DGDB&D: a Texans blog.

G.O.A.T.? Hardly.

Sep 30, 2007 2004 Draft, DeAngelo Hall, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Dunta Robinson, Overrated, Posts that list too many players, Teams that aren't the Texans

I wanted to get this up before the game starts so it doesn’t seem like anything other than what it is.

With the Saints on a bye this weekend, the crown of “Most Overrated Player in the NFL” fits squarely on the head of Falcons CB DeAngelo Hall. Of course, ridiculous columns like this one don’t help.

Perhaps the only other cornerback consistently mentioned as one of the top players currently at the position is Champ Bailey. Both Hall and Bailey have tremendous speed which allows them to cover a lot of ground, but they also tackle very well. While Hall may be thrilled to be mentioned on the same level as Bailey, he’s still aiming to become the outright best corner ever.

I don’t even know where to begin. How about the idea that Nnamdi Asomugha is widely considered the best or second-best corner in the league by anyone with an ounce of sense? Seriously, the ONLY people who sincerely believe that Hall is one of the best corners in the game are Hall and a handful of myopic sports writers. Thankfully, and despite the constant crowing by Hall, the stats don’t bear out the claim that he is anything special.

Consider:
Hall (165 tackles, 13 INT, 22 PD, 2 FF, 3 TD, 0.5 sack) is not even the best of the first round corners taken alongside him. Dunta Robinson (267 tackles, 11 INT, 35 PD, 5 FF, 1 TD, 4 sacks) and Chris Gamble (215 tackles, 16 INT, 22 PD, 2 FF, 2 TD, 1 sack) are both arguably as good or better than Hall, yet no one is trying to say that either of them is best in the league.

“But wait,” cry the Falcons fans, “teams AVOID throwing at D-Hall because they are afraid of him because he’s so good.”

Um…

Dunta Robinson–targeted 80 times last season.
DeAngelo Hall–targeted 87 times season.
(Chris Gamble was not among the 20 most-targeted)

So, in a season when Dunta was playing across from a host of random fill-ins and a hobbled Petey effin’ Faggins, teams threw at him less than they threw at DeAngelo. Also, the Texans were thrown at a total of 505 times last year… and teams chucked at the Falcons 515 times, so you can’t use the “teams threw at the Falcons a LOT more, so that’s why DeAngelo had more targets” defense, either.

What about the idea that he shuts down great receivers? Well, he had a good game against Smith last week (until Hall opened his mouth), so there’s that. But, what’s that saying? Even a blind fat chick finds a pie every now and then. How did he fare against big name receivers in 2006?

Marques Colston–7 catches for 97 yards. Hall had one tackle. Advantage: Colston
Larry Fitzgerald–4 for 71. Hall had INT TD. Advantage: Hall
Hines Ward–8 for 171, 3 TD. Hall had 3 tackles. Advantage: Ward
Chad Johnson–6 for 78, TD. Hall had 2 solo and 3 assisted tackles. Advantage: Johnson
Roy Williams–6 for 138, TD. Hall had 3 tackles. Advantage: Williams
Santana Moss–7 for 123, TD. Hall had 2 tackles. Advantage: Moss
Terrell Owens–5 for 69, 2 TD. Hall had 8 tackles. Advantage: Owens

Wow. Amazing.

*cough*

He did manage to hold his own against Braylon Edwards (3 for 31, TD) last year, so he’s got that going for him. Then again, Braylon still found the endzone, so maybe that wasn’t a total win. And the immortal Hank Baskett lit him up for 7 catches, 177 yards, and a TD. Not surprisingly, 2005 wasn’t much better for Hall, either, as he got lit up by Terrell Owens, Steve Smith twice, Darrell Jackson, Donald Driver, and Laveranues Coles. Plus, let’s not forget the “I own 85″ shaved into DeAngelo’s head before the preseason game against the Bengals, wherein Chad made Hall into a SportsCenter punchline.

Someone help me out here. WHY is Hall ever talked about in the same sentence as “best corner” unless the words “unequivocally not” are also involved? Because, to my mind, about the ONLY way you can make an argument for Hall being one of the best is if you use a bunch of quotes from DeAngelo Hall.

Am I the best complete corner in the game? Yeah. I don’t get beat for touchdowns which always gives us a chance to win. I make tackles when I have to. So I definitely think I’m the most complete corner in the game.

Please–and I think I speak for everyone, here, including Falcons fans–shut up.