In the mean time, Jones was replaced on the roster by DE/LB Alex
Hall, whom the Giants claimed off waivers from the Philadelphia Eagles.
Hall was a former seventh-round draft pick of the Browns who was traded
to Philly in April. He has appeared in 30 games in his two-year career,
though his playing time has been limited and he has only 38 tackles and
three sacks.

With those moves, the Giants again have 79 players on their roster - -
one under the 80-man limit. They also have two unsigned draft picks:
First-round DE Jason Pierre-Paul and second-round DT Linval Joseph. At
least one player will have to be cut or reserved when both of those
players signed.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/giants/2010/07/chad-jones-waived-headed-to-nf.html#ixzz0v7fkQ5Cz

The Giants were also awarded defensive end/outside linebacker Alex Hall off waivers from the Philadelphia Eagles. Hall, 6-5 and 250 pounds, played the previous two seasons with the Cleveland Browns. He was traded on April 2 from the Browns to the Eagles, who waived him yesterday.

Hall was chosen from St. Augustine College by Cleveland on the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draft, the 231st overall selection. In two seasons he played in 30 games with two starts and had 36 tackles (26 solo), three sacks and two forced fumbles. He also added 18 special teams tackles.

As a rookie in 2008, Hall played in all 16 games with two starts and finished with 26 tackles (18 solo), three sacks and 12 special teams tackles. Last year, he played in 14 games and had 10 tackles (eight solo) and six special teams tackles.

Hall played in 30 games with 29 starts at St. Augustine, where he set school records with 26 sacks for 168 yards and 51 tackles for losses. He finished his career with 156 tackles. Hall earned a degree in history. He attended C.H. Flowers High School in Springdale, Md. Hall will turn 25 on Aug. 17.

NYG Hampton 27 wrote:I wonder why his production went down in his second year, was he injury plagued?

April 2
Eagles acquired LB Alex Hall, a 2010 fourth-round pick, and a 2010
fifth-round pick in exchange for CB Sheldon Brown and LB Chris Gocong.
A pass rusher with plenty of promise, Hall fell behind Marcus Benard in
the Browns' pecking order after struggling with technique last season.
He's an interesting project as a reserve strongside linebacker in
Philly.

August 30
Alex Hall has taken over as the Browns' starting outside linebacker opposite Kam Wimbley.
Hall's bypassed David Bowens, who still figures to rotate in on some
early downs. Hall has arguably even better pass-rushing upside than
Wimbley, but hasn't done much this preseason

July 26
Alex Hall is expected to get the "first crack" at the Browns' outside linebacker opening opposite Kamerion Wimbley.
Hall might already be Cleveland's best pass rusher, although his
technique was lacking last year and it cost him playing time. New coach
Eric Mangini is a stickler for technique. Hall will need to defend the
run better to keep the job.

March 8
New Browns defensive coordinator Rob Ryan is reportedly "intrigued" by second-year OLB Alex Hall.
Hall showed promise with sacks in three straight games last year before
Romeo Crennel put him on the bench when Willie McGinest got healthy.
Hall doesn't play the run well yet, but he's a high-upside situational
rusher.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Alex Hall
Posted by Tommy Lawlor at 9:07 AM
***

It is finally time to talk about Alex Hall. I was going to post this on Monday, but the Eagles and Redskins conspired against me and let the McNabb trade go down. What jerks.

I popped in a pair of game tapes from 2008. I watched part of a game from 2009, but Hall was nowhere to be found. Apparently he got lost in the shuffle when Rob Ryan became the Defensive Coordinator. Hall's biggest advocate was GM Phil Savage, who wasn't around in '09. More on Phil later.

So let's get to Hall and what I saw. He was the backup SAM. The Browns were high on him so they got him regular playing time. He would get on the field in the late 1st quarter or early 2nd. He would play a few series and then Willie McGinest would come back on the field. The Browns let Hall play no matter the score or situation. They really wanted to develop him as a player.

Hall has a good frame. They list him at 6'5, 250. He looks a little skinny...maybe 240. Solid run defender. Fights to hold the point of attack. Does need to get stronger. Sloppy with his hands. Hall has pretty good feet. He's agile for a tall guy. There was one play that stood out. He dropped back on a pass play and started to the middle of the field, shadowing a receiver. Hall then saw the QB start to go wide. The receiver had continued crossing the field so Hall then went out wide to mirror the QB. The QB had no one open and started to run. Hall stopped, came upfield, and tackled the QB for only a minimal gain. Good play in the open field. It wasn't a great tackle, but was pretty solid. The play looked like the Wave Drill that gets done at the Scouting Combine. Teams want to see a player backpedal, then move laterally, and then finally come back up the field. Hall did all of that and looked good on the move. He's not silky smooth, but didn't look mechanical at all.

I thought Hall showed real potential as a cover guy. He's not instinctive out there, but never looked lost. He got good depth on his pass drops. With more experience he could develop solid coverage skills. He has the physical ability.

The Browns were somewhat creative with him. There were times when he lined up on the slot receiver. He was a stand-up SAM most of the time. He did play DE in the Nickel and Dime units on some plays. I didn't think he stood out as a pass rusher. Hall has some quickness off the ball, but didn't show explosion. He did have 3 sacks and 2 FFs as a rookie. Unfortunately I didn't get to see those games. Hall played on STs. He's got the length and speed to be good on coverage units. Word around the NFL campfire is that one of the concerns the Browns had is that he hadn't become a better STs player. Bobby April is the best STs coach in the league. If anyone can get him going it will be Bobby.

Let's talk about Hall vs Gocong. We drafted Chris in 2006 and wanted to convert him from DE to LB. Gocong developed into an effective 4-3 SAM, but never showed us the potential that we'd seen prior to the draft. He went from raw project to effective starter. He's now 27 years old. I'm not sure that he can change much more. I think that is why we dealt him to a 3-4 team. Hall is about to turn 25. We're getting him with some built in LB experience. With work he can easily get to the "effective starter" level. We don't know what his ceiling is. Hall looks like a more natural LB than Gocong. That's something you have or you don't. There is a definite possibility that Hall could become a good 4-3 SAM. He'll likely be a role player this year, but I'll be disappointed if he doesn't give Moise Fokou a good challenge up at Lehigh.


KING ON HALL

Peter King had some interesting stuff on Alex. He wrote this prior to the 2008 Draft.

This was crazy. Instead of huddling with his gathered scouts in Berea and massaging the draft board, Savage hopped a 10 a.m. flight to Baltimore, rented a car, drove 24 miles to Prince George's Community College, set up four orange cones on a chewed-up open field, and shook hands with one of the most marginal prospects in the 2008 draft: St. Augustine (N.C.) College outside linebacker Alex Hall.

The draft was three days away, and here was Savage, looking at a player he might take in the seventh round, or try to sign as a longshot free-agent. Why? Because Savage trusts his scouts, and one of his pups on the staff, 25-year-old scout Bobby Vega, told him this was the one second-day guy of the linebackers he scouted who could make an impact this year and eventually -- possibly -- be the bookend pass-rusher to Kamerion Wimbley the Browns needed.

Savage had watched some tape and seen production and good speed (26 sacks in three small-college seasons), but now, before committing a precious pick to Hall, needed to see him. Savage placed a football at the end of the line of cones and asked Hall to run in S-curves through the cones and back. Hall ran through the cones, and without being told scooped up the ball in full stride and ran back. The athleticism stunned Savage. He didn't need to see anything else. Vega was right. Hall had a chance to fill a Cleveland void, and he might last 'til the seventh round.