As the 2018 season moved along into the second half, a name in the Indianapolis Colts secondary that fell by the wayside was cornerback Nate Hairston.
A 2017 fifth-round pick that had a solid rookie campaign, Hairston started out the season as one of the cornerbacks heavily in the rotation for the secondary. However, he rarely saw any playing time during the second half.
Hairston wound up playing 13 games (seven starts) while recording 30 tackles (25 solo) and just one pass defended without an interception.
Hairston was heavily in the rotation throughout the first half of the season. In five of the first six games, Hairston played at least 98.2 percent of the defensive snaps. He missed Week 5 against the New England Patriots due to injury.
He seemed to be well on his way to securing a major role in the defense. However, he was benched in during the Week 8 game against the Oakland Raiders after a coverage breakdown led to a touchdown.
After that Hairston was basically nowhere to be found. Over the second half of the season, the Temple product didn’t see more than six snaps on the defensive side of the ball in any game.
While Hairston saw little time playing in the second half, the Colts defense took off and fellow second-year cornerback Quincy Wilson took over as the CB3 behind Kenny Moore and Pierre Desir.
It isn’t clear what the whole story was with Hairston’s benching, but the fact that he rarely saw any playing time in the second half suggests he has a lot to prove in Year 3.
