It's no surprise, but Virginia CB Bryce Hall makes perfect sense for the Kansas City Chiefs
Bryce Hall - CB, Virginia
By the numbers:
6’1”, 202 pounds. 32-¼” arms. No 40-yard dash (ankle injury).
62 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions and 21 passes defended in his last full season (2018).
Positives:
Physicality is the name of Bryce Hall’s game. It shows up in all facets. Standing at 6’1”, he’s a lengthy cornerback with the size to line up against pretty much any wide receiver. He’s comfortable jamming them at the line of scrimmage and sticking with them throughout their entire route. Hall has some of the best ball skills in this year’s class, resulting in many 50/50 balls going in his favor.
Hall is a willing tackler and a fierce competitor. His football IQ is also terrific, which makes him a high-floor prospect that can step in and compete immediately. He understands route stems and has a knack for knowing where the quarterback is going with the ball. Patience is not an issue with him either. If he would have turned some of his passes broken up into interceptions, we’d be talking about him garnering serious first-round buzz. He’s that solid all-around.
Negatives:
One of the many disadvantages of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the prohibition against teams physically checking out players’ medical situations. Hall suffers the most from this due to his recovery from an ankle injury possibly lingering into the summer. He wasn’t an elite athlete before suffering the broken ankle, so how he looks coming back from it will be worth keeping an eye on.
Hall’s hips aren’t always fluid in coverage, as he reacts more with his brain rather than his body. On complex routes, fast receivers may be able to create enough separation to take off and leave him and his merely solid top-end speed in the dust. At the NFL level, defensive coordinators would be wise to use Hall in zone coverage shells more than anything else.
How Hall fits with the Chiefs:
The fit with Hall and the Kansas City Chiefs couldn’t be much better. Steve Spagnuolo runs plenty of zone schemes that require long corners with intelligence. Hall fits that profile and, on top of that, he’s a former teammate of Chiefs safety Juan Thornhill. He’d bring another great brain and hard-working mindset to the locker room and could thrive as a boundary corner once he’s healthy.
Final Thoughts:
Due to his athletic limitations and medical concerns, Hall probably isn’t going to be a first-round pick. That’s music to the Chiefs’ ears, along with the fact that this year’s cornerback class is extremely deep. Now that Bashaud Breeland is back in the fold, the need for a plug-and-play corner isn’t nearly as severe. If the Chiefs let Hall work back from his injury and rotate him in during his first season, he could play a major role in the defense’s success for years to come.
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