2019 NFL Draft Prospect – Emanuel Hall, WR Missouri

Our NFL rookie profile series continues with this analysis of 2019 NFL Draft Prospect Emanuel Hall, WR from Missouri. You can also check out all of our NFL Draft Prospect articles here. We will continue to provide you with these in-depth rookie profiles and a ton of other fantasy football rookie analysis right up through the NFL Draft. Stay tuned, and stay ahead of your league!

We are looking at a deep and versatile wide receiver class that could possibly change the landscape of the NFL. It is a passing league and teams are always looking for an upgrade to improve their passing game. There are always voids for new receivers to fill and this year’s draft class has more than enough talent to make an impact for several teams.

Emanuel Hall is a very interesting prospect. He’s one of the best deep threats in the class and he has the ability to take the top off the defense. As you will see, there are plenty of positives and red flags in his rookie profile that could make or break his career at the NFL level. One thing that we can all agree on is that he has a lot of potential. With that being said, let’s take a look at his rookie profile.

THE STATS

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Statistics from sports-reference.com.

Hall didn’t get his career off the ground until his junior season, when he owned a 21.8 percent market share of the team’s passing offense. That year he saw 15 percent of Missouri’s passing targets and averaged 15.1 yards per target. One thing to note, is that teammate, J’Mon Moore, owned a 27.17 percent market share of the team’s passing offense and also saw 25 percent of the passing targets. Moore’s ownership of the team’s offensive production provides some context to what Hall did on the field in 2017.

During his senior season, Hall proved to be one of the best deep threats in college football, by averaging 15.3 yards per targets and 22.4 yards per catch. In just eight games, he caught 37 passes for 828 yards. He battled a groin injury throughout the entire season that caused him to miss games against Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Memphis, and Kentucky. Even with the games missed, he still managed to own 25.40 percent of Missouri’s passing offense and had a 24.7 percent dominator rating.

Two things to note about his production: First off, he didn’t break out until age 20 which isn’t horrible but doesn’t suggest that he’s an elite-level prospect. The second thing to note is that due to injuries and him fighting for targets early on in his career, Hall never had a full season of production. His best season was last year when he played just eight games and only caught 37 passes. If there’s an indication that he could flame out at the NFL level it would be his lack of production.

THE FILM

This game is from Hall’s ten-catch, 171-yard performance against Wyoming in 2018. He also posted a career-high reception total in this game. This is a good game to watch on film, because he received plenty of work, seeing 11 targets which equated to 24.44 percent of the team’s passing targets. Wyoming isn’t exactly the toughest competition, but this game shows a large sample size of work, providing a good depiction of what Hall can do on the field.

When starting his route, Hall is quick off the line of scrimmage. He might have the best release in this year’s draft class. He is almost instantly on the heels of the defensive back. This makes him very dangerous while running deep routes. It also makes it hard for the defense to roll zone coverage in his area without having a safety patrolling over the top as an insurance policy.

On top of his nasty release, Hall is also one of the fastest receivers in college football and is a tremendous deep threat. Not only can he burn the defense with his speed, but he can also track the ball while it’s in the air and beat the defender to the catch point to make the grab. Catching passes downfield is his specialty and is where he can make his money at the NFL level if he has a strong-armed quarterback who is not afraid to target him downfield.

There are some limitations to his game. He doesn’t run a full route tree and that’s mainly because Missouri didn’t ask him to run underneath routes. His hips are a little bit stiff, limiting his ability to drop anchor and make his break on the route. This inhibits his ability to run detailed routes over the middle of the field. The most undeveloped trait for most rookie wide receivers is route running. With good coaching and hard work in the off-season, this is something that can be fixed.

Another red flag in his profile is his hands. He will double catch and let balls get into his body. He’s not very aggressive at the catch point and will allow defensive backs to get into his basket while the ball is in transit. If anything, he’s more of a finesse player. The lack of aggression is an issue, but he also wasn’t asked to run many underneath routes, creating a limited sample of him seeing targeted over the middle. This is worrisome, but he’s still an elite-level deep threat who can stretch the field with ease. Even if he doesn’t develop his game, he still has ways he can win on the field.

THE MEASURABLES

Hall blazed the combine with a 4.39-second 40-yard dash which ranks in the 87th percentile amongst wide receiver prospects. He also jumped out the building with a 43.5-inch vertical jump and a 141-inch broad jump, lending the notion that he’s a fast-twitch athlete who packs plenty of burst. Draft prospects don’t usually participate in the events they are not good at, because for them, the purpose of the combine is to show off what they can do, not their limitations. With that being said, Hall didn’t run the three-cone or the short shuttle. We don’t have an exact gauge on his short area quickness except for what we see on film.

After everything was said and done, Hall proved to be one of the most athletic wide receivers at the combine. He had one of the fastest 40-times and he tied Miles Boykin for the top vertical jump amongst wide receivers in this year’s class. We don’t have to worry about his size because he measured in at 6-foot-1 and weighed in at 201 pounds. His 109.1 height-adjusted speed score is very encouraging and is another sign that he’s a top-notch athlete.

DYNASTY VALUE

He currently has a startup draft ADP of 166.83. Veterans falling off the board in this area of the draft are Marqise Lee, Nelson Agholor, Sam Darnold and Jay Ajayi. From a position viewpoint, he is being drafted as the WR71, making him literally free in startup drafts. The notable receivers who are being drafted behind him are Kenny Stills, Jamison Crowder, Josh Reynolds, and DeSean Jackson. It might be smart to fade him for a veteran in startup drafts, considering there are known commodities that we know can contribute to your roster at a similar price point. However, compared to the rest of the players left on the board, Hall has a better chance of holding his dynasty value for the next few years.

The DLF staff currently has Hall ranked 25th overall in their rookie ranks and have him as the WR11 in rookie drafts. This puts him in the late second to early third round range in rookie drafts which is a very palatable price point for his skill set. His rookie ADP is very similar, he’s going off the board at 23.90, making him the 11th wide receiver off the board. This means that the consensus is almost on point with the DLF rankers.

Hall’s dynasty value will be dependent on where he goes in the draft. If he goes to a team with a promising, strong-armed quarterback attached to a high-volume passing offense, then his stock will definitely rise. However, if he goes to a team stacked with talent at wide receiver and is questionable at the quarterback position then he might not be a player you want to target.

CONCLUSION

Speed sells and Hall is one of the fastest wide receivers in the draft. He has plenty of potential and could be a steal in the mid to later rounds. There are some limitations to his game, but his athleticism presents plenty of upside. Like most wide receivers with his profile, he’s a boom-bust proposition and he will need to land in the right situation for him to reach his potential. His ADP has him pegged as a late second-round pick in rookie drafts, making him a virtually safe investment.

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