As I’ve mentioned in my other writing, Day 3 of the NFL Draft is for front offices to find “project players”, prospects that have a handful of tools they believe can turn them into an NFL player. Gabe Hall fits that mold perfectly, being a player that is far from polished but whose areas of strength present a real opportunity to be productive for an organization, which is why I consider him to be a steal in the 2024 NFL Draft.
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Name: Gabe Hall
Position: Defensive Line
School: Baylor University
Height: 6060
Weight: 291
Hand: 9 1/2″
Arm: 34 1/2″
Wingspan: 83 5/8″
Introduction: Gabe Hall spent five seasons with the Baylor Bears, amassing 12.5 sacks and 3 pass deflections during his time. Apart from a knee injury during his true freshman season, Hall has been relatively healthy during his college career. After two lackluster years to begin, he broke out in 2021 with 6 sacks and 1 forced fumble, showing the type of success he was capable of. He followed that up with 4.5 sacks in 2022 and earned Honorable All-Big 12 honors. He closed out his college career with an underwhelming 2 sack season this year, but the two previous seasons gave us a glimpse into the level of play he’s able to accomplish.
Strengths:
- Raw Strength
- Phenomenal length/tackle radius, knows how to use it
- Successful swim move in pass rush
- Shows ability to separate in run defense, make lengthy tackles
Areas For Improvement:
- Lacks twitchy-ness and quick first step
- Needs broader pass rush arsenal, lack of counter moves
- His upper and lower half are out of sync, needs better understanding of leverage
- Productivity dipped in final season
Overview: At the NFL Combine, Hall finished top 5 among all DT’s in the vertical jump, broad jump, 3-cone drill, and shuttle drill. With the bench press taking place tomorrow, I will go on the record as saying I anticipate a great outing by Gabe Hall. Although his leverage prevented him from doing it sometimes, he showed the raw strength needed to bully defenders on film, sometimes with a single arm. What will ultimately determine Hall’s success in the NFL is where he is used along the line. In college, he was typically lined up as a 3-technique or inward, but his length and tools make me believe he’d be better suited as a 4i or 5 technique. Hall has a high chance of outplaying his draft slot, but because he is a “project” and system player, that will ultimately cause him to fall in the draft.
Draft Outlook: Rounds 5-7
