

Heres the article

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Cleveland Browns conducted private workout with Florida CB Joe Haden, will host him too
By Mary Kay Cabot, The Plain Dealer
March 24, 2010, 5:50PM


CLEVELAND -- The Browns conducted a private workout Monday with Florida cornerback Joe Haden in his hometown in Maryland, and will bring him to Cleveland for a visit in early April, his agent Malik Shareef told The Plain Dealer.

Haden, the top-rated cornerback in the draft, is one of the players the Browns are considering with their No. 7 overall pick.

On Monday, Browns defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson, a former NFL defensive back, put Haden through an individual workout specific to the Browns scheme.

"Joe responded very well to coach Henderson and had a good rapport with him,'' said Shareef. "Joe and I were very pleased with how everything went.''

Haden (5-11, 193) raised some eyebrows at the NFL Combine last month when he ran a disappointing 4.57 in the 40 -- a time that some experts felt might drop him out of the top 10. But his father, Joe Haden Sr., told the Palm Beach Post that his son was suffering from a sprained back and shouldn't have run at the Combine. Haden rebounded at his Pro Day two weeks ago, clocking somewhere between the high 4.3s and low 4.4s in the 40.

"The Browns have shown a lot of interest in Joe and he's very, very excited about the possibility of playing in Cleveland,'' said Shareef. "He likes coach Eric Mangini and (President) Mike Holmgren. He'd love to be part of Mike Holmgren's legacy of turning that franchise around.''

Mangini, a former defensive backs coach, said he looks at playing speed more than 40 time -- and Haden had no trouble shutting down some of the best receivers in the Southeastern Conference.

"To me, how fast they run the 40, that's great,'' Mangini said this week at the NFL Owners meetings. "(But) it's how fast they can get from where they are to the guy with the ball. I think that's a lot more important. I thought [Haden] played faster than his Combine speed."




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I really hope MH is planning on sitting tight at # 7 and waiting for either Berry or Haden to be there.

The only reason that the Browns would trade up would be, I hope, for Bradford or Suh.

I'm not really sure that Haden can be a shut down corner, though. Isn't he kinda small?

I get your point, but so was Deion.
He was a girly tackler, but IMO the greatest corner in history.