Philadelphia Eagles: Daeshon Hall deserves more than two snaps

Despite amassing a monstrous eight QB hits in the preseason, Daeshon Hall deserves a whole lot more than two snaps for the Philadelphia Eagles through Week 4.

One could argue that Daeshon Hall was the Philadelphia Eagles‘ best player through the first four games of the 2019 season.

Now granted, those first four games were technically in the preseason, largely playing against backups, but still, the numbers speak for themselves: Four sacks, four tackles for a loss, eight quarterback hits, and 10 tackles.

Again, mostly backups/UPS drivers, I get it, but the Eagles didn’t have another player who has a line even half as impressive; a realization that in hindsight should have raised a few more red flags at the time.

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Alright, I think we can all agree that Hall had a pretty impressive preseason after being initially viewed as a bubble player – earning his place on the 53 man roster with each passing week – but when you juxtapose his production in August to that of September, there’s an oddly troubling, and obvious disconnect.

But how could this be? Is Hall a classic example of a “workout warrior” who flashes against younger players (Hall is 24) only to disappear when he ‘graduates’ to actual NFL vets? Have teams figured out his skill set and neutralized his advantages coming off the edge?

None of the above. The real reason Hall hasn’t made an impact through the first four games of the regular season is because he didn’t play.

Ok, technically that isn’t true, Hall actually earned two snaps against the Green Bay Packers in Week 4, but after getting basically no statistical production out of the defensive line over the first month of the season, one has to wonder why a player a month removed from being an opposing quarterback’s worst nightmare has only been active for one game.

Is Hall better than Brandon Graham or Derek Barnett? No, despite what some angry fans will tell you, Hall isn’t going to step in and instantly become the next Shaquil Barrett off the edge, but is he really that much worse than Vinny Curry or Josh Sweat, a duo who have combined for four tackles, two QB hits, and a tackle for loss in 168 combined defensive snaps?

I don’t know about you, but I’d like to find out.

Despite coming to Philly unceremoniously as a practice squader, Hall was actually drafted in the third round (77th overall) out of Texas A&M by the Carolina Panthers – presumably to play defensive end in the team’s then attacking 4-3 front. For those keeping track at home, that’s 53 spots higher than Sweat in 2018 and 61 spots higher than Penn State rusher Shareef Miller was selected in 2019.

Had Howie Roseman selected Hall in the third round and he turned in the very same preseason performance, fans in the 215 would be feverishly knocking on the doors of the NovaCare Center angry mob-style – demanding to know why the team won’t unleash their secret weapon.

But you know what they say: It’s not about how you got to the City of Brotherly Love, but how many sacks you amass while there (that’s a real quote, right?).

Next. Duke Riley is a fantastic special teamer. dark

With their secondary becoming thinner and thinner by the day, the Philadelphia Eagles are going to have to rely even harder on their defensive line to disrupt opposing quarterback’s decision-making and limit the amount of time players like Orlando Scandrick and Craig James have to drop into coverage. Truth be told, there’s almost no downside in upping Daeshon Hall’s snap count moving forward, as Jim Schwartz‘s defensive line really can’t get any worse than they already are.

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