Seahawks need much more from Derick Hall after quiet rookie season

The Seattle Seahawks pass rush, as has been the case for at least five seasons running, struggled to generate consistent pressure in 2023. Uchenna Nwosu’s early-season torn pectoral injury was a pivotal point in Seattle’s season, shifting the (ahem) pressure to other edge rushers to step up their respective games. Only Boye Mafe was able to hold up his end of the bargain with a major second season leap.

Hopefully, the sophomore surge also applies to 2023 second-round pick Derick Hall, who was a general non-factor as a rookie.

Hall did record five quarterback hits and three tackles for loss, but did not register a sack. While not getting any sacks in just 137 pass rushing snaps is disappointing, the least Hall could do was generate pressures. Needless to say, that didn’t happen.

Of all edge rushers with at least 125 pass rushing snaps, Hall ranked 94th out of 121 players in pass rush win rate at 7.6%. Incidentally, his teammate Darrell Taylor ranked 106th. PFF defines pass rush win rate as “wins vs Blocking on non-penalty Pass Rush Snaps.” In other words, the ability to beat the opposing blocker(s), regardless of whether a pressure is generated or not.

There is not a single pass rushing statistic in which Hall is even in the 50th percentile, let alone 75th and up. His 5.3% hurry rate placed him in the bottom quartile of all qualifying pass rushers, likewise his 8.3% pressure rate. If you’re into valuing PFF grades, Hall was 120th out of 120 qualifying edge rushers against the run.

But not all hope is lost!

For context, here were Boye Mafe’s statistics in the same categories in limited rookie reps:

Pass Rush Win Rate: 6.3% (113th out of 125 qualifying edge rushers)

Hurries Rate: 3.4% (119th of 125)

Pressure Rate: 5.7% (119th of 125)

Run Defense Grade: 26th out of 128

The clear delineation between the two players is run defense, where Mafe was vastly superior as a rookie. Mafe’s second season saw his sacks triple from three to nine, and he ranked in the top-40 among edge rushers PRWR, hurries, and pressure rates. His sack productivity matched his improvements elsewhere.

This is not a guarantee that Hall will follow Mafe’s path identically, but there is very recent precedent that he’ll be able to make major strides after not producing much as a rookie. From a personal standpoint, it’s impossible not to root for Hall. From a football standpoint, the hope is that he’ll soon justify why the Seahawks took him at No. 37 overall.

The Seahawks have been begging for a semblance of a consistent pass rush since the Michael Bennett-Cliff Avril tandem disbanded in 2017, and even if Hall is unlikely to get major playing time ahead of Mafe and Nwosu, he can still play an important role in turning Seattle’s defense around.