BYU’s Kaleb Hayes Has Elite Athletic Profile Among Draft Hopefuls
Mar 27, 2023, 3:17 PM
PROVO, Utah – The star of BYU’s Pro Day last week was cornerback Kaleb Hayes.
A former transfer from Oregon State, Hayes was a starter for BYU the past two seasons and was one of the top cornerbacks in the program. He had 19 pass breakups and 67 tackles during his two years at BYU.
Here’s what a 4.31 40-yard dash looks like.#BYU CB Kaleb Hayes had himself a day. @King_Hayes001
🎥: @matthewLksl / @kslsports pic.twitter.com/YTSmHXh1PX
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) March 25, 2023
Hayes had a productive collegiate career at BYU. But then you pair it up with the impressive Pro Day performance he had; suddenly, Hayes has to be viewed as a potential NFL draft pick.
Hayes shined at BYU Pro Day
Hayes ran a 4.31 unofficial 40-yard dash. Before that, he jumped out of the Indoor Practice Facility with a 40-inch vertical. Plus, he had an impressive showing on the bench for a cornerback, with 17 reps at 225 pounds.
“I feel like I did what I had to do,” said Hayes on his Pro Day performance. “Throughout the months I’ve been training, you know, I had a chip on my shoulder for not being able to participate in many events. It was a great opportunity for me to turn some heads and have some eyes looking at me and show them that I am an athlete and I am going to perform, I am going to compete, and I am going to win.”
40-inch vertical for #BYU CB Kaleb Hayes.#BYUFootball pic.twitter.com/z9VnwvCMup
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) March 24, 2023
Pair that up with a 5-foot-11 build that includes arms that measure in at 33 3/8; Hayes has a unique athletic profile heading into the final stages of the NFL draft process.
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In fact, Hayes’ Pro Day scores paired up with his measurements are historic.
Historic RAS score for Kaleb Hayes
Relative Athletic Score (RAS) is a tool that measures a football player’s athletic ability. It factors in height, weight, arm length, hand size, 40-times, shuttle drills, vertical, three-cone, and other metrics to give a player a score out of 10.
The RAS is a popular tool used during the NFL draft season and has been in circulation since 1987.
When you factor in all of the impressive metrics behind Kaleb Hayes, his Relative Athletic Score (RAS) is 9.89 out of 10. That would be good for the 24th-best cornerback profile out of 2,065 players since 1987.
Kaleb Hayes is a CB prospect in the 2023 draft class. He scored an unofficial 9.89 RAS out of a possible 10.00 after his pro day. This ranked 24 out of 2065 CB from 1987 to 2023. https://t.co/pY9VrB05o8 #RAS pic.twitter.com/b8wZSKej8H
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) March 25, 2023
The 9.89 RAS score for Hayes is the fifth-best among 2023 cornerbacks in this draft class. When you scale out even further, he would rank 17th among all draft hopefuls in the 2023 cycle. That is subject to change as colleges continue to host Pro Days, but it puts Hayes in an elite tier of athleticism that should give him a chance to earn an NFL opportunity.
One spot in front of Hayes is his BYU teammate, offensive tackle Blake Freeland. The NFL world saw how big of a freak Freeland is after a dazzling NFL Combine performance that included a record-setting 37-inch vertical.
The 2023 NFL draft is April 27-29 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU moving to the Big 12 Conference on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
