NFL Draft Profile: Breece Hall, Running Back, Iowa State Cyclones

NFL draft profile scouting report for Iowa State running back, Breece Hall

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#28
Pos: RB
Ht: 5112
Wt: 217
Hands: 0968
40: 4.39
Vertical: 40
Broad Jump: 1006
DOB: 5/31/01
Eligible: 2022
Wichita, KS
Northwest High School

Breece Hall
Iowa State Cyclones

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One-Liners

Breece Hall has a solid shot at becoming the next first-round running back with his well-rounded game based around patience, burst and quick feet.

Pros:

Very good-looking, compact frame that is durable and strong. Excellent in pass protection that makes him a three-down candidate at the next level. He remains very patient, but not too patient, as a runner. His ankles are silky smooth, allowing him to make precise cuts and defenders miss. Short area quickness and suddenness within his running style also helps his overall gameplan with how he attacks each run. He runs with a very strong lower half, which especially shows as he is running downhill with the ball or blocking upfield. Awareness and instincts from the backfield are second-to-none. Demonstrates excellent contact balance and can fight for extra yards behind the firm base he possesses. Has good ball security, only fumbling once in 2020. He can blaze through clean running lanes created by his blockers. He is a fine safety valve option into the flats in the passing game. Often catches defenders on the backfoot because they have to respect every part of Hall’s game.

Cons:

His long speed is the only definitive concern for his overall transition to the NFL. Struggles at times to get around linebackers playing on the edge of the second level when attempting to stretch the play to the sidelines. Big play ability is definitely limited to some degree. Did flash some elite burst, but needs to showcase that more often in order to take his game to the next level. Doesn’t offer much dynamism as a receiver out of the backfield.

Summary:

After starting half of his freshman season and all of his sophomore season, Breece Hall has established himself as one of the best pure runners in college football. His suddenness and elite burst will catch the eye. He has the making to be a complete back with his ability inside and outside the tackles. It’s hard not to see a large part of prime Le’veon Bell in Hall’s game. The only legitimate concern within his game is his long speed, which limits his big play ability. Although, that is quite nitpicky. Breece is an excellent back and has a chance to be a first-round pick. 

Background:

Background: Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Hall grew up in Wichita, Kansas, where he attended Wichita Northwest High School. Sports are embedded in Hall's family. Breece Hall is a cousin of 1988 NFL offensive player of the year, Roger Craig. Hall's stepfather is former Kansas City Chief and Tampa Bay Buccaneer running back Jeff Smith. Naria Hall, Breece's sister, played basketball at Friends University. His mother, LaRhonda McDaniel, was a significant factor in his development as a person and player. The Northwest Grizzly dominated high school football as he rushed for 2,127 yards and 29 touchdowns his senior season. He captured First-Team All-Metro and First-Team All-State honors. His most prestigious high school honor was being named 2019 Witchia Metro Player of the Year. 247Sports gave Breece Hall a four-star ranking for the 2019 recruiting class. Hall was ranked the second-best player in Kansas by 247Sports behind Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz. The site ranked him as the 22nd-best running back in the country and 339th-best player in the nation. Iowa State was the first school to offer Hall, and he was loyal through the whole process to them. As a true freshman, Breece Hall was an instant play-maker. In 12 games, he rushed 186 times for 897 yards and nine touchdowns. Hall averaged a solid 4.8 yards per carry and caught 23 passes for 267 yards and one touchdown. His ten true freshman touchdowns would set a record amongst Iowa State Cyclones. The productive rookie became the second Cyclone in history to record over 1,000 all-purpose yards in their first season. In his debut season, the Cyclones finished 7-6 and lost 9-33 vs. No.15 Notre Dame in the Camping World Bowl. Hall would notch 100 scrimmage yards in the team's blowout bowl loss. PFF and 247Sports named him to their 2019 True Freshman All-American teams. The Athletic pegged the Cyclone standout as a Second-Team All-Freshman selection. His biggest honor of the season would come in a Second-Team All-Big 12 selection. Expectations were high as Hall would open the 2020 season as the team's starting running back. In a record-setting sophomore season, he rushed for 1,572 yards on 279 carries for 21 touchdowns. In addition to his rushing numbers, Breece caught 23 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Hall led the nation in rushing and was named a Unanimous All-American for the 2020 season. Breece Hall is the only Unanimous All-American in school history. As the nation's top running back, he would earn awards from every major outlet and be named Big-12 Offensive Player of the Year and First-Team All-Big 12. Under Hall, Iowa State would finish the season 9-3 (8-1 Big-12). The team would end the season at No.9 in the nation and peaked at No.8 in week 13. That was Iowa State's highest ranking in school history. The team would lose to No.10 Oklahoma 21-27 in the Big-12 Championship. In their next bowl game, the Cyclones bullied PAC-12 Champions no.25 Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl 34-17. After passing Name, Image, and Likeness laws, Breece Hall would begin to make money off of a Cameo account. 

