Is Casey Hayward Ready to Start at Cornerback for Green Bay Packers?

With Tramon Williams and Davon House gone, who will start at cornerback for the Green Bay Packers opposite Sam Shields in 2015? Is Casey Hayward, who excels in the slot, ready for a move outside?

That is one of the biggest questions the Packers will have to answer this offseason, and in so doing, they will turn to either the draft or their current roster.

There are any number of cornerback prospects Green Bay could consider early in the draft. There's 6'0" Kevin Johnson out of Wake Forest, talented but troubled Marcus Peters out of Washington, former national champion P.J. Williams from Florida State or former basketball star and natural athlete Quinten Rollins out of Miami of Ohio.

But cornerback is possibly the most difficult position to develop after quarterback, and the higher the selection, the bigger the bust potential.

General manager Ted Thompson knows this. It's why most of his cornerbacks have been drafted in Round 4 or later:

Year	Player	Round	Pick
2005	Mike Hawkins, Oklahoma	5	167
2006	Will Blackmon, Boston College	4	115
2008	Pat Lee, Auburn	2	60
2009	Brandon Underwood, Cincinnati	6	187
2011	Davon House, New Mexico State	4	131
2012	Casey Hayward, Vanderbilt	2	62
2013	Micah Hyde, Iowa	5	159
2014	Demetri Goodson, Baylor	6	197

The notable exceptions have been Pat Lee (60th overall in 2008) and Hayward (62nd overall in 2012).

On the other side of the spectrum, longtime Packer and new Cleveland Brown Tramon Williams was an undrafted free agent.

Lee was a bust, starting only one game for the Packers. That leaves Hayward, who has performed exceptionally well in the slot and occasionally outside, too.

Is the former second-round pick ready to take on the starting job or will Thompson gamble in the draft?

Hayward was the highest-graded slot cornerback (at least 50 percent of defensive snaps played) in 2014. Of Hayward's 470 total snaps last season, he played 225 in the slot, allowing only 88 yards after the catch on 16 receptions and nabbing three interceptions.

Quarterbacks throwing into Hayward's slot coverage in 2014 averaged a passer rating of just 70.5, the second-lowest among slot corners.

Hayward finished the season ranked No. 9 out of 110 cornerbacks, the highest of any Packers corner in 2014. He allowed opponents a catch rate of 65.4 percent, which fell in about the top third of cornerbacks last season.

He played 40.1 percent of the team's total defensive snaps and posted 42 combined tackles as well as eight missed tackles.

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Hayward looked like a starting-caliber NFL cornerback after his impressive rookie season in which he had 53 combined tackles, six picks and an incredible 21 passes defended. But he played just three games in 2013, as he was sidelined with a hamstring injury.

In 2014, Hayward had just one start and played mostly in the slot, as the outside was set with Shields and Williams.

However, defensive coordinator Dom Capers has expressed confidence in Hayward's ability to handle a bigger role.

"I've got confidence that if we need to expand his role that he'll step in, and he's always responded in the past when we've asked him to do more," Capers said in October, per Paul Imig of Fox Sports Wisconsin. "So I think he's very capable of doing that."

It's a logical assumption that the Packers' brass felt comfortable letting Williams and House walk in free agency because it felt it had a potential starter behind them on the roster in Hayward.

But it's just that—an assumption—and only Thompson and head coach Mike McCarthy know what their plan to address the hole will be, whether that's through the draft or by promoting Hayward.

If Hayward does move outside full-time, Micah Hyde would likely take over as the primary nickelback. Hyde played 242 of his 811 total snaps in the slot in 2014, starting five games at slot corner and eight at safety.

Though Hyde played at safety in all eight games in the first half of the season, he played in the slot in seven of the final eight regular-season games and then in both the divisional round of the playoffs and the NFC Championship Game.

There are two conditions to a potential move by Hayward to the outside. First, he must be ready for the starting job, and at 5'11", he must be able to cover the large receivers in the NFC North. Second, the Packers must have a reliable playmaker in the slot.

Given the risk in developing a rookie enough in training camp for him to become an instant starter, the Packers' best move for 2015 might be to plan to start Hayward outside and play Hyde in the nickel while developing a promising draft selection who has the size and skills to play outside.

However, that means Goodson becomes the primary dime back, and there's dangerously little depth if either Shields or Hayward is injured.

With this free-agency period's best corners already signed, the Packers need to draft skillfully in April and fortify the position.

Advanced statistics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.