I’m still baffled that the Christian Haynes pick didn’t work out.
October 28, 2025
I’m still baffled that the Christian Haynes pick didn’t work out.
17 comments
I was deep into the pre-draft weeds in the months leading up to the 2024 Draft and Haynes was right up there with Cooper Beebe for being the best pure guard prospect in the class.
Dude was a stud for UConn and I was thrilled when we were able to land him in the 3rd Round. It was by no means a reach pick. Dude was a highly touted and regarded guard.
But he’s been an abject failure in the NFL…unable to beat out Anthony “I’m single-handedly dragging the 2025 O-line down” Bradford at guard.
Like…what happened. What concern did I miss with him because he felt like such an open-and-shut, slam dunk pick for the team to make at the time.
Seems like play strength just isn’t at the NFL level but there’s probably more to it than that.
The verdict is still out. He’s young and has been injured.
the whole christian haynes thing is really weird and confusing to me tbh. he basically hasn’t even played. when it was looking like he might get some playing time last year we bent over backwards trying to get a 6th round pick tackle in instead.
i just think it’s incredibly weird that we basically haven’t even given him a chance at all. like how does a 2x all american seem to be worthy of a 3rd round pick be such a monumental bust (just from how he looks in practice btw) that they’re not even willing to give him a shot in games? it’s a much weirder situation than people seem to think.
It’s his work ethic.
Last year there was a report about how coaching ripped into a player for showing up so out of shape. It turns out it was Haynes the quote was something along the lines of “if your contract wasn’t guaranteed I would cut you”.
At the time I believed it was Bradford but it leaked in like February that it was actually Haynes.
Well last yr he wasn’t hurt and Lameau out worked him. The coach staff alluded to this without actually saying it. Haynes isn’t ready to be a pro and won over lesser comp in college. He has not raised his game and it’s not sufficient to play at the NFL level.
Obviously a speculation but I wonder if theres more to this outside of him just not being able, somehow, to translate any of that potential to even becoming an average starter quality player.
Bradford only beat him cause he’s injured and it sounds like he will be put in at RG when he comes back with the hope that we will see him come to form. Grub didn’t know how to translate his success into the NFL or how to develop OLineman. Kubiak has a OLine friendly scheme
It’s such a bummer and the FO often gets derided as if they aren’t trying to fix issues on the line. Some prospects and FAs just don’t work out or meet their potential. It’s frustrating when they come at such a position of need
Happens to many teams many years – you draft a guy, get him into camp, and then realize that they aren’t cut out for the NFL at all. Inexact science.
In spite of everything it still feels premature to label him a total bust and failure. He’s been on IR since preseason. He was just a rookie last year and it’s not like he still can’t work his way back.
Once you get into the 3rd round it gets pretty hit or miss with players, and guards often take a while to develop, and especially so with a new scheme and coaching staff from year 1 to 2.
There is always volatility with picks.
It’s not a satisfying answer but some guys just don’t have what it takes. Haynes is a bust, it’s gonna happen sometimes to every team. The process that lead to drafting him wasn’t terrible.
Still too early to say honestly. Most mid round offensive linemen don’t develop into starters until 3-4 years
Its weird people have already written him off… obviously we hoped for more at this point but he is 25 this is the same point fries popped off.
Playing RG at a meh college in a meh division and playing RG in the NFL are two different things.
17 comments
I was deep into the pre-draft weeds in the months leading up to the 2024 Draft and Haynes was right up there with Cooper Beebe for being the best pure guard prospect in the class.
Dude was a stud for UConn and I was thrilled when we were able to land him in the 3rd Round. It was by no means a reach pick. Dude was a highly touted and regarded guard.
But he’s been an abject failure in the NFL…unable to beat out Anthony “I’m single-handedly dragging the 2025 O-line down” Bradford at guard.
Like…what happened. What concern did I miss with him because he felt like such an open-and-shut, slam dunk pick for the team to make at the time.
Seems like play strength just isn’t at the NFL level but there’s probably more to it than that.
The verdict is still out. He’s young and has been injured.
the whole christian haynes thing is really weird and confusing to me tbh. he basically hasn’t even played. when it was looking like he might get some playing time last year we bent over backwards trying to get a 6th round pick tackle in instead.
i just think it’s incredibly weird that we basically haven’t even given him a chance at all. like how does a 2x all american seem to be worthy of a 3rd round pick be such a monumental bust (just from how he looks in practice btw) that they’re not even willing to give him a shot in games? it’s a much weirder situation than people seem to think.
It’s his work ethic.
Last year there was a report about how coaching ripped into a player for showing up so out of shape. It turns out it was Haynes the quote was something along the lines of “if your contract wasn’t guaranteed I would cut you”.
At the time I believed it was Bradford but it leaked in like February that it was actually Haynes.
Well last yr he wasn’t hurt and Lameau out worked him. The coach staff alluded to this without actually saying it. Haynes isn’t ready to be a pro and won over lesser comp in college. He has not raised his game and it’s not sufficient to play at the NFL level.
Obviously a speculation but I wonder if theres more to this outside of him just not being able, somehow, to translate any of that potential to even becoming an average starter quality player.
Bradford only beat him cause he’s injured and it sounds like he will be put in at RG when he comes back with the hope that we will see him come to form. Grub didn’t know how to translate his success into the NFL or how to develop OLineman. Kubiak has a OLine friendly scheme
It’s such a bummer and the FO often gets derided as if they aren’t trying to fix issues on the line. Some prospects and FAs just don’t work out or meet their potential. It’s frustrating when they come at such a position of need
Happens to many teams many years – you draft a guy, get him into camp, and then realize that they aren’t cut out for the NFL at all. Inexact science.
In spite of everything it still feels premature to label him a total bust and failure. He’s been on IR since preseason. He was just a rookie last year and it’s not like he still can’t work his way back.
Once you get into the 3rd round it gets pretty hit or miss with players, and guards often take a while to develop, and especially so with a new scheme and coaching staff from year 1 to 2.
There is always volatility with picks.
It’s not a satisfying answer but some guys just don’t have what it takes. Haynes is a bust, it’s gonna happen sometimes to every team. The process that lead to drafting him wasn’t terrible.
Still too early to say honestly. Most mid round offensive linemen don’t develop into starters until 3-4 years
Its weird people have already written him off… obviously we hoped for more at this point but he is 25 this is the same point fries popped off.
Playing RG at a meh college in a meh division and playing RG in the NFL are two different things.