Why DeAngelo Hall?

At first glance, the DeAngelo Hall trade seems to be puzzling. The Raiders already have Nnamdi Asomugha as a lockdown corner and Fabian Washington still has plenty of room to grow, and he is cheaper. Backup Stanford Routt is a perfect dime-back. Also, we could have used our second rounder to pick up a top tier wide receiver or offensive tackle in the coming draft. Not even mentioning the $50 plus million dollars he will be owed with his extension. The question remains why.

Well, having two extremely talented man-cover corners definitely makes life easer for the linebackers and defensive line. With our awesome secondary, the box can be stacked even more to help out with run defense. The linebackers will not have to drop back in coverage as much and the strong safety can move up into the box to help run support. Plus, if no wide receiver can get open, sacks will be easier to come by. Drafting a defensive lineman with our first rounder would make our pass rush even better. Burgess is already set at on defensive end spot and having Chris Long/Vernon Gholston on the other side would be amazing.

DeAngelo will create a lose-lose situation for quarterbacks. If they decide not to throw in Asomugha’s direction, they will have to throw to Hall. Not to mention having Michael Huff prowling around for interceptions. However, was the price justified? I say yes, if they can lock Asomugha up to a similar deal. With both corners on long term deals, the focus can shift to the defensive line, which we did not improve in the offseason. Time will tell just how effective this deal really is.