The Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted Houston defensive lineman Logan Hall with the 33rd overall pick in 2022 and he went on to play in 33 games with 13 starts over his first two seasons. Hall made his mark as a sturdy strong-side run defender, in a similar mold to young Will Gholston, and he was a valuable member of the rotation in the trenches, soaking up roughly 44% of the snaps.
Over those first two seasons, Hall's impact as a pass rusher wasn't as great, even though his scouting report coming out of college mentioned such traits as an explosive first step, fluid spin moves and violent hands. In those first 33 games, Hall recorded a total of 3.0 sacks and seven quarterback hits.
Now in his third season, Hall may be emerging as a more productive pass rusher. He got his first sack of the season in Week Four against Philadelphia, then added two more plus five quarterback hits on Thursday night in Atlanta. Those three sacks and seven QB hits nearly matched what he had done over the 2022-23 seasons combined.
Head Coach Todd Bowles believes Hall has gleaned some pass rush pointers from fellow defensive linemen Calijah Kancey and Vita Vea, both first-round draft picks who didn't take long to show they could routinely invade the backfield. Bowles also thinks Hall's recent surge is not just a blip on the radar but the beginning of a step forward for the third-year defender.
"Yeah, it is sustainable," said Bowles. "He's coming on. We always knew he was a good athlete, but it took time to get his pass rush things down. He does a lot of talking to Vita, he did a lot of talking to Kancey on the sideline, of how to try to attack these guys and what he wants to do with them – less swim technique and more hands to power and then he's using his moves at the end and his athleticism.
"I think it's sustainable. I think he's coming on every week, and he sees it now, so that's giving him more confidence and we just look forward to him getting better."
On Thursday night, the Buccaneers' defense sacked Kirk Cousins four times and hit him 11 times, led by Hall, who played 58 snaps (67%), the most of any of the team's down linemen or edge rushers. Unfortunately, that pressure did not significantly slow down Cousins, who threw for 509 yards and four touchdowns in an overtime win for the Falcons. This comes four days after the Bucs sacked Philadelphia's Jalen Hurts six times in a runaway win for the Buccaneers. Kancey may be ready to return to action from a calf injury in Week Six, and the Bucs' pass rush may just be heating up.
"We got pressures up front, first of all," said Bowles. "They go hand and hand with covers. Sometimes we have to cover better and we're getting back there, and sometimes we have to get back there and we're covering better. It goes hand and hand, but we made some progress last night. I thought we should've had a couple more, but the ball was coming out and there were missed opportunities all over the field."
Hall has earned more opportunities to be on the field – he's currently at a career-high 57% usage rate – and he's starting to make those opportunities pay off. Bowles believes there's more to come.
