No more special teams excuses with Hall returning for Rams
April 25th, 2007 | by Kevin Morris |
Ram Nation no longer has to fret about the team selecting Ohio State receiver
Ted Ginn Jr. with the 13th overall pick in this weekend’s NFL Draft.
Scott Linehan fixed his Return Game Crisis with an outstanding trade – landing
Chiefs game breaker Dante Hall for a fifth-round draft pick. The Rams also
swapped third-round picks with Kansas City, moving back two spots.
The Rams will turn their return duties over to Hall and move on to address
other needs in the draft. This team can add immediate help for the defensive
front seven in the first round, then shop for other needs (like an another
power back to use behind Steven Jackson) in later rounds.
Hall fits into the Rams lineup because Linehan doesn’t use many four-receiver
sets. Linehan doesn’t need big offensive production from Hall’s spot on the
depth chart.
If Dante still has his jets at the age of 28 – and we suspect he does – than he
can become an occasional change-of-pace offensive player and a serious kick
return threat.
Unlike Willie Ponder, the part-time Rams kickoff return man last season, Hall
is an excellent punt returner too. He can do more than run deep routes, too;
Hall figures to keep defenses honest with periodic end-around runs.
Like newcomers Randy McMichael at tight end and Drew Bennett at receiver, Hall
is a proven commodity. He brings additional maturity to an offense seeking to
score more touchdowns and settle for fewer field goals next season.
The Rams can’t expect Hall to terrify the NFL as he did from 2002-2004. What he
did during that span was supernatural.
Hall was a human highlight reel, breaking one impossible return after another.
He banged around coverage teams like a pinball. He brought Chiefs fans to their
feet again and again and again.
But the Rams CAN expect him to advance kickoffs past its 20-year line and force
teams to punt carefully against them. Hall ran one punt back for a touchdown
last season and caught two TD passes as well.
Former Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil loved Hall and made him one of his marquee
players. Hall had less success under current coach Herm Edwards and asked out
after last season.
Hall is certainly worth a shot, especially at this modest price. How many
fifth-round picks become impact players?
It won’t be difficult for Hall to improve on what we’ve seen from the Rams the
past few seasons; their rotating cast of “return specialists” failed miserably.
Rather than spend a high pick on Ginn or a mid-round pick on another potential
return specialist, the Rams improved themselves with a veteran.
Now new special teams coach Al Roberts must set up return schemes to exploit
his skill and find special team players capable of blocking for him.
In recent years, the Rams return game has been hapless across the board.
Roberts, who had been out of the NFL since 2002, still has a big challenge on
his hands.
The addition of Hall eliminates all excuses. The Rams have a proven return
specialist now. Now the team must find willing blockers (and tacklers for the
coverage teams) and coach them up.
Now they must actually execute on special teams, tilting the field the other
way for a change. Hall’s mere presence ought to inspire better performance from
the entire return team.
