Coming into the season, Lee Hunter was the rookie defensive tackle I expected to be talking about. The Carolina Panthers took him with the 49th pick, and so far, he's given them plenty to feel good about.
Aaron Hall was a different story. He went through all seven rounds without hearing his name called, signed with Carolina out of Duke, and came into camp just trying to find a way onto the roster. Honestly, I wasn't paying much attention to him at the time.
Four games later, I am now.
Hall has played in every game, already has 10 tackles, and has even made a start. Six of those tackles came in Carolina's 34-3 win over Atlanta, and he also has a fumble recovery. That's a pretty good start for a guy nobody drafted.
The funny thing is, maybe the Panthers aren't nearly as surprised by this as the rest of us. After Hall made the 53-man roster, general manager Dan Morgan said the rookie "kind of blew us away" with his ability to handle double teams, rush the passer, and play with a high motor.
Turns out Morgan might have been telling us something.
From Undrafted to an All-Rookie Team
What really made me take notice was NFL.com's early All-Rookie team. Hunter made the first team at defensive tackle, which is already a pretty good development for Carolina, considering how much they invested in him.
Then I kept reading, and there was Hall on the second team alongside Kansas City first-round pick Peter Woods. Think about how different those paths were just a few months ago. Woods heard his name called in the first round, Hunter went in the second, and Hall sat through the entire draft without getting picked.
Now all three are on the same list.
That's what makes Hall's first four games such a good story. This isn't just an undrafted rookie hanging around at the bottom of the roster. He's getting snaps, he's already started a game and he's showing that he belongs out there.
Hall had a pretty good résumé at Duke, too. He finished his final season with 44 tackles and 2.5 sacks and was a two-time team captain. He also grew up in North Carolina and watched the Panthers during the Cam Newton years, which makes the way this has started even better.
And Carolina might have gotten a little lucky here. Every team had a chance to draft Hall. Nobody did, and the Panthers were able to bring him in without using a pick.
Nobody knows what Hall's career is going to look like after four games, but that's not really the point of this story. Going from undrafted in April to making an NFL roster was already an accomplishment. Now he's playing meaningful snaps and getting recognized alongside some of the best rookies in the league.
Hall didn't hear his name called during the draft.
He's giving people a reason to remember it now.
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