Are the Seahawks getting the ‘real’ Derick Hall now?

The preseason play of second-year Seattle Seahawks edge rusher Derick Hall is creating some hype.

A second-round pick out of Auburn by the Hawks in 2023, Hall didn’t flash much as a rookie. He’s becoming a popular pick to be a breakout player in 2024, however, thanks to what he’s shown in Seattle’s two exhibition games as well as offseason practices.

Rost: What we learned from Seahawks’ second preseason game

What has the 23-year-old Hall shown? Well, there’s this play that’s been making the rounds online of him blowing up a Tennessee Titans tight end in Saturday’s preseason game. And then there’s the sack of Titans quarterback Malik Willis that he teamed up with fellow Seahawks edge rusher Boye Mafe on (see below).

D Hall and Boye got him 😤 pic.twitter.com/52svfa5klh

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) August 17, 2024

All this has Seattle Sports’ Mike Salk wondering about what Hall’s season could look like.

“We’ve spent a lot of time kind of lamenting what happened to Derick Hall last year, a guy who when you see him looks like he should be the best defensive end in the game,” Salk said during Monday’s edition of Brock and Salk. “You watched him last year and he didn’t do a whole lot, (but) he was pretty disruptive for the second straight game (on Saturday). Seeing that video all over the internet this weekend of him just blowing up the tight end who comes over – he destroys that dude, gets to the quarterback on another play. Is Derick Hall real?”

Salk’s co-host, former NFL QB and current FOX football analyst Brock Huard, thinks Hall indeed just might be “real.”

“You know what he looked like last year? Like a lot of the Mariners hitters this year. Just in between,” Huard responded. “Honestly. Like, when the play is there to be made and you get a chance to violently set an edge, then you need to do that. And it just never felt like he totally cut it loose (in 2023). There wasn’t really a game, there weren’t really too many moments where you were like, ‘Yeah, attaboy. Thataway to let 6-4, 260 to just live and breathe and eat.’ You just didn’t feel that a season ago. And yeah, through two preseason games, through training camp, through watching the one-on-ones, there’s no in-between this year. He’s playing faster, he’s playing harder, and he’s playing with a level of violence that you would want to see out of a guy of his size and structure.”

Huard eventually took his evaluation of Hall a step further.

“Certainly this camp and through this offseason, he’s looked like one of the most talented edges they’ve got.”

Video: Most Intriguing Seattle Seahawks – Derick Hall

The fit for the Seahawks defense

A few minutes later in the show, Huard spoke about how the players Seattle has for its defensive front, including Hall, seem to be the right fit for the defense brought in by new Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald. He used the example of Denver rookie QB Bo Nix, the Oregon product whose Broncos will come to Lumen Field for a preseason finale against the Seahawks this Saturday, to illustrate his point.

“You’re seeing those guys move around,” Huard said of edge rushers like Hall, Mafe, Uchenna Nwosu and Darrell Taylor. ” … When Bo (drops back to pass), he’s going to feel a ferocity of noise and speed and violence and just guys moving all over the place. And that’s advantage these guys’ skill set. McDonald and (Seahawks defensive coordinator Aden) Durde inherited a front – and I’ve said this repeatedly for six, seven months – they inherited exactly the kind of clay they need to move around. They did not inherit L.J. Collier. They did not inherit Poona Ford and Al Woods. No. They inherited a bunch of interchangeable, very athletic guys. And throwing Byron (Murphy II) and Leonard Williams and Jarren (Reed) into that mix – pretty diversified front.”

You can hear the full conversation in the podcast at this link or in either of the players embedded in this post. Catch Brock and Salk live from 6-10 a.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.

More on the Seattle Seahawks

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• A key play showed a difference in Seahawks’ new defense
• Wyman: One thing that stood out from Seahawks’ joint practices
• Hasselbeck: ‘There’s something special’ in Seattle Seahawks’ Macdonald

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