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Another week, another mock draft: the latest 2024 projection from Pro Football Network has the New Orleans Saints as a low playoff seed in the NFC, which helped them land Ohio State Buckeyes defensive tackle Michael Hall Jr. at No. 19 overall. Hall was just the second interior defender to go off the board in this mock draft, following LSU Tigers standout Maason Smith to the Chicago Bears five slots earlier. PFN’s Dalton Miller wrote of Hall’s fit in New Orleans:
The New Orleans Saints defense is in a transition period. Cameron Jordan is aging out, David Onyemata and Shy Tuttle are gone, and it appears the team is branching out a bit from their normal mold on the defensive interior.
Michael Hall Jr. doesn’t have the ideal size New Orleans usually opts for, but his athleticism allows him to really threaten interior blockers with consistency.
Hall, listed at 6-foot-2 and 285 pounds, does fall beneath the Saints’ usual standards for height and weight but not to the degree of players like Calijah Kancey, who was a lightning rod of debate among fans this offseason. If that’s an accurate number, his playing weight lines up with some recent Saints defensive tackles like Kentavius Street and Shy Tuttle, who were both listed at about 290 pounds when they first joined the team.
But what sets Hall apart is his speed. The Buckeyes are clients for Zebra Technologies, whose real-time player tracking tools have also been popular with the Saints, and their results from a Feb. 6 practice session found that Hall was the fastest defender on the field — hitting a max speed of 21.4 miles per hour. Next-best were 239-pound linebacker Cody Simon (20.9) and 182-pound defensive back Jermaine Mathews Jr. (20.6). That’s impressive any way you slice it.
A shoulder injury slowed Hall down in the second half of last season, but he’s eager to build on the momentum he established early on. Despite playing a limited role, he was tied for the team lead in sacks (4.5) and led the defensive interior in tackles for loss (7.5). That would be welcome production in New Orleans even if he’s in a part-time role.
And that’s probably going to be the case for whoever the Saints add to the mix, if anyone. They’ve always managed the rotation carefully inside by having three or four players all seeing 25 to 35 snaps per game. It’s an approach that makes sense in keeping everyone fresh to avoid burnout late in games. That’s also been the norm for this offseason’s additions: Saunders, Shepherd, and Bresee were all deployed in a rotation on their previous teams as opposed to being every-down players like, say, Cameron Jordan at defensive end or Demario Davis at linebacker.
So defensive tackle could remain an area of need next year. If durability issues persist for Saunders and Bresee, the Saints could use more help in the middle of their defense. With Saunders and Shepherd each signed to short-term three-year deals, it might be wise to pair Bresee with another young athlete even if injuries aren’t a problem in the fall.
We’ll be adding Hall to our college football watch list. His first big game will come against Notre Dame’s well-coached offensive line on Sept. 23, a national broadcast on NBC. It’s safe to say a lot of eyes will be on that matchup between two highly-ranked opponents.
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