Some players just feel like they’re destined to become Broncos. Leading up to free agency or the draft the anticipation for their arrival reaches a kind of fever pitch, almost a panic. What if X gives them more money? What if Y swoops in and picks them first? Heck, what if Elway doesn’t want them?
Scouting Report:
- Very good size at 6’1 202 lbs with 32 1/4” long arms. All three are above the 75th percentile.
- Good competitive toughness and he plays up to big moments.
- Very good mental processing, he’s “instinctive” and brings the film study to the field.
- Good key and read shows up in anticipation route combinations, when playing off he can track QB and assignment bouncing eyes.
- Good play strength and brings physicality to every part of his game.
- Takes advantage of every opportunity he has to stick on his assignment, has the goods to work opponent to sideline.
- Very good ball skills as he plays the ball like a receiver.
- Led the country in forced incompletions in 2018.
- Has the tools to be good to very good at the line of scrimmage at the next level.
- Very good run defender, has no hesitation to come up and bang against the ground game.
- Willing to fight through blocks to get to the ball carrier.
- Plays angles and will force ball back to help.
- Solid tackler who combines strength and technique to be reliable at the next level.
- Showed up as a blitzer and brings the disposition to be effective here.
- Adequate athleticism with adequate transitional quickness and explosiveness.
- Will get greedy on occasions, going for the big play and ceding easy completions.
- Got tagged for 3 DPI calls in first five games of 2019, will need to get less handsy in the NFL.
- Adequate in man coverage, highcut build hurts his ability change directions and to stick to better route runners and speed merchants.
- Adequate range, his long speed is a question that won’t be answered in pre-Draft process.
- Suffered significant ankle injury in October while blocking on a punt.
- Played less than 20% of his snaps in press alignment last season.
- Experienced a wide variety of coverages at Virginia.
What I’ve heard/read:
Overall, Hall doesn’t have ideal longspeed or fluidity for the position, but he does receiver-like things in coverage with the length, awareness and football character to earn an NFL starting role, projecting best in zone coverage (if the medicals check out).
Hall is very much a silo type of cornerback, but in that silo you’re going to have a difficult time beating him. With plus length and ball skills, Hall should rack up his fair share of PBUs in the league.
Bryce Hall CB Virginia - Draft Player Profile | The Draft Network - Joe Marino
Hall is a long and physical corner with exceptional ball skills, but his quickness and agility are only average making him best suited for a zone heavy scheme in the NFL. While he isn’t a universal scheme fit, Hall profiles as a plus starter in the right role and his ability to make game-changing plays on the football certainly increase his appeal. Hall is an extremely competitive football player that also has exceptional football character. He should be a team leader and well-respected for his character and efforts in the community given his resume at Virginia. It would not surprise me to see Hall start early in his career, but definitely by Year 2/3.
Bryce Hall CB Virginia - Draft Player Profile | The Draft Network - Jordan Reid
From his off the field acumen to his on the field production, Hall went down as one of the better players in program history. He’s the type of player that teams will love to add to the locker room as he’s a culture builder and one that will always represent your franchise the right way. His off the charts leadership skills and intangibles carry over to the field as he’s as competitive as they come. His game translates well, but questions about his long speed may lead to zone teams having a more liking to him. Ankle surgery cut his senior season short, but not already a fast corner, question about that will still arise. All of that combined makes him a Day 2 selection with the upside to become a starter
Bryce Hall CB Virginia - Draft Player Profile | The Draft Network - Kyle Crabbs
Bryce Hall projects favorably as a starter at the NFL level, but he’s going to be a scheme specific prospect who must be given the opportunity to develop in press man or be tasked with playing primarily Cover 3 as a deep third perimeter defender. Hall’s ball skills and ability to set the edge against the run offer him plus qualities in both phases of the defense and he’s an intelligent defender with strong anticipation, which helps him to mask functional movement restrictions.
Bryce Hall CB Virginia - Draft Player Profile | The Draft Network - Benjamin Solak
Bryce Hall projects as a scheme-specific starter in the NFL as a Cover 3 corner in the NFL. Hall’s footwork, length, and body positioning at the line of scrimmage are all starting caliber for a team that uses Seattle’s popularized version of Cover 3 during the Legion of Boom era — he has a similar body type and strengths/weaknesses profile as Byron Maxwell did when he was productive for Seattle back in the 2010s. Hall’s high character and run support will make an attractive candidate for coaches, but GMs will be worried about the way he limits the schemes available to their defensive coordinators. With his injury concerns baked in, Hall is a difficult player to project, but if healthy and in the right system, he’s a Year 1 starter.
NFL Draft & Combine Profile - Bryce Hall | NFL.com
Angular outside corner who uses instinctive footwork and long arms to close out and challenge a healthy percentage of throws. His backpedal and transitions are more functional than fluid and could be exploited by NFL route-runners and speedsters. His reactive quickness and ball skills fit nicely into zone-based coverages, allowing greater freedom to spy quarterbacks and squeeze short and intermediate throws. He can handle man coverage, but he needs protection over the top. Hall is a future starting cornerback but might garner attention at free safety at some point in his career.
2020 NFL Draft | Inside Virginia CB Bryce Hall’s ankle injury | Cover 1
It’s known he suffered a break along with the dislocation causing ligament damage but it’s not known whether he suffered any additional damage. It’s also unknown if any of the ligaments in the area required repair or simply immobilization to heal following the fracture. We do know that he had surgery shortly after the injury, specifically Oct. 14, according to reports.
Why he fits
Hall is the kind of gamer that brings energy to an entire defense. He’s also the kind of physical playmaker that Fangio would love. Additionally, he’s well versed in a manner of coverages and made plenty of hay in Quarters, Cover 6 and 3, which would help his transition to the Broncos scheme.
Final Thoughts
The Cavalier finished as my 9th cornerback when I wrote up my CB rankings last month, and that feels like a slight to him except for the fact that this corner class is quietly very good. If not for his injury he’d probably be getting top 50 type of hype. Because of it, he could go farther. I hope the Broncos are the ones to benefit.
Poll
Do you want the Broncos to draft Bryce Hall?
This poll is closed
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82%
Yes!
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6%
No!
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11%
OFFENSIVE LINE!!!!