Raiders Draft: Logan Hall, DT, Houston scouting report

The Las Vegas Raiders are going to need to add several defensive tackles this offseason. Houston’s Logan Hall offers plenty of upside as an interior pass rusher with his athletic ability and should be on the Raiders’ radar during Day 2 of the NFL Draft.

DT | Houston | 6’ 5 7/8” 278 pounds | Belton, TX

Overview:

Logan Hall came to Houston as a three-star recruit and the 99th weakside defensive end in the country for the 2018 class, per 247 Sports. He was a rotational player as a true freshman and sophomore, then added 20 pounds as a junior and earned a full-time starting spot before packing on 15 more pounds as a senior. Playing almost exclusively as a three-technique in the Cougar’s defense that used a lot of even fronts, the Belton native racked up 97 total tackles, 17.5 for loss, seven sacks and 63 total pressures in college.

Strengths:

• Good get off and initial quickness to get penetration as a one-gapper
• Has an impressive swim move with the quickness and agility to make offensive linemen miss, an effective hand swipe to beat their hands when they punch, and the hip mobility to clear the lineman with his lower half to get a clean win
• Showed improved hand placement when bull rushing and the strength to add that to his pass rush arsenal down the line
• Has a nice spin move as a counter off of the bull rush, and he does a good job clearing the blocker’s arms with an ice pick
• Effective as of the looper on stunts, he has the agility to avoid losing ground when working laterally
• Decent long arm move with perfect hand placement, right on the V of the neck on the offensive lineman that he uses to win as the looper on line games
• Seems to rush with a plan, constantly working counter moves when his initial doesn’t work, will find his way into coverage sacks
• He’s so flexible and agile he has no problem bending and turning tight corners for a defensive tackle
• Most effective as a run defender when slanting, he has the quickness and agility to throw off linemen’s angles and make them miss, and he has a good dip and rip move to get penetration
• When offensive linemen are climbing to the second level, he does a good job of using his hands to disrupt their path
• Shows the strength to get extension to neutralize and get off one-on-one blocks if he gets his hands right more consistently
• At the point of attack, he’s physical, has solid pad level and the extra size as a senior helped him hold his ground more
• Displays good effort in pursuit, he will factor into gang tackles down the field

Areas of Improvement:

• Takes longer to react to the snap on traditional run downs
• Consistent false step when slanting, he doesn’t gain ground with his L-step and will even lose ground with it
• While his hand placement on bull rushes has improved, it’s still too wide which reduces the power/effectiveness of the rush
• Needs to tighten up his arm over on the swim, he does expose his ribs to the blocker
• Consistently late to recognize all types of blocks, causing him to get sealed against reach and scoop blocks, washed against downs, cut and too far up the field against arc releases
• Also, doesn’t get under pullers as the unblocked spill player
• Shouldn’t be asked to two-gap, he lacks the hand placement — too wide — and strength to hold his ground and play both gaps
• He stops his feet on contact which combined with his slower get off on run downs, can cause him trouble against good run-blocking offensive linemen and gives him little chance to hold up against double teams, especially at his current weight

Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Injuries:

• 2021: Elbow surgery (missed bowl game, participated in Senior Bowl)

Projection:

NFL Mock Draft Database consensus big board rank: 37th, 2nd round

Two things are giving Hall’s draft stock a boost, in my opinion. His athletic potential and a relatively weak defensive tackle class overall. Personally, I view Hall as more of a third-round prospect at least talent-wise. He might end up going higher than that when the NFL Draft does come, but that might be more indicative of this class as a whole.

All that being said, I do think Hall can be a solid interior defender in a defense that allows him to penetrate and one-gap. He’s one of the better pass-rushing defensive tackles in this draft class, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him test well at the combine, so the Houston product has plenty of potential.

What do we need to know?

Has he maxed out his frame? As mentioned above, Hall has put on quite a bit of mass over the years, but he’s still a little light for NFL standards and could use some extra size and strength to hold up against the run. We know he has the will to do that, it’s just a matter of how much more his body can take and how will that impact his athleticism.

Fit with the Raiders:

It will depend on how the draft board plays out, but I think Hall will definitely be in play with Las Vegas’ 53rd or 86th overall picks. He’d fill a major need and add some interior pass rush to the defensive line, the only issue is what new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is going to expect of his defensive tackles. The former Cougar doesn’t fit the profile of the players Graham had at the position in New York — Leonard Williams and Dexter Lawrence — but Graham is known as a flexible coordinator.

I think the Raiders should have better options in the second round but Hall is worth the pick-up if he’s still around at 86.

Film Clips: