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For what looks to be the last time, the Raiders will be playing in the Oakland Coliseum on Sunday. In the final game, the team welcomes the Jacksonville Jaguars and is a matchup of two teams in the midst of bad losing streaks.
The Raiders-Jaguars game is also a homecoming for one player. Cornerback D.J. Hayden began his career with the Raiders and was a first-round draft pick. He is largely considered a bust and the team didn’t give him a second contract when his rookie deal was up. He had a brief stint with the Detroit Lions and now finds himself on the Jaguars. Apparently, he’s still upset about the Raiders not giving him a second contract.
“Yeah, they ain’t bring me back so, you know what I’m saying, got to make them pay for it,” said Hayden, via the Associated Press’ Mark Long.
That’s bold talk from a player who struggled greatly during his time with the silver and black. He even went a step further and talked about how he’d love to help spoil the last game in Oakland.
“Oh, man, wouldn’t that be nice? That would be sweet, just to go in there and whup ass. But we’ve got to go out there and do it. We can’t talk about it; we’ve got to be about it.”
Jacksonville has the 14th best pass defense in the NFL, so they’re not a bad unit. However, they have one of the worst run defenses. Expect the Raiders rely on the running backs in this game.
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Hayden Among Many 1st Round Cornerbacks Who Didn’t Work in Oakland
Hayden can talk as much trash as he wants, but there’s no reason to believe he deserved a second contract with the Raiders. He was simply one of the worst cornerbacks in the league while with the team. He was also injured quite a bit. It’s hard to blame the Raiders for just cutting their losses after his contract. Hayden’s failure wasn’t the first blunder the team made in the draft and it surely wasn’t the last. He’s improved since leaving town, but there’s no doubt that he’s considered a bust.
Fabian Washington was another first-round pick at cornerback who never lived up to his draft status. We also can’t forget about the recently traded Gareon Conley, who was another first-round pick. For some reason, the Raiders can’t draft cornerbacks in the first round. Nnamdi Asomugha was the last great one and that was all the way back in 2003.
Oakland hasn’t had a top-10 pass defense since 2010 and much of that has been because of the inability to find the right cornerbacks. Trayvon Mullen was a second-round pick in this latest draft and he looks like he has solid potential. The Raiders have had some of the greatest cornerbacks in history. Willie Brown, Mike Haynes, Lester Hayes and Charles Woodson all spent big portions of their careers with the team. It’s past time the Raiders figured out how to draft a true shutdown cornerback.
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