Jaren Hall: The tale of inexperience vs potential
Inexperience, age, injuries, a 2 sport college athlete and an immense amount of physical/passing talent worth nurturing. Jaren Hall deserves your attention.
Jaren Hall is currently the starting quarterback for the number 13-ranked team in the country.
So the lack of buzz around him is befuddling to say the least.
Hall is currently 18th in ESPN’s QBR metric, 25th in passing efficiency and has a 90.3 PFF grade from Pro Football Focus. Numbers alone do not tell the full story, but most major metrics indicate Hall is having a very good season in his first as the opening starting quarterback.
Hall might be the most talented quarterback in the country right now in college football and the fact that talent shines so bright despite his glaring lack of experience is what impresses me the most. Whether it be in this draft class, or the upcoming one, Hall has a real chance to make a ton of noise as a top QB prospect.
What will immediately stand out about Jaren Hall is how natural passing the ball comes to him, something you’d expect from a talented dual sport athlete. After Hall served his mission trip, he’d arrive at BYU in 2018. At the time, Hall was still juggling between playing baseball and football in college.
Film Review
Hall would make history in 2019 as the first black starting QB in BYU history as he replaced the starting QB at the time and future 1st round pick, Zach Wilson, who injured his thumb in a loss to Toledo.
2 plays USF game: Deep ball and running ability
While Hall would not lead BYU to a victory against USF in his first start, he instantly showcased both his lethal ability as passer and true duel threat capability as a runner. Unfortunately for Hall, both his starts would be cut short due to two concussions suffered in a two week span.
The former college outfielder decided to focus solely on football coming into the 2021 season. With Zach Wilson having declared for the draft, this was Hall’s opportunity to become the starter and he would run with this opportunity, winning the starting job and immediately making an impression.
Opening game of 2021 vs Arizona: Eyes, poise and accuracy
This play showcases a ton of great traits, poise in a tight pocket with eyes downfield, not hyper fixating on the rush, 3rd level eye manipulation of single high safety with two vertical routes down field and precise placement of the ball. The ball is a little wobbly out of his hand, but gets to his receiver in stride, allowing him to catch and run for a touchdown.
What would undoubtedly stand out to me in this game though and something that would continue to persist into the rest of his games this season is his ability to throw with touch.
Compilation: Touch, layered throws and anticipation flashes
Whether it’s to the middle of the field, or targeting outside the numbers from the far hash, Hall has the goods. Many would be impressed with the arm strength alone on some of these throws, but what separates him from others in this regard is his ability to take heat off the football and layer it over the underneath defenders in many of these examples.
When someone refers to someone as a natural thrower, this is what they mean. When you have the level of control over your throws that Hall does, you can place it just about anywhere. The ability to make all the throws isn’t just about arm strength alone, it’s also reliant on the ability to take appropriate heat off the football and put it on a higher trajectory.
That level of control is a large part due to his sound throwing mechanics.
Mechanics
Playing quarterback is difficult when your mechanics are not in line with each other, because it causes you to lose the control you have over your passes. Hall has little to no issues in this regard, as his upper and lower body consistently are synced up and allow him to generate ample torque on the ball, very rarely is he caught throwing with all arm. His throwing motion and release from a clean platform has very little wasted movement and finishes over the top.
But when you’re as inexperienced as Hall is with only 12 collegiate games under your belt, it can lead to borderline cockiness to try and fit, or loft any throw he can get away with. This was on full display against USC.
2 plays vs USC: Similar process, differing results
In the first example you see a really good result with Hall showing excellent poise hanging in until the last second rush, giving time for the route to develop and lofting the ball over the center field safety and into a tight window. His touch (along with some poor ball skills by the safety) allowed him to fit this one into an extremely narrow window down field. There is an argument to be made about the process of this throw and field vision given the coverage should’ve shut down that window, but a clear mistake by the safety getting depth, gave him just enough of a window and it worked.
In the next play though, you see it come back to bite him. Very similar concept with jet motion into the flat, two extra blockers and one receiver running vertical. This time the defense gets back, still has two guys back there and he decides to still pull the trigger. This is where experience matters with situational awareness. BYU is down in the 4th quarter on 2nd and 10, there is no reason to force this one in there. Just because you proved you can make the throw, doesn’t always mean you should and that’s something that comes with experience.
Despite the talk of situational awareness and living to fight another down, Hall has not been credited with a ton of turnover worthy plays this season. In fact, of the five interceptions he’s thrown this season and the one fumble he’s lost, he has been credited with six turnover worthy plays by PFF. The issue is these plays have often left points off the board for BYU.
Of Hall’s five interceptions, four of them have come between the opponent’s 39 to 20 yard line. Two instances came against Arizona State, one before halftime and another inside the 30 yard line up 21 to 17.
Interceptions vs ASU: Lack of situational awareness
First one is a jump ball, with a misdiagnosis post snap, Hall initially sees both CBs with no leverage in their stance believing the corners will have their back to him, something he’s taken advantage of a ton this season. He initially opens to the MOF to confirm the coverage, as he comes back his right he’s already committing to the throw, but the corner switched to a bail technique so the cornerback has all the leverage. Hall leaves it too far inside and while the receiver makes a great effort, the ball is intercepted.
The misdiagnosis post snap for a young player with the limited amount of experience is understandable in this regard, but the part that should be driven home is the fact they had a chance to put up points before halftime and he just gave the ball away.
