|
|
|
|
NFL Draft Prospect
Interview: William Hayes, DE/OLB, WSSU
WSSU’s Hayes Restores
Human Element to Draft Process
by Jared Donnelly
NFL
Draft Analyst
3/4/08
So
often in today’s world of the NFL Draft, we focus so
much on the who and what that we know when it comes to prospects.
Things like height, weight, and 40 yard dash time sometimes take the
place of the person in the eyes of talent evaluators like others and
myself. In this wild dash to get the workout warrior or the guy who
played at the powerhouse university with the household name for a head
coach, we can lose sight of players from smaller universities with big
hearts and big game. Some could argue that this is what has led
to NFL
GMs passing up guys like Jerry Rice. Granted not everyone that we
don’t know about today will project to be great NFL players, but some
do have a very good chance. I recently had an opportunity to speak with
one such “Small School” player. Remember the name I am about to give
you: William “Big Play” Hayes.
Hayes is a bit of a hybrid at the DE/SAM LB position out of little
known Winston-Salem State University. Don’t let the Small School
label
fool you though. Hayes is a big man with big game who doesn’t mind
carrying the stigma around with him. “It definitely puts a chip on your
shoulders” Hayes said of coming from a smaller school. I asked him if
he thought that it helped or hurt him to have that sort of label. Hayes
was resolute in responding, “It can help you though because it
creates
a sense of urgency about your workouts. You know that you have to work
that much harder to get people’s respect.” Hayes added that “a
lot of
times, scouts are really focused on strength of schedule and who you
played. To me though, that doesn’t really matter because some of the
best NFL players have come from smaller schools and obviously
succeeded. I don’t worry about it. I just go out and work hard. I mean,
if I had gone to Virginia Tech or Miami or something like that, people
would be talking about me as a second round pick right now. One thing I
can bring is a good pass rush right out of the gate. And I understand
the position. When a team lines up I know at least what they like to do
out of that formation. That comes from listening to coaches and
breaking down films.”
Part of what some NFL GMs don’t like about what they call “hybrids” is
that sometimes, they don’t have a real position. I asked Hayes where he
would most like to play and being the hardnosed competitor that he is,
his answer did not surprise me. “I definitely want to play defensive
end. I have been playing it longer and I am more comfortable there.” It
takes a true warrior of the gridiron to prefer standing in against
300lb men and going nose to nose with them instead of standing up as a
linebacker and sometimes being able to avoid them. Do not
misunderstand though; Hayes knows that he may have to do some standing
up. “I have heard that a lot of teams want to make me a SAM (strong
side linebacker) in the 3-4 defense. That would be fine too because I
am quick and being a down linemen or a standup rusher in the 3-4 are
sort of the same position.” Hayes certainly has the size and quickness
to excel at both positions. He weighs in at 272 pounds on his 6 foot 2
inch frame. Oh, and as for his 40 time? 4.6. That is the same time that
Ohio State standout and potentially top 5 pick Vernon Gholston ran at
the combine. That size and speed would come in handy if he ever gets a
chance to play the position he told me he would play if he wasn’t on
defense. “Tight end” Hayes said with a laugh. I asked him “so you have
good hands then?” the laugh disappeared and with 100% seriousness he
responded, “I have great hands, sir. Great hands”
| Despite all
of the strengths that all prospects have,
there is no such thing as a perfect prospect and Hayes understands that
as well. “I have been working on my explosiveness and getting faster. I
have also done some hands drills so that when linemen get out and get
their hands on me, I can get them off me just as quick.” He also noted
that while he does know the position, he could use some work on his
technique. “Being technically sounds is probably something that I need
to work on a little bit more. At WSSU we didn’t really focus on my
technique as much. They basically just let me use my raw talent to get
where I needed to go. I do have some technique, but I could definitely
get better there.” Hayes also said, as if to prove he understood how
the whole process works “I know there’s a lot of work for me to do
technically. I know that. I am a quick learner though. A very quick
learner.” |
|
We got down to business and started talking about the common buzzwords
that so many scouts and evaluators live and die by this time of year. I
asked him about the combine and he told me that he didn’t go but “heard
there were a bunch of teams asking where I was. Some teams were
disappointed I wasn’t there. Also, for some reason, there was a rumor
going around that I only weighed 240 so that was scaring some people
off. But I promise, I am definitely 270 pounds.” Despite missing the
combine, Hayes assured me that he would still be getting some looks
from teams. “I have my pro-day at Wake Forest and I am looking forward
to that. Also, my agent says I have about four workouts for teams
coming up. I’m excited.”
When pressed to disclose interested teams, Hayes responded, “I don’t
think I can talk about that. My agent might not like that.” And then he
said something that proves what kind of human being and athlete he is.
“Sorry” he said. He didn’t have to apologize to the somewhat pushy
journalist, but he did. Not only did that prove that William
understands how this whole process works, he also understands that
despite people being reduced to numbers, they were, after all, still
people.
I told Hayes to pretend like I was an NFL GM and give me one thing to
remember him by amongst all of the other prospects I would be seeing.
“Drafting me will be the best thing you’ve ever done. No regrets.” How
can you argue with that?
Michael
Abromowitz's 2008 NFL
Mock
Draft
Gregory Cox's 2008
NFL Mock Draft
Paul Eide's 2008 NFL
Mock Draft
Joey Bure's 2008 NFL Mock Draft
Jared
Donnelly's 2008 NFL Mock
Draft
Mock
Draft Database
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
