New York Giants Draft: 5 more middle-round targets, including Derick Hall
EDGE Derick Hall, Auburn:
The New York Giants need to add edge rushers this offseason, and an ideal fit for the New York to target is Derick Hall out of Auburn.
Coming in at 6-foot-3 and 251 pounds, Hall had a dominant season at Auburn, tallying 39 combined tackles, 10 sacks, 8 QB hits, 25 QB hurries, two forced fumbles and 12 tackles for loss in 13 games played.
Hall possesses elite athleticism and speed which allow him to get a great advantage off the edge against opposing offensive lineman, however, with this speed and athleticism comes a bit of a lack of strength.
There are moments in Hall’s film when he is not running around or inside his man he is often getting stood up and shut down, this causes him to lack consistency. Another issue I have noticed with Derick Hall is that he sometimes chooses to rely on his speed as opposed to legit pass-rushing moves, this causes him to lose his pass-rushing matchups sometimes as he is not able to run by every offensive lineman.
However, despite this lack of strength and decisiveness, Hall still has the potential and skill set to be an elite speed rusher in the NFL if he can work out these issues, his ability to rush both inside and outside is something that could be of use to the New Yrok Giants.
A good example of Hall’s speed around the edge is shown off in this clip here:
Hall (No. 29) beats his man off the edge after dipping his shoulder underneath the block, this causes him to gain a massive advantage on his man and get the sack. Also, keep in mind that in this same game against Alabama, Derick Hall had arguably his best pass-rushing game of the season, taking down Bryce Young three times.
While Derick Hall does have some holes that could hinder his ability to have an instant impact on the game early on, if he can fix these issues and smooth out his game he has the potential to be an elite edge rusher in the NFL.