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Potential Draft Pick Profile: Leon Hall

Maybe the Steelers won't use their first pick to strenghthen their front 7, and will instead look for relief in the secondary. If so, the best cornerback in this year's draft is Michigan's Leon Hall.

Hall is fairly stout for a cornerback. He's a shade under 6' tall, and a sturdy 193 pounds. He's also fast enough, clocking in at 4.39 in the 40 at this year's Combine. Draft guru Scott Wright listed the following as Leon Hall's strengths :

Very good size...A smooth athlete with fluid hips and great quickness...Physical, tough and aggressive...Does an outstanding job in run support and is a reliable tackler...A playmaker with great hands and ball skills...Very smart with excellent instincts and awareness...Is technically and fundamentally sound...Versatile and has also seen some action at safety...Hard worker with premier intangibles...Has a lot of experience against Big Ten competition...Answered questions regarding his timed speed at the Combine...Also offers some potential as a punt returner.

CB Leon Hall continues the legacy of shut-down corners coming out of Michigan

I'm not sure that we need to adress the cornerback position in this year's draft, despite our secondary getting torched far too often last year. Not counting our abysmal pass-rush, I believe the problems started with Ike Taylor. He simply laid an egg last year. Taylor has said he's excited to be working with new head coach Mike Tomlin, so hopefully he'll turn things around and earn all that money he was guaranteed when he signed a multi-year extension last season. If he's back, that leaves us relying on DeShea Townsend and/or Bryant McFadden at the other CB position. Many of you believe McFadden has some solid potential and progressed substantially as the year went on. If he can solidify his claim as the other starting CB, I'd vote for not drafting a CB on the first day. I will say that if DeShea is asked to play a prominent role in our secondary next year, we're in trouble. He's just not very good in my opinion.

Leon Hall may just be the type of player to compliment Ike, Troy, and hopefully Anthony Smith (depending on his development), but given the other needs this team has, I doubt we'll see him playing for Pittsburgh. It is fun to imagine how hard it would be to run outside against Ike Taylor and Leon Hall though, two big corner who are unfraid of contact.