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Grades

Current Player Value/Potential Player Value

1st Round

2022 Breece Hall Fantasy Football Overview:

The 2022 NFL draft will be similar to 2021 for running backs. The top tiers will not be as deep but should produce at least two or three excellent options. Breece Hall is one of those options. At six-foot-one 215-pounds, Hall is the ideal size to be a workhorse back and has proven he can carry a full workload. He has over 200 touches in his three seasons at Iowa State, amassing 4,675 scrimmage yards and 56 touchdowns.

Patience is the name of the game with Hall. He waits for the play to develop and uses outstanding vision to exploit holes. Hall has a quick burst, which allows him to get to the second level for big plays. While he is not the type of back to make tacklers look foolish, the 20-year old moves well laterally and will consistently break tackles for extra yards. He is also a weapon as a pass-catcher, finishing with 82 receptions in three seasons.

2022 Breece Hall Draft Strategy:

It is difficult to imagine Hall as anything but an early day-two draft pick. In April, he should be one of the first three running backs off the board. The high draft capital makes him a lock first-round pick in rookie drafts, regardless of format. Dynasty managers can expect a couple of quarterbacks to go ahead of Hall in Superflex leagues. The low number of top-tier running backs make the former Cyclone a high-value target at the top of drafts.

Best Case Scenario:

A good landing spot is critical for fantasy success. If a running back gets drafted early by a team looking for a starter, the result is typically fantasy goodness. The obvious example from 2021 was when Pittsburgh drafted Najee Harris. Opportunity plus high draft capital is the dream. Miami, Buffalo, Arizona, Seattle, Atlanta, and Houston are all teams that lack a young stud at running back. Any one of these options would be ideal for Breece Hall.

Worst Case Scenario:

The biggest fear for fantasy managers is the dreaded running back by committee approach. Nobody wants to see a top prospect go to a team that refuses to select one running back as the main guy or already has young talent at the position. The number of franchises fitting this description is too high to list. When evaluating rookie backs, the potential opportunity for touches is significant when selecting runners.

11/27/21 – Iowa State junior running back Breece Hall put an exclamation point on what might have been his final collegiate game. One of the top-rated runners on the NFL Draft Bible big board, Hall ran for a career-high 242 rushing yards during the Cyclones 48-14 rout over TCU. It was the 24th consecutive game with a touchdown, a new school record (Bill Burnett), as he became the first Iowa State player to notch at least 250 scrimmage yards and four scrimmage touchdowns in a game since former Heisman Trophy winner Troy Davis, on Sept. 28, 1996, according to ESPN. "As special as I've seen him,” Campbell said postgame. “Boy oh boy, if there's a better running back in college football, I'd love to see him. So he's as special as they come and if this is it for Breece Hall, this is one heck of a way to go out. So we're really proud of him." At 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds, the record-setting Hall has a compact frame, with excellent burst and quickness, to go along with tremendous patience. In addition, he has proved to be a capable pass-blocker, as well as an effective pass-catcher, making him a potential starter at the next level. The Wichita native is sure to receive an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine. However, an official decision on what his future holds is still to come. "I don't know, we'll see. I don't know yet," Hall responded when asked about whether he would make up his mind about entering the draft. "Probably sometime in the next week or so, we'll probably see. But for right now, I'm just trying to enjoy the rest of the season with my teammates and enjoy this last month of the semester and just be around my team and enjoy everybody." 

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