The Jets got a potential starting cornerback in the fifth round when they picked Virginia’s Bryce Hall with the 158th selection.
Hall fits the bill as a ball-hawking cornerback with ideal size and length at 6-foot-1, 200 pounds. He forced 37 incompletions over the past two seasons – third-most in college football – with a 92.4 coverage grade that ranked fifth-most among cornerbacks over that span.
Hall’s speed makes him a perfect outside cornerback for Gregg Williams’s zone-based coverage defense, where he can react quickly on short-passes and support the run defense when needed. He can play man when needed, too, with safety help over the top. Hall can also play special teams when needed.
So why did Hall fall all the way to the fifth round? He suffered a severe ankle injury in mid-October that required surgery and forced him to miss half of his senior season. Hall says he’ll be ready for training camp this summer, but he didn’t participate in any drills at the NFL combine so there’s no telling if he’s back to game-speed yet.
This is an incredible value pick for the Jets in the fifth round. Hall joins a cornerback room with Pierre Desir, Brian Poole, Bless Austin, Arthur Maulet and versatile defensive back Ashytn Davis, who the Jets took in the third round on Friday. Hall probably won’t be a starter Week 1 as he continues to recover from ankle surgery, but could easily develop into one for the Jets as the season progresses.
