So I'm looking at Hall a little bit and I think we all know about the negatives around the kid - undersized, small school, etc., so I'm going to focus on some good things I'm seeing. Don't let this comparison shock you, but I have to say i see a bit of Aaron Donald in him.
Yeah, Hall played against lesser competition, but he's also just a little bigger and stronger than Donald. He weighs 18 lbs more and had 2 or 3 more bench reps than Donald. and they're both about 6'1".
BUT....
Here's the HUGE difference: Donald posted a 32" vertical at his combine. Hall's vertical was 38". That's a pretty damn big difference, and tells me Hall's a really athletic kid. And that vert showed itself because this fucker blocked FOURTEEN kicks in college.
Donald ran a 4.68 40. i think Hall was something like 4.72 or thereabouts, which is damn close and explained away by the extra 18 lbs. neither of them have good arm length - I'm not sure what Hall's arms are, but Donald's are only 32"... Physically, they're pretty similar players.
So a lot like Kolton Miller, it looks to me like it was Hall's Combine workout that shot him up the Raiders board. Also, it seems Hall had a semi-spectacular showing at the Senior Bowl, which helped dispel concerns about how he'd fare against superior competition.
That's not to say it's all about the physical with Hall, because he pretty much won just about everything there is to win in the FCS. All-American FCS in both his junior and senior years, finalist for the DPOY in 2016. FORTY-TWO fucking sacks from the interior. Best I can tell, he NEVER MISSED A GAME in college. So he was a prolific player by all standards.
I'm NOT saying Hall is the next Donald. Could he be? Stranger things have happened. He has the physical tools adn he seems to have the will, but we all know you need more than that to do what Donald does, and guys like that are usually generational.
Here's what I AM saying: 1) There are some legit reasons why Gruden and Reggie may have reached for this kid and 2) he could easily turn out to be a better cog for us than any of us expect him to be - and could most definitely be highly productive, whether he's a full-time starter or not, in 2018.