To Draft or Not To Draft? Why NFL Teams Should Eye Joey Haynos

Uncertainty can create doubt—and doubt can lead to failure.  Effort becomes forced.  Assignments are missed. Passes get dropped.

But for Joey Haynos, uncertainty has always translated into opportunity.

As a high school senior, Haynos chose a preferred walk-on opportunity at Maryland rather than scholarship offers in football and basketball at smaller schools.  It was a leap of faith bridged by self-confidence and hard work. 

In 2006, when Vernon Davis left Maryland a year early to become the sixth overall pick of the San Francisco 49ers, it created uncertainty for the Terps—and an opportunity for Haynos.

Now, the 6’8”, 260-pound tight end is using the same formula to overcome further uncertainty: whether NFL scouts will deem him worthy of a draft pick. 

“[In high school], I thought maybe there was a chance [to play in the NFL],” recalls Haynos.  “But it was a real long shot.  It was just sort of a dream.”

Now that dream is a broad jump away, making his composure even more striking.

“This is a time in every kid’s life when things start to change,” Haynos says.  “I don’t know what’s going to happen on draft day.  I don’t think anyone does.” 

Plenty get paid handsomely to project, though. 

There were 13 tight ends taken in the 2007 NFL Draft.  Depending on whom you ask, Haynos ranks approximately 15th in the 2008 class—a late-round pick at best. 

At last week’s NFL Combine, he impressed scouts in the vertical jump (30.5”), broad jump (10’3’’), and three-cone drill (6.92 seconds)—ranking in the top six or better in each of those categories among tight ends.

However, his 4.9-second time in the 40-yard dash was off the 4.8 pace he’d hoped for, and there continue to be doubts about his speed and blocking ability. 

But Haynos shrugs off doubt as if it were a would-be tackler—with a sort of confidence that is neither conceited nor stubborn, but merely a product of having successfully dealt with the pressure of uncertainty before. 

“I’ve got a little chip on my shoulder,” he says, seemingly without resentment.

“I’ve got a lot of support, don’t get me wrong.  [But] people didn’t think I could play at Maryland.  I’ve always had something to prove.  I like proving people wrong. I know if I get into a camp, I’ll make a team.”

Haynos is the kind of player who’s better in pads than shorts, and stands a better chance of impressing coaches in an environment that’s more workplace and less cattle auction.  In five seasons at Maryland, he never missed a practice or a game.

“I am pretty reliable.  I work hard,” he said.  “I’m always trying to get better.  I’ve proved I can get downfield, beat safeties and linebackers… and I’ve made some strides in my blocking.”

“[The team that drafts me] will get a good receiver who can block—a pretty versatile tight end.”

Perhaps nowhere is his versatility and reliability better demonstrated than in football’s most uncertain situation: third down.  In Haynos’ senior season, 16 of his 30 receptions were on third down.  Eleven of those 16 kept drives alive.

If the uncertainty of Draft Day is all Haynos has to contend with, expect him to move the chains one more time.