The Seattle Seahawks roster is far from set for 2025, of course. Final roster cuts won't be made until August 26. Seattle has a lot of questions they need answers to, however, especially after the team had 11 draft choices this year.
Those new players will push some veterans off the team, but many of their impacts might not be felt until 2026. Rookies have a difficult time acclimating to the size and speed of the league. Some Seahawks draft picks taken between 2022 and 2024 might need to feel nervous about their jobs soon.
One of these could be 2023 second-round choice Derick Hall. While it might seem strange, he could be bordering on being a draft bust. He had eight sacks in 2024, so how could this be? Plus, he had 45 quarterback pressures, so he doesn't appear to be on the verge of being a bust, right?
No, he could.
Derick Hall could be on the verge of being a draft bust for the Seattle Seahawks
As a rookie, Hall was exceedingly disappointing. In 137 pass rush snaps, he had zero sacks. He received an astonishingly low grade of 32.7 from Pro Football Focus (subscription required) for his run defense. He missed 12.1 percent of his tackle attempts.
In a Mike Macdonald defense, edge rushers must be able to do different things well. Not only must one get close to quarterbacks, but they have to set a hard edge in run defense, too. If one player can hurry quarterbacks often, but fail against the run, they are going to lose reps. Such could be the case for Hall.
While his pressure and sack numbers greatly improved in 2024, he was also whiffing on more tackle attempts (16.7 percent) and barely playing better run defense (PFF's run defense grade for Hall was 45.7 - ninth-worst in the league among edge defenders).
The positive part for 2025 is that the Seahawks have seemingly plenty of depth at edge rusher. The team added DeMarcus Lawrence, while Uchenna Nwosu and Boye Mafe are still on the roster.
The negative part is that Nwosu hasn't been able to stay healthy in the previous two seasons, and Lawrence is 33 years old and has only appeared in four games in 2024. Mafe is entering the final season of his rookie contract. If Hall was going to have a breakout year, this would be the season to do it.
Perhaps Hall's second season in Macdonald's system will bring out his best, and his run defense will be greatly improved. Otherwise, the Seahawks will have to address his spot on the roster with more well-rounded players.
More Seahawks news and analysis: