By Brad Biggs, National Football Post
DeAngelo Hall says he can already see the special in Robert Griffin III.
While the Washington Redskins cornerback says it is unfair to put it all on Griffin’s shoulders to carry the club to the “promised land,” he is already convinced the Heisman Trophy winner from Baylor is the perfect player to lead the franchise.
Hall, visiting with 980 ESPN on “The Sports Fix Show,” said that Griffin is far ahead of Michael Vick when he came into the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons.
“I’ve talked to him even before we drafted him. I kind have already knew we were going to get him,” Hall said, according to sportsradiointerviews.com. “We had a great chance to get him barring anything crazy happening at the draft. Me and him have been talking for the last 4 or 5 months now and I told him the scary part is his progression now as a quarterback and an athlete … seeing Michael Vick coming into the league.
“I feel like he’s light years ahead of Michael Vick because he understands mentally what it takes to be great. Mike felt like he could go out athletically and be great. RG-III is like I know athletically I’m pretty good, but I want to be mentally great. If I can be mentally great and athletically good or great then it is scary. His ability to want to be that great quarterback now and just a great athlete is what is going to separate him from all the other guys out there.”
It’s going to take more than just the arrival of Griffin for the Redskins to take flight though, and Hall realizes that.
“I think it is going to take a total team effort. It’s going to take the offensive line protecting him,” he said. “It’s going to take the offensive line mashing out some running holes, so some of running backs can actually take the pressure off. Our receivers need to be big for us. Our defense is going to have to get turnovers and give him an opportunity. Special teams … they are going to play a big part in his success as well.
“It’s definitely not just him, but you can definitely see on that practice field he’s out there and we are going against him. You can kind of see the specialness coming out of him. You can see the swag and the confidence and his ability to make plays.”
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Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune