Instant reaction: Vikings trade for Raiders DT PJ Hall

Will he be Michael Pierce's replacement or allow someone else to move to nose tackle?

Photo via Wikipedia by Jeffrey Beall

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Almost every year the Minnesota Vikings trade for someone at the last minute before the season begins and then the move makes far less of a difference during the season than we expect. See: Iloka, George or Brock, Tramaine.

But this time around, it might be different.

On Monday the Vikings acquired defensive tackle PJ Hall from the Las Vegas Raiders for a conditional seventh-round pick. The deal comes two days after nose tackle Michael Pierce, who signed a three-year, $27 million contract with the Vikings this offseason, decided to opt out of playing in 2020 for medical reasons.

“With him opting out, I’ve told him, ‘We respect your decision for that, and we want to make sure that your health and safety always comes first,’” GM Rick Spielman said on Monday. “I think it’s going to the type of year as we go through. You’re going to have to deal with a lot of different situations that come your way that you may not have had to deal with in the past, and you’re going to have to be flexible.”

The Vikings added some flexibility in Hall, who was selected in the second round of the 2018 draft after putting together a very impressive career Sam Houston State and wowing at his pro day with a 4.73 40-yard dash at 308 pounds. Over the past two seasons he has totaled 1,063 snaps with the Raiders and created 38 QB pressures (per PFF). Last year he graded a solid 70.2 by PFF (46th of 126 defensive tackles).

It is unusual for a team to cut bait on a player — especially for only a seventh-round pick — just two years into their career. Based on recent comments by Raiders head coach Jon Gruden and GM Mike Mayock, it appears there were concerns with Hall’s conditioning and work ethic.

“P.J. Hall, I’m anxious to see where his weight is, he came in overweight last year and at that position that can’t happen,” Gruden said this week.

“PJ’s got a challenge,” Mayock said. “We have a new defensive line coach coming in and trust me Rod Marinelli doesn’t put up with anything but 100 percent hustle. Nothing but.”

In a piece about players who could potentially be on the bubble earlier this offseason, ESPN Raiders reporter Paul Gutierrez named Hall as the odd-man out. He wrote:

“Sure, the 2018 second-rounder played in all 16 games last season and started 12. But many in the organization wonder whether he has played up to his heady draft standing. Or did you miss Las Vegas raiding the Cowboys' defensive tackle room to sign Maliek Collins and Daniel Ross in free agency within a week of each other this spring? And with veteran Johnathan Hankins entrenched as one starter and Maurice Hurst emerging as more of an interior pass-rushing threat (the 2018 fifth-rounder has 7.5 career sacks to Hall's 1.5), warning signs are all around Hall.” 

Coming out of the draft, analysts believed Hall could be more of a difference maker as a pass rusher than he has been thus far. NFL.com’s draft profile compared him to Atlanta star Grady Jarrett. Lance Zierlein wrote:

“What Hall lacks in height, weight and length, he makes up for with power, quickness, and explosiveness. Hall has the quickness and strength to be disruptive against the run and pass as a shade nose or reduced front three-technique. His level of production in every category imaginable could foreshadow his ability to translate into the NFL, but he will have to prove he can maintain his weight and stand up to the rigors of the interior with bigger men across from him.”

You can see why the Vikings would take a flier.

The question for the Vikings is whether they see Hall as a replacement for Michael Pierce at nose tackle or if he would compete for a three-technique job and allow some combination of Shamar Stephen, Armon Watts and/or Jaleel Johnson.

Linval Joseph and Pierce were more in the mold of Jerry Ball or Pat Williams style mammoth nose tackles who take up two gaps and eat running backs who dare to test the middle. Even if Hall’s weight has increased from his listed 308 pounds, he wouldn’t reach the type of size that has normally taken up that job in the past. However, it is similar to Johnson or Watts’s size and each of them played nose last year.

Per PFF, Hall only played 73 of his 551 snaps at nose tackle last year.

Last year Johnson filled in several times for Joseph but Watts played nose tackle and was the Vikings’ highest graded defender by PFF in Week 17. Head coach Mike Zimmer was asked Monday what he thinks about Watts’s chances of being a difference maker on the inside this year.

“Armon's played really well, I think. He's done a nice job when he's been in there,” Zimmer said. “He's played a fair amount toward the end of last season. He's a big, strong, athletic guy, so we're looking for another big jump out of him this year. We've got guys in there, we'll be alright.”

With padded practices still days away, Hall will have some time to arrive in Minnesota and deal with COVID protocols before the real on-field work begins. Whether he makes the team, earns a rotational role or ends up starting at three-technique or defensive tackle will have to be determined in a very short period of time

If the Vikings don’t sign or trade for anyone else at the defensive tackle position, the most interesting part of the deal might end up being the fact they went for a boom-or-bust player that another team gave up on rather than signing a veteran nose tackle. It may speak to some of the goals of the 2020 Vikings, one of which could be to find out what they have for the future.

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