Seahawks go pass rusher to open 2nd round with Auburn’s Derick Hall

The Seattle Seahawks did not address the front seven of their defense in the first round, but they did right off the bat in the second with Auburn edge rusher/outside linebacker Derick Hall.

Seattle Seahawks Draft Breakdown: A look at every 2023 NFL Draft pick

Hall, who Seattle selected 37th overall Friday, is 6 foot 3 and 254 pounds with 34 1/2-inch arms, and he had 19.5 sacks for the Tigers over the last three years. He finished with 6.5 sacks in 2022 along with 11.5 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles. He’s also very quick, running the 40-yard dash in 4.55 seconds at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Drafting @derick_hall9 will be the best decision y’all will make‼️

Source: Us 🦅pic.twitter.com/xGAjzEDJwT

— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) March 22, 2023

Hall joins a Seahawks defensive front that needs more talent up front, but Seattle has a good group in place off the edge with outside linebackers Uchenna Nwosu and Darrell Taylor, who each had 9.5 sacks last season, and Boye Mafe, who was a second-round pick last year.

Hall is the second defender taken by Seattle in its first three picks, joining No. 5 overall pick Devon Witherspoon, a cornerback from Illinois.

DERICK HALL CAN DO ALL 🔥

☑️ First career INT for @derick_hall9#WarEagle🦅 | 📺 https://t.co/pQk5h4rqz3 pic.twitter.com/WgTKUjuo3g

— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) September 24, 2022

If you’ve been following Seahawks drafts over the years, it should come as no surprise that Hall, like many Seattle picks of late, attended the Senior Bowl earlier this offseason. The Senior Bowl’s executive director is Jim Nagy, a former Seahawks scout.

NFL.com draft expert Lance Zierlein had Hall pegged as a second-round pick, and wrote this about him for a draft profile for the website:

Explosive and long, Hall plays with a rugged demeanor and puts his traits to work as an assertive power rusher capable of putting offensive tackles in reverse. He tends to lack consistency when forced to read and react in the run game and his rush approach is predictable with charges down the fairway. However, his jolting initial contact can help him gain positioning and he’s excellent at transitioning from bulldozer to pocket vulture as a sack artist. He is average against the run, exploitable in coverage and in need of a more diversified rush approach, but a true power rush usually translates in the NFL.

Hall represents the final piece of the Seahawks’ trade with Denver last year that sent quarterback Russell Wilson to the Broncos. The No. 37 pick was originally Denver’s.

2023 Seattle Seahawks draft picks

• First round (5th overall): Illinois CB Devon Witherspoon
• First round (20th overall): Ohio State WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
• Second round (37th overall): Auburn edge Derick Hall
• Second round (52nd overall): UCLA RB Zach Charbonnet
• Fourth round (108th overall): LSU guard Anthony Bradford
• Fourth round (123rd overall): Mississippi State defensive tackle Cameron Young
• Fifth round (151st overall): Michigan edge Mike Morris
• Fifth round (15th overall): Michigan center Olusegun Oluwatimi
• Sixth round (198th overall): New Mexico safety Jerrick Reed II
• Seventh round (237th overall): Georgia RB Kenny McIntosh

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