The 2008 NFL Combine is rapidly approaching and that means that the media hoopla surrounding the 2008 NFL Draft will begin to kick into another gear here within the next few weeks. I certainly don't mind it. In America, the passion for the game of pigskin is unrivaled by any other sport. Just take a look at how much media coverage the NFL Draft receives every year. Ravenous fan bases scour the internet, talk radio shows, newspapers, and message boards to find information about the different prospects in the draft and who their respective team might pick. Each year there are players that seem to fly under the radar. Former Virginia Tech linebacker Vince Hall is one such prospect for the 2008 NFL Draft.

Hall teamed with Xavier Adibi to form one of the most devastating linebacker corps in all of college football over the past few seasons. The dynamic duo were the two biggest reasons the Virginia Tech defense was so dominant over the past few years. The Hokie defense finished as the nation's top ranked defense two of the past three seasons and finished as the fourth ranked unit in America this season. Those are simply astronomical numbers and they wouldn't have been attainable without a linebacker like Vince Hall making his impact felt all over the field.

During the 2007-2008 campaign for the Hokies, Hall had what could arguably be one of the most underrated seasons by any linebacker in college football this year. He was a tackling machine for the Hokies and also displayed his ability to drop back into coverage. Despite missing four games with a broken wrist, Hall still managed to rack up an eye-gouging 100 tackles. I watched him in person as he dominated the entire field when the Ohio Bobcats came to Lane Stadium in September. He turned in one of the most dominant performances I have ever seen by a linebacker in my 24 years of existence. Hall was flying to the football with reckless abandon, sideline-to-sideline, and was an unstoppable force for the entire contest. After it was all said and done, Hall earned MVP honors in the game, corralling 14 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, and 1 pass breakup. Those are mind-numbing numbers and it amazes me that more people are not discussing Vince Hall before the NFL Draft. The injury to his wrist is a very big part of that, but it isn't rocket science. You could be blind folded and still see that this guy is one of the sure-fire locks to be a great one in the pros.

I've seen services such as nfldraftcountdown.com list his 40-yard dash time above 5 seconds. I don't believe that time for a second and even if it is true, Hall's instincts help to overcome any kind of speed issues that scouts might gripe about. The guy racked up 100 or more tackles in three different seasons in Blacksburg. That's not even mentioning he tallied 404 career tackles for the Hokies. What other kind of evidence do you need to see to realize this kid is going to be a monster in the pros?

I wouldn't hesitate drafting Hall ahead of other top notch linebackers such as Dan Connor and that is a testament to how highly I regard the Virginia native. He reeled in first-team All-ACC honors in 2006 and easily could've landed on the list this year if it weren't for the left wrist he broke against Clemson. The injury forced him to miss four games this season. Hall even injured his knee during a beach outing before the Orange Bowl against the Kansas Jayhawks and STILL managed to lead the team in tackles with eight.

It just blows my mind that more people aren't talking about Vince Hall leading up to the draft. Like everybody else, he's going to need to post big numbers at the combine to improve his draft stock, but honestly I wouldn't even worry about that. I think the NFL Combine is one of the most overrated spectacles in sports. How many times does a guy run 40 yards in a straight line without pads? Bench pressing is an excellent display of strength, but I've seen plenty of weight room champions that cannot carry it over to the field. I'd much rather draft a prospect who is more proven on the field than in the weight room. I enjoy looking more at what he's done in the trenches in a game setting, because that is what he's going to be doing for a living, not running stupid drills to determine how good of an athlete he is.

So what if Vince Hall isn't 6'3, 250 lbs with a 4.5 40 yard dash time? He happens to be 5'11, 238 lbs. for the record. That doesn't mean he can't play the game of football at an elite level. I'm convinced too many NFL GMs and scouts are worried about a prospect fitting a certain mold.

Vince Hall is a sideline-to-sideline linebacker who also excels in pass coverage. Hall is a phenomenal tackler as well, you don't rack up the kind of numbers that he has and not be able to make the play in the open field. Perhaps his best attribute are his instincts. I'll admit that Hall doesn't have the greatest speed, but his football instincts at the linebacker position help him to overcome that weakness. I'll take instincts over speed any day of the week and I'll take Vince Hall over nearly any other linebacker prospect in the 2008 NFL Draft, including Dan Connor of Penn State. Hall will prove everybody wrong and scouts and GMs will wonder why they let him pass them by. I'm telling you, don't sleep on Vince Hall. This guy posted outrageous numbers in college and too many people out there seem to have forgotten that.

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