Casey Hayward, Vanderbilt football's career leader in interceptions, makes our countdown at No. 17. Follow our countdown to No. 1 at our landing page.
Honors and awards: 2010 second-team All-Southeastern Conference (AP, coaches)
2011 second-team All-SEC (AP, coaches)
2011 second-team All-American (Rivals, Yahoo!, Walter Camp)
2012 Senior Bowl
In the VU record book: Single-season interceptions: tied-third and tied-sixth(seven in 2011, six in 2010)
Career interceptions: tied-first (15)
Before VU: Starred at Georgia's Perry County High, where he was a three-year team captain. Was a three-year starter at quarterback and two-year starter at defensive back. Was Region 4-AAA Offensive Player of the Year and also an all-state defensive back. Rushed for 1,284 yards and 18 TDs; passed for 1,300 yards and 18 TDs. Had four interceptions, returning three for TDs. Averaged 30.5 yards returning kicks. Had 39 career touchdown passes and scored 36. Starting guard in basketball and also a sprinter/triple jumper in track.
Freshman (2008): One of three true freshman to see action during the season; played in every game, primarily as a nickel back and on special teams coverage for a 7-6 (4-4 SEC) team that won the Music City Bowl. Had three tackles in the bowl game and two passes defended. Had two tackles and a forced fumble in victory at Ole Miss.
Sophomore (2009): Named team's postseason Most Valuable Defensive Back after starting every game at corner for a 2-10 (0-8) team that allowed 23.3 points and 165 passing yards per game (6.5 per attempt). Ranked fifth in the team in total tackles and solo stops. Led squad in tackles for loss and ranked second in interceptions and passes defended. Had at least three tackles in 11 games. Earned team's Defensive Player of the Week twice (13 stops--four four loss--at LSU; six tackles and an interception vs. Georgia). Added eight tackles and an interception vs. Ole Miss.
Junior (2010): Started every game at corner for a 2-10 (1-7) team. Led the SEC and ranked third in the SEC in passes defended for a team that allowed 31.2 points and 226 passing yards a game (7.8 per pass). Ranked second in the SEC and fifth nationally in interceptions. Had at least three tackles in 11 of 12 games. Had interceptions in four straight games (LSU, Ole Miss, Connecticut and Eastern Michigan), and added the other two against South Carolina and Tennessee. Had nine tackles against Georgia and South Carolina and eight solo stops against Wake Forest.
Senior (2011): Started every game at corner for a 6-7 (2-6) team that lost in the Liberty Bowl, one that allowed 21.6 points and 192 passing yards per game and 6.3 yards per pass. Tied Leonard Coleman's career interception mark. Had six pass break-ups vs. Arkansas. Had two interceptions and eight tackles against Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl. Returned an interception for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of a comeback win vs. Connecticut. Had two picks against South Carolina. In part-time offensive duty rushed five times for 60 yards.
Post-VU: Hayward, a second-round pick of the Packers (62nd overall), has had a stellar NFL career. Hayward spent four years with the Packers and then the last four with the Chargers; in that time, he's been a first-team all-pro by at least one media outlet twice, and a second-teamer twice.
Final thoughts, and why I ranked him where I did: Pardon my redundancy, but players are ranked on the volume and value of their work at Vanderbilt. But there are problems with that. Defenders are particularly hard to judge by stats because so much is dependent on team context, and the lines get blurred even more when you play for really good or bad teams. (Hayward played for two very bad ones, and particularly the 2010 bunch.) And on those occasions, I lean more on outside context which comes from whether or not a player played professionally, and how he did there.
While it was never ambiguous as to whether Hayward was a good college player or not, we learned he was a great player, period, once he got to the NFL. A three-year, $36 million extension that Hayward signed with the Chargers before the 2018 season, proves that. Pete Prisco ranks Hayward as the NFL's 83rd-best player heading into the 2020 season.
There was also what he did at Vanderbilt. Making second-team All-American on a losing team and sharing the school's career interception lead (with two of the top-six single-seasons in that regard) is pretty loud. The school doesn't keep career records for pass break-ups, but if it did, I suspect Hayward's 39 would top the list.
Again, quantifying all of this isn't easy, but if you look at how Hayward's place on the school history charts combined with what we now know about how talented he really is, I've got no qualms putting him inside the top 20.
