Browns NFL Draft Series: First up, Mike Hall Jr. who the Browns took with their second-round pick.
- Mike Hall Jr. is an Ohio guy through and through. He grew up in Cleveland and graduated from Streetsboro High School in 2021. Hall then headed to Columbus to play for the Buckeyes. Hall flashed throughout his time at Ohio State. He had the best pass rush win rate in college football at 18.3%. We all know the importance that the Browns place on QB pressures. AB affirms this in a recent interview with Cleveland Browns Daily.
- His strength is his ability to get off the ball with a nasty swim move. He is extremely quick and knows how to get to the quarterback. I will link some of his highlights to this post, but the most impressive is against the #5 overall pick, Joe Alt. Brian Baldinger does an excellent breakdown of Hall’s film and gives him a tremendous amount of praise. Jake Burns of the OBR says he can see similar traits to Chris Jones. Another thing to remember is that Hall is a young player and will not turn 21 until this summer. The Browns love to draft young/athletic guys with a high upside. Mike Hall Jr. is just that. However, a critique of Hall is that he played minimal snaps during his career.
- In his first year, I would love to see Hall as a rotational guy who plays mostly in obvious passing situations. The DT room is deep with a lot of talent. Hopefully, Hall can take advantage of having fresh legs in late-game situations.
- Best Case Scenario: Hall emerges as a dominate pass rusher similar to the Christian Wilkins type.
- I love this pick and I’m extremely excited to see what Hall can do in this defense.
- Baldy’s Breakdown: https://x.com/BaldyNFL/status/1785794390927049189
- Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta7tqK6EBzs
