Impact hit: Browns rookie's growing role - Topic Powered by eve community

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Impact hit: Hall's clutch sack heralds Browns rookie's growing role

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Browns rookie linebacker Alex Hall has impressed veteran teammate Andra Davis: "He's doing way more than what people expected out of him coming from a small college."

If not for rookie linebacker Alex Hall, the Browns might very well be 0-4 right now, scratching their heads and wondering what to blow up first.
Instead, Hall made the play that sealed the Browns' 20-12 victory over the Bengals and calmed the troubled waters heading into the bye week.

With the Browns clinging precariously to a 17-12 lead in the fourth quarter and the Bengals driving, Hall blasted in from the left side on third down, grabbed quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick by the leg, sacked him for a nine-yard loss and forced him to fumble. Corey Williams fell on the loose ball at the Bengals 19 and the Browns went on to kick a field goal that produced the final margin.

"They had just scored a drive earlier and were pressing to come back and a couple of guys were like, 'we've got to get off the field,'" said Hall. "So I just went out there did it -- tackled the quarterback."

It was the second time in two weeks that the wide-eyed rookie had a sack, the first coming during his first NFL start in Baltimore in place of the injured Willie McGinest (hamstring). On a third-down play in the fourth quarter, he was cut by fullback Le'Ron McClain, spilled to the ground, popped back up, leaped over McClain and smothered Joe Flacco for a 7-yard loss.

In that game, a 28-10 loss, Hall finished with seven tackles, one for a loss, the sack and two quarterback hits. On a second-quarter drive, with the Browns up, 10-7, Hall almost single-handedly blew up a drive, pressuring Flacco into an incompletion on first down and then hurrying him into a short throw to end the series.

"Alex has been a good surprise for us," said General Manager Phil Savage. "He's made a name for himself in the early portion of the season. His sack-fumble really kind of sealed the deal. We have very high hopes for him."

Joshua Gunter/The Plain DealerAlex Hall's sack and strip of Bengals QB Ryan Fitzpatrick sealed the Browns' first victory of 2008 on Sunday.
In training camp, the Browns knew they were onto something with Hall, their seventh-round pick out of tiny Division II St. Augustine, but envisioned him as a project who would come along throughout the season. However, thanks to a season-ending injury to Antwan Peek (knee) and McGinest's hamstring, he was thrust into the starting lineup in Week 3.
"He's already jumping over people for sacks, sealing victories and making impact plays," said one NFL source. "And he came from an incredibly small school."

Just how tiny is St. Augustine, in Raleigh, N.C.? Official enrollment this year is 1,400 and Hall played his college games at Broughton High School Stadium, seating capacity 2,800.

"Pretty remarkable," said the source.

Of course, Hall, a rush-end in college, is still incredibly raw. After praising his game-saving play in Cincinnati, Crennel then said, "he also made a couple of plays that hurt us."

Such as?

"It's the run some and it's the pass drops and assignments other times," said Crennel. "This is a pretty big chunk that he's bitten off. Now he's at the top level of football playing linebacker which involves drops, reading patterns, rushing the passer, playing the run, formation recognition, and it adds up quite a bit. But if continues to work and play this way, he'll be a good player for us."

One huge bonus for Hall has been learning from Pro Bowler McGinest, who helps him on the sidelines after almost every series. McGinest, who hopes to return for the Giants game, talks to him about "formations, alignments, stuff that's going on in the game. It's still early, but he's got a lot of raw talent. When he really starts to learn and understand all the things that are going on, he's going to be very good."

If Hall -- who will probably rotate in when McGinest returns -- continues to progress, the Browns hope to spring Kamerion Wimbley from having to face the left tackle every week and get him more mismatched on backs and tight ends. As it is, Hall and Wimbley have flip-flopped with McGinest out.

"As Alex develops and begins to master more things, we'll probably be able to free up Kamerion to do more in terms of movement," said Savage. "I'm not convinced that he's going to be able to pass-rush a left tackle 55 plays in a row and get there that often."

Some folks have taken to calling Hall "Baby Kam," Wimbley said. At 6-5, 250, he's similar in build to Wimbley, but two inches taller and five pounds lighter.

"A lot of people talk about the similarities between us, so if teams think of him as another threat, that's great," said Wimbley.

The emergence of Hall has not only been a bright spot in a dismal first quarter, but also gives the Browns some production from their second day-only draft. With fourth-rounders Beau Bell and Martin Rucker both recovering from knee surgeries, Hall has been the only significant contributor, although sixth-rounder Ahtyba Rubin is now subbing at nose tackle.

"He's doing way more than what people expected out of him coming from a small college," said linebacker Andra Davis. "On top of that, he's a really good guy, very funny, but humble. We've seen the potential in him from day one."

Thank you Phil Savage for finding another steal!

imo, we have to give some credit to our seasoned veteran McGinest, probably another reason why he is coming along so fast

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One huge bonus for Hall has been learning from Pro Bowler McGinest, who helps him on the sidelines after almost every series. McGinest, who hopes to return for the Giants game, talks to him about "formations, alignments, stuff that's going on in the game. It's still early, but he's got a lot of raw talent. When he really starts to learn and understand all the things that are going on, he's going to be very good."

unfortunately, we don't have a lot of the (McGinest type) veterans who can coach up young players, like a majority of the NFL teams from all of our years of rebuilding. In contrast, I watched a inside training camp report with the enemy steelers and why Tomlin was able to succeed so well last year. Their players like hines ward, james farrior, spoke about how steelers veterans coached them up when they arrived, and they enjoy coaching up the rookies how to play the steelers way, including getting after them during practice and during games. With the Browns lack of continuity, we just don't have the same ability, but luckily we a few guys like JJ (who we miss now) and McGinest helping along the way.

Go Browns

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Bring on the rookies again! We don't need proven winners like Bill Parcells or Mike Shanahan

Posts: 2731 | Registered: September 08, 2006

BpG

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