Daeshon Hall selected by Carolina Panthers in third round of NFL draft

Four years ago, Daeshon Hall arrived at Texas A&M as a skinny defensive end prospect. He leaves as a third-round draft choice of the Carolina Panthers, who picked him 77th overall on Friday night in the National Football League draft.

Hall formed one of the nation’s top sets of defensive ends with Myles Garrett, who was selected No. 1 overall by the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night. He wasn’t as explosive or productive as Garrett, but Hall made impressive progress to develop into a second-day draft pick.

Hall was just a 6-foot-6, 220-pound project when he signed with A&M as part of the 2013 recruiting class. He was athletic, but not strong enough to make a major impact. The Aggies probably would have preferred to redshirt him, but a dearth of depth rendered that impossible.

Later, shoulder injuries slowed him from gaining the strength and size needed to be an effective defensive end in the Southeastern Conference in his first couple of seasons.

He was finally healthy before his junior season and was able to bulk up to a muscular 270 pounds. He progressed enough that when Defensive Coordinator John Chavis came to A&M in 2015, he said he felt he had the nation’s best set of defensive ends.

Hall showed flashes of tremendous ability and potential, but he never quite became a dominant force opposite Garrett.

Although he posted four sacks in the 2015 season-opening victory over Arizona State, he added just three more sacks the rest of the season.

In 2016, he posted 4.5 sacks and 50 tackles. He was also credited with 12 quarterback “hurries.”

He finished his career with 16 sacks and 162 tackles.