Max Hall-BYU QB-Early Scouting Report-By Will Osgood-Contributing Writer-Football Reporters Online
When the BYU Cougars took the field last Saturday night, against Florida State, they were the number seven team in the country. They had a legitimate chance to play in a BCS Game. They also possessed perhaps the best chance of any non-BCS Conference team ever to play in the National Championship Game. As a result of all this, their quarterback Max Hall also looked like a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender.
But by the end of Saturday night, it all looked like a distant pipe dream, as the Cougars were trounced by the Seminoles. Gone are the BCS or National Championship aspirations, and likely the Heisman Trophy consideration for Max Hall as well. So that leaves me with this question alone: Is Max Hall a legitimate NFL quarterback prospect?
To make a determination I got a look at four games of his—last year versus Washington, and the three from this year—Oklahoma, Tulane, and of course Florida State. I charted out every throw he made in those games, 142 in all. But I didn’t only chart the throws, because there’s more to being a quarterback in the NFL than being accurate and strong when throwing the football. I looked at his throwing motion, his decision-making, his athleticism, his perceived leadership skills (which are tough to see on t.v., but you can at least make some generalizations). Of course, the height and weight issue is going to be a knock on him, as he stands just 6”1’ and 200 pounds (my guess is that’s a generous listing).
But it isn’t fair for scouts to write him off simply because he lacks the necessary height or weight. If they did that, they would’ve written off Drew Brees, Jeff Garcia, Doug Flutie, even Michael Vick. There’s a whole lot more that makes a good QB than his height. And those examples prove it’s possible to overcome a lack of height to have success as a professional football player.
The scout must look objectively at game film, chart out his throws, look at his athleticism, decision-making, and leadership skills and from that determine whether he can be a successful quarterback. I’ll admit right now, I’m glad I don’t have to make a decision today, because if I did, it would be very difficult. So I’ll give you some information that I gathered and allow you the reader to make a decision if you want to.
Accuracy
Out of 142 total throws (four games), I graded him as being accurate on 103 of those throws. Percentage-wise that is 72.5 percent. If you grade him on throws of five yards or less, he was 49 of 60, which is about 81.5 percent. Throws between six and ten yards: only 30 of 45, for 67 percent. Eleven to fifteen yards: 12 of 15 for 80 percent. And all throws deeper than fifteen yards he was 12 for 20, which is 60 percent.
What do those numbers tell us? First off, 72.5 percent is good, but does not compare very favorably to QBs of the past such as Mark Sanchez, Kevin Kolb, or even his predecessor John Beck. That being said, it is better than such players as Matthew Stafford, Matt Ryan, and Joe Flacco. So maybe it doesn’t really mean anything.
For any QB prospect, he must be accurate short, and he is. That is a good thing. His six-to-ten yard percentage though is something to be a little concerned about. A lot of NFL throws take place in that range of the field, and that happens to be his weakest accuracy range.
Although it’s a small sample size, his accuracy from 11 to 15 yards, and the way he throws those balls most of the time, with some zip, is very encouraging.
But the true test for a future NFL QB is how he handles pressure, since he’ll be getting hit almost every time he drops back to throw. Unfortunately for Hall, he struggles greatly under pressure, as he was accurate on only 11 of the 26 passes he made. This is just 42 percent. At least he hits his throws when on the run at more than 60 percent.
It is encouraging to see Hall throw accurately to all three sections of the field—right, middle, and left. This proves he is able to make fairly quick decisions and set his feet. It also shows he has an ability to go through his route progressions and not just lock onto one receiver.
Decision-Making
Hall is the leader of his offense, as he should be. He is allowed to check out of bad play calls, and when he does, generally makes good decisions. This I think is a very underrated aspect of being a quarterback in the NFL.
Because of the look offense in college, many QBs are not being trained how to read defenses pre-snap and figure out how to get their offense into a better play. But at the NFL level, there is no look offense. It is the quarterback’s job to get his team into a better play. For me Hall has an advantage in that he has already done this for a couple years.
Another aspect of decision-making of course is the quarterback’s decision of who and where, and when for that matter, to throw the football. Hall makes those decisions very quickly and almost never gets sacked. You could say there are times he could hold on just a little longer to allow his receivers more time to get open, but of course I’d rather him be a quick decision-maker than a slow decision-maker.
Throwing Technique
At 6 feet—we’ll give him that much credit—Hall must make up for his lack of height with a flawless release in order to avoid potential trouble, such as tipped balls and bad ball trajectory.
With shorter quarterbacks, like Hall, it is a double-edged sword, as you want them to be able to get that ball over taller linemen, but knee bend remains important so that they can get everything behind their throw. For a shorter QB, Drew Brees does this so well. Hall is still a work in progress. I wouldn’t call his release a three-quarters, but I also wouldn’t say it’s fully over-the-top. It’s maybe 7/8.
He needs to get more bend in the knees which allow him to really drive into his throws. The thing is there are times he does, and he generally gets a lot of zip on the ball. His arm is definitely not the issue. But he needs to stride into all his throws, which he generally does not do when facing pressure.
And although he is accurate on the run, he fades away from the throw. That is going to cause some inaccurate throws down the line, especially when the speed of the game is faster.
Pocket Presence
One area I did not mention earlier, but may actually be the most important area, or one of them, is pocket presence. I did touch on this above, saying that Hall does not step into his throws when facing pressure. But it is more than that. It’s moving within the pocket, being able avoid a sack, sometimes even leaving the pocket, but keeping his eyes downfield.
Hall does not excel in this area of the game. He is a good athlete, but when he scrambles, he generally decides he is going to simply run and make as many yards as possible. At the NFL level, a QB will not be able to gain very many yards so they must keep their eyes downfield looking for a receiver to come open.
Within the pocket, he does not step up into the pocket and make throws, but instead tries to throw everything off his back foot. That is a big part of why he is so inaccurate against pressure. If he has any chance to become a good NFL QB, he must improve in this area over the course of this season and in the NFL.
Summary
Despite his size, Hall has a lot of positive attributes that lead me to believe he could be a good NFL QB. Among them are his decision-making and experience in audibling and calling some of his own plays. I didn’t talk a lot about his footwork, but it is better than many spread QBs, and that is what allows him to be accurate to all three sections of the football field. Also his ability to make quick decisions and go through his progressions help in his overall accuracy as well.
Things that hurt his cause are his size, his difficulty to be accurate against pressure, and lacking a big-time arm like a Matthew Stafford or Jay Cutler. I’m still not sure where I stand on him, but I do believe he’s at least worth a late-round pick. You never know what he could turn into with some good coaching and the right system.
