Emanuel Hall’s speed can win games for the Bears

The Mizzou product has one main trick, but it’s a hell of a trick.

Draft prospects don’t necessarily need to have a well-rounded game to be promising NFL players. Sometimes, it’s OK to have one dominant skill to lean on. There might not be a better example of that in this year’s class than Missouri wide receiver and Bears’ undrafted free agent signee Emanuel Hall.

Hall’s one trick is a dynamic one. He’s been incredible at creating plays deep down the field, averaging 20.8 yards per catch throughout his career at Missouri.

Even with some of the inconsistent quarterback play that Hall dealt with from the Tigers’ Drew Lock, he was still able to produce like a top receiver in the nation.

Hall’s numbers compare him favorably to one of the hottest receiver names in the 2019 NFL Draft, Ole Miss’ D.K. Metcalf.

Both players posted a high mark for yards per catch, had mediocre catch rates, and missed their fair share of games. Hall, though, graded out as the more efficient receiver:

Here’s what SB Nation’s Bill Connelly had to say about the Hall-to-Metcalf comparison:

Metcalf will likely go in the first round, but Hall might still be available in the third or fourth. It’s hard to ignore his injuries — he either missed or left injured in nine of Missouri’s 26 games in 2017-18 — but in his last 13 complete games, he caught 61 passes for 1,358 yards. His per-catch averages are what you would typically see from a wide receiver in a triple-option system, averaging two targets per game, not a No. 1 option in a prolific SEC attack.

“To be sure, Hall struggled with drops at times and with injuries even more. But when healthy, he was college football’s best deep threat, and he backed up his stats with a 4.39 40 times this spring. He isn’t the absurd physical specimen the 6’3, 228-pound Metcalf is, but at 6’2, 201, he’s not small either.

Hall has been a natural target all along for any team interested in Metcalf. Injuries helped limit Hall to just 32 games in four years at Mizzou, but when healthy, he has often shined.

On film, Hall shows the traits needed to quickly become a dominant deep threat. He devastated defenses with the “go” route at Mizzou.

Hall has a clear view of how he found success in college and how he plans on maintaining that success in the NFL. When I asked Hall at the NFL Combine which route he loved to run the most at the NFL Combine, he gave a very simple answer.

“That straight nine ball,” Hall told me, with a huge smile on his face. “Just throw that rock right down there and we’re straight. We’re good.”

Hall said he never feared getting wrecked by safeties playing over the top on those routes either.

“There are teams like Georgia that play two high and they’ll cheat the safety over — and they still got beat” Hall said.

“When you have a quarterback that can throw it that far and with my speed, it just works so well.”

When you watch Hall play, it’s easy to see how he mastered the “go” route. With his size and speed, he was a matchup nightmare for a lot of the cornerbacks he faced in college.

This play against UT Martin is a good example of that speed. When Lock releases the football, the cornerback is running step-for-step with Hall. By the time the ball reaches Hall, though, the receiver is about three yards ahead of the cornerback.

That late separation is pure speed. It creates a larger window for the quarterback to work with and gives Hall the space he needs to pick up yards after the catch.

Here’s another example against Florida, where Hall simply outraces the defensive back down the field:

Having a player who can flip the field with the simplest route in the game is incredibly valuable.

Hall’s speed helps him out on shorter routes as well.

Most of Hall’s value at Mizzou came on plays where he was able to showcase his speed. That went beyond deep balls. When Hall was able to find a crease on slants and screens, he was deadly in the open field.

This play against Wyoming shows his athletic ability after the catch and his top-notch acceleration. Hall knew he had to make a guy miss right after catching the ball and then exploded for the first down:

That speed can also work in the red zone as well. Red-zone play isn’t Hall’s biggest strength, but he can use his explosiveness in tight quarters. Florida learned that the hard way in 2018:

Hall believes that he’ll be able to get open in the red zone in the NFL, even though most of his production came outside of the red zone.

“I scored, I think two times or three times this past season, on some red-zone stuff.” Hall said. “A lot of slant routes and things like that, but it’s something I can do. It’s definitely something that’s in my bag of tricks.”

He also looks good in red-zone efficiency stats:

Hall doesn’t have the most complete style of play, but he can change the course of a game with one play. His speed will threaten NFL defenses deep, open up plays in the middle of the field for other receivers, and make life a little easier on his quarterback.

That Hall hasn’t been considered a first-round prospect doesn’t have to limit him. That he didn’t find a home in any of the seven rounds of the 2019 Draft won’t either. He has the ability to create big plays the moment he steps on an NFL field. He could turn out to be a bargain-bin gem.