Washington Redskins: DeAngelo Hall starter at safety?

The Washington Redskins have very quietly had a productive start to their offseason. They’ve made a number of cuts and signings to improve their team; a majority of their moves have been on the defensive side of the ball. Their defensive line has been rebuilt and their secondary is in a state of flux.

The Redskins took care of their problems at cornerback by signing Chris Culliver to replace David Amerson as their starter, which is good. Bashaud Breeland, who played very well as a rookie, will likely start opposite of Culliver. I believe that the young corners can become a solid tandem if properly developed.

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With the cornerback position seemingly under control, let’s take a look at what the Redskins are working with at safety. The team recently signed former Seahawk Jeron Johnson. I believe that he’ll end up winning the starting job at strong safety. That leaves Da’Mon Cromartie-Smith, Akeem Davis, Duke Ihenacho, Trenton Robinson, and Philip Thomas as possible starters at free safety.

For the most part, the players listed above are mediocre. Personally, I don’t think that Washington can afford to go into the season with one of those players as their starting free safety. There’s a chance that the Redskins draft a safety, but that likely won’t happen until the third or fourth round (unless they move down in the first round). Third and fourth round picks typically take time to develop; it’d be a risky move to put a mid-late round draft pick across from an already inexperienced starter in Jeron Johnson.

The most logical solution is to slot a veteran next to Johnson and call it a day. But that’s easier said than done, especially when the best remaining free agent safeties are Stevie Brown and Dawan Landry. That leaves the Redskins with very few options. One option that Washington has is to move veteran cornerback DeAngelo Hall to free safety.

While it doesn’t always pan out, it’s something that teams have done before. Some of the more recent examples are Ronde Barber, Devin McCourty, and Charles Woodson.

Despite Oakland’s losing record, Woodson performed pretty well as a safety in 2014. The seventeen-year vet recorded 81 tackles, 1 sack, 8 passes defended, and 4 interceptions. The reason Woodson was able to make the switch to safety is because it’s a position that plays to his strengths: tackling and ball hawking.

DeAngelo Hall excels at both of those things. Throughout his professional career, Hall has recorded a total of 43 interceptions. He has also finished with 4 or more interceptions in 8 out of his 11 seasons in the league. I believe that Hall’s ability as a pass defender would help ease the transition to safety.

The other important thing I mentioned was tackling. And, like I mentioned, this is something that Hall is very good at. He’s not afraid to be physical and attack the ball carrier. Since entering the league in 2004, Hall has averaged about 52 tackles per season; this aspect of his game would translate very well to safety.

So, to recap, Hall possesses the tackling ability and pass defense to adequately man the safety position. At this point, the only question is whether or not he still has the speed necessary to defend speedy receivers on deep passes. In years past, this wouldn’t be a question at all. But Hall, 31, is returning from a twice-repaired Achilles, so that’s something that certainly has to be taken into account.

If Hall’s Achilles is okay, and his speed hasn’t deteriorated, then I think that the Redskins should consider trying him at safety. I trust his ability in coverage more than any of the other potential on team starters; I feel the same about his ability as a tackler.

This entire scenario goes right out the window if the Redskins opt to select a safety with one of their first few picks. But if they don’t, which I don’t believe they will, the Hall-to-safety scenario becomes a very real possibility.

Next: What does Jeron Johnson bring to D.C.?

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