Emanuel Hall Fantasy
Wide receiver Emanuel Hall stood out during the 2019 NFL scouting combine. He performed very well in the 40-yard dash (4.39), the vertical jump (43.5), and the broad jump (141”). He finished first in the vertical jump and first in the broad jump. Through these drills, he showed great traits of explosiveness. This matches his college production where via PlayerProfiler.com he ranked in the 97th percentile in yards/catch (22.4). That mark also ranks second highest in the 2019 draft class.
Via Pro Football Focus Hall (PFF) Hall ranked only behind Darrius Shepard (4.22) from North Dakota State, and Andy Isabella from UMASS (4.15), in yards/route run last year in the NCAA (4.14). Hall’s yards/route run was higher than other speedy 2019 draft prospects that include Parris Campbell from Ohio State and Marquise Brown from Oklahoma. Fantasy owners need to get excited about this player who could be the next big vertical threat.
Measurements
- Height: 6 ft 2 in
- Weight: 201 lbs
- Arms: 33 1/4″
- Age: 22
Fun Facts:
Hall’s production will always reference his insane yards/reception. It turns out that at Missouri he actually holds the record for highest yards/reception of any player there with at least 64 receptions. Nintendo would be proud for all you retro gamers out there. His career yards/reception was 20.8. But that’s not even my best stat nugget.
The most stellar stat nugget I was able to compile via College Football Reference was the fact that Hall led the NCAA in games in which he averaged 20 yards/reception or more. He had 13 total games in college where he achieved that feat from 2016-2018. He actually tied wide receiver Jamire Jordan from Fresno State in that category. That was higher than other wide receivers in the 2019 draft class, like Marquise Brown and Hakeem Butler.
In the SEC, Hall led the conference in yards/reception in both 2017/2018 and was second in the NCAA in those same seasons. He also ranked top ten in the SEC in receiving yards both seasons and was fifth in receiving touchdowns 2017.
NFL Combine Recap
- 40 Yard Dash: 4.39
- Bench Press: 15
- Vertical Jump: 43.5
- Broad Jump: 141
Strengths & Weaknesses
If I have not made it quite clear what Hall’s strengths are yet, it’s his ability to get down the field as a vertical speed threat. That is the biggest strength that he possesses. According to PFF, when Hall was targeted deep (20 yards or more downfield), he compiled the 6th highest QBR (132.2). When quarterback Drew Lock targeted Hall last season at any point, he created a 141.8 quarterback rating. That was the second highest of any receiver targeted in the 2019 Draft Class behind Gary Jennings Jr. from West Virginia. Outside of that though, Hall is very one-dimensional.
He is definitely not a move-the-chains type of receiver. Consider the last season he had 37 receptions on 58 targets. 32 of those 37 targets went for first downs. Overall he ranked 60th in college last season in first down receptions. More often than not Hall profiles to a receiver that will receive a small market share in terms of targets but will have boom potential.
A recent player comparison to Hall is D.J. Chark from last year’s class. This both from an athletic standpoint and production level. 27 of Chark’s 40 targets in his final collegiate season went for first downs. Overall in 2017, he ranked 60th in college last season in first down receptions just like Hall did in 2018. However, Chark’s yards/route run (2.92) was much lower than Hall’s (4.14).
Hall also does not offer much upside as an open field runner. He does not create yardage after making the reception. He ranked outside the top-60 wide receivers in yards after the catch. He also has very little experience playing in the slot. He had just two receptions in the slot last season. However, he did average 51.5 yards per reception from the slot. It will be interesting to see if Hall is used ever in the slot as a vertical threat downfield to split the safeties in coverage. In the clips below you can see that Hall is not much of a polished route runner. Rounds out his route. Now, one could argue that the defensive back is more concerned about getting beat-deep so he is playing more of a soft coverage which is true. However, against better talent in the NFL, Hall won’t be able to get away with these kinds of routes.
Hall had two receptions from the slot last year. Here's one of them #kaboom pic.twitter.com/sAawsHAVTM
— Andrew Erickson™ (@AndrewErickson_) March 16, 2019
Best Fit: NFL Scheme
Any team that is lacking a vertical threat would be a perfect fit for Hall. Looking back at last season in terms of yards/completion and yards/pass attempt for each team here are the teams that had the fewest in that specific category.
- 2018 NFL Teams Lowest In Yards per Completion: Arizona, Jacksonville, Minnesota, Detroit and Washington
- 2018 NFL Teams Lowest In Yards per Attempt: Arizona, Buffalo, Jacksonville, Washington, and New York Jets.
Out of these teams, Arizona seems like a nice fit especially if they end up drafting Kyler Murray. Unless you are guilty of Kevin White #trutherstatus. Washington has essentially no wide receivers so they will be linked to almost every single wide receiver in this draft class. And perhaps not the best fantasy football fit, but the Minnesota Vikings desperately need to move on from Laquon Treadwell as their number three wide receiver. It would behoove them to take multiple wide receivers in this class and I think Hall’s skill set differs from both Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs making him the perfect fit there.
Dynasty Factor
Factors we also are looking at when considering wide receiver prospects entering the NFL as always are college dominator rating and breakout age. Hall’s are not necessarily amazing, but they are not bad. 69th percentile college dominator and 56th percentile breakout age via PlayerProfiler.com. The key with Hall is combining those metrics with his athletism make him an extremely polarizing prospect to consider in rookie dynasty drafts.
He probably will never become a number one fantasy wide receiver unless he is able to reach a ceiling like a Tyreek Hill or DeSean Jackson in their prime. And even with those receivers, they had dynamic quarterbacks to really expose their true upside. Hall probably won’t cost too much in rookie drafts, but don’t be surprised to see him make a splash or two as a rookie. If you play in any best ball dynasty leagues or just best ball, in general, he is definitely a name to consider with his big-play potential.
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Andrew is a Roger Williams University graduate where he majored in Marketing. While there he interned at a sports marketing agency where he had the opportunity to work with many professional athletes like Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman.
After college, Andrew started to write his own fantasy blogs via WordPress.com to show his friends why he calls himself the Fantasy Football Master. He calls himself this because back in ’07 in his first ever fantasy football league he drafted the Bears defense in the 1st round. He then proceeded to win the entire league. #DefenseWinsChampionships