The 2nd interception is just him trying to do too much when he doesn’t have to. It’s 1st and 10, there’s no reason to be in such a hurry to make a play when you’re driving down the field. Credit to Hall though, he shows effort going down the field to try and catch the defender and is rewarded with recovering the football. If not for Tyler Allgeier’s (great player by the way) incredible play though, this likely would’ve ended in a huge point swing.
This is the inexperience of Hall and just something that’ll have to improve as he continues to get more games under his belt; part of it also just the way he plays quarterback. Hall is a playmaker who can fit the ball into any window by throwing guys open, can get out of the pocket, utilize his legs, evade a sack and either throw it down the field, or attempt to run. He’s made some key mistakes, but he’s also shown some incredible ability to make plays that not many players can make.
Compilation: Deep ball placement, throwing guys open and playmaking ability
Hall’s placement on deep balls is what makes him such an enticing potential prospect at the next level. As you can see on many of these throws, the ball is often placed only where the receiver has a chance at it. If Hall sees a one on one opportunity, he’s going to do his part to give his receiver the best chance at getting the ball. You’ll notice some underthrown deep balls on his film at times and that is no mistake:
Hall is a gifted athlete as well, a true 4.5 40 yard dash player who can make a serious impact in the running game, out running pursuit angles and even taking some runs to the house. As highlighted earlier, his mechanics allow him to get ball out with a great level of control, but his quick release and ability to throw from awkward platforms allows him to make accurate throws under duress. What also stands out is the ability to navigate through condensing pockets, as Hall is very good at lessening the length of his strides, keeping his feet under him and just utilizing subtle micro movements from within the pocket.
There are a lot of good traits that stand out about Jaren Hall on film.
Draft dilemma: Family, injuries and age
Hall comes from a family with plenty of athletic pedigree. He is the son of former BYU college running back, Kalin Hall, while his mother Hollie was a gymnast at BYU. He’s currently married to former Utah Valley soccer player, Breanna McCarter and they welcomed their first child into the world this year (2021).
Hall initially came from the 2016 recruiting class and was rated as the 3rd highest quarterback in Utah by Scout, while Rivals ranked him the 20th dual threat quarterback in the country. Before arriving at BYU though in 2018, Hall opted for his mission trip in Roseville, California. While Hall got his chance initially to start in 2019 due to Wilson getting hurt, Hall would go through some adversity himself, suffering 2 concussions in the back to back games he started that year, which is scary scenario for any player, despite having no prior history of any. Hall would also hurt his hip in 2020, causing him to medically redshirt that season and he was already 22 years of age according to his father (special shoutout to Jesse Fritsch for finding this tweet). It wouldn’t be until the 2021 season where he’d get another chance to start at 23 years old and even then, he suffered a rib injury that caused him to miss 2 games.
If Hall were at least 1 year younger, I believe there would be much to gain in going back for another season and betting on yourself similar to what Joe Burrow did and now Kenny Pickett is doing. The issue is that Hall is going to be turning 24 years old in March and the outlook of going back another year, but being a 25 year old NFL prospect is a double edged sword. On one hand, if he returns for another year and has a season similar to the aforementioned players, he could realistically gain ground on his current draft stock given his physical tools. The issue is some teams may weigh his age vs other prospects, which could potentially keep him from a top 10 draft slot. There’s also the other issue of what if he goes back and plays poorly, or gets hurt again; that could ultimately hurt him a lot as well.
Hall as of the time writing this article hasn’t really given the thought of declaring much thought, if at all and according to KSL Sports, will look to evaluate his options after the final game of the season (see video in the tweet down below).
Hendon Hooker, who will also be turning 24 around the 1st quarter of 2022 is in a similar situation. Given he has opted not to participate in the Volunteer’s senior day, it seems very likely he’ll be returning for another season. Ultimately these decisions are the players to make and they’ll rightfully receive feedback from the NFL’s college advisory committee. From there, whether or not they get the grade they’re looking for, that will be the player’s decision to make. I can only speculate so far into what a player may be thinking and the prospects of returning, vs opting for the draft.
Conclusion
From what I’ve seen of Jaren Hall, just from a pure traits perspective, I don’t see what makes him and Zach Wilson too different in terms of strengths and weaknesses. NFL scouts may disagree with this claim if he were to declare, but both were flawed, talented college players. Hall is a better athlete, has slightly less arm velocity, but better touch on the football, has more consistent dropback timings (still needs to improve in this regard, as well as with patting the ball, which will help his timing become more consistent), better tendency to step into the pocket rather than out, showcased a little more anticipatory throws on film than Wilson, both showed a knack for throwing receivers open with precise ball placement, both played in a scheme littered with passing concepts that they’ll see at the next level, both also were in friendly offenses predicated off wide zone with tons of formation shifts/motion, both had very limited starting experience, along with an injury history and slight frames. Wilson put up gaudier overall numbers than Hall has and that’s about their biggest difference aside from age.
In a quarterback class that is starving for potential prospects, Hall offers a unique skillset that very few can match. There is plenty of risk attached given the aforementioned worts, but there is plenty to risk it on and a lot of talent that few can match in any given class. The intangibles are there given he is guy with plenty of maturity that comes from being a father, comes from a solid football background and has a great work ethic.
Despite that lack of experience, the talent shines through and it makes one wonder just how much he could improve given he just now started solely focusing on football. Whether or not he declares is ultimately his decision, but regardless, I am fan of his game and pro potential, whether or not the NFL will be is the big question.
Great article!