With the Jets’ fifth-round pick, they stopped the free-fall of Virginia cornerback Bryce Hall.
Hall may have fallen victim to the lack of access to medicals due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Teams were unable to bring him in for a physical and have their own team physicians give their opinions. Rather than a team rolling the dice on his potential early on, he fell to the Jets at No. 158, which is terrific value for Gang Green.
Hall had considered bypassing his senior year in favor of the NFL draft but elected to return to the University of Virginia instead. While the injury to Hall dropped him in the draft, he’s going to come into training camp with a chip on his shoulder.
With that said, let’s get to the know the Jets’ newest addition to the secondary. Here are four things to know about Hall.
Devastating Injury
Bryce Hall was on his way to cementing himself as a first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, but his body had other ideas.
Hall broke his fibula and tore his deltoid ligament. Essentially, Hall dislocated his ankle, broke those bones and tore that ligament. In Week 6 of the 2019 college football season, a Miami Hurricanes player rolled into his leg, ending his career at Virginia.
Although the Jets are under a new regime, New York is taking a flier on Hall much like they did Blessaun Austin a year ago. That gamble has paid off so far, Austin looks like a more than capable NFL cornerback. While his surgically repaired ankle is medically cleared, Hall doesn’t have full range of motion yet. Right now, Hall expects to be 100 percent medically cleared for training camp.
What he brings to the table
Bryce Hall was one of the nation’s fiercest cornerbacks before his injury. He led the nation with 23 forced incompletions in 2018. In addition, Hall has forced an incompletion on 24.8 percent of targets since 2017 — the second-highest rate in college football.
Starting in 13 games as a junior, Hall recorded 62 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions and two forced fumbles on the year. His efforts earned him an easy all-conference selection.
At 6-foot-1, 202 pounds, Hall has good length for a cornerback. He has tremendous ball skills and reactional quickness. If healthy, he’ll have a real shot at coming in and starting opposite of Pierre Desir.
Thinks like a wide receiver
Bryce Hall has terrific ball skills, which could come from his success at wide receiver in high school.
Hall was standout wideout at Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he earned first-team Class AAA all-star honors as a senior. He averaged 17.4 yards per catch throughout his high school career. Despite his success, he was just a two-star recruit.
However, Virginia saw something different in Hall. They saw him play as a defensive back in high school and offered him a scholarship to play on the opposite side of the field, blanketing receivers rather than playing the position. The Cavaliers were so confident in Hall’s abilities at cornerback that they started him there as a true freshman.
Taking a step back
Bryce Hall’s ankle injury prevented him from participating in any offseason activities, including the NFL combine. However, missing out on those opportunities didn’t prevent Hall from trying to impress NFL scouts. He still attended the combine in hopes of making a strong impression.
“It was interesting to observe some of the other top players and see how they [worked],” Hall said.
Hall sat in on coaches’ meetings and listened to their in-game communications on a headset and helped coach Virginia’s younger defensive backs. The injury led to Hall improving his football acumen and filling into his shoes as a leader of the program — he was named a team captain at Virginia.
