The Minnesota Vikings looked like they possibly had a success story as a fifth-round pick Jaren Hall. He looked poised and comfortable under center and drove the Vikings down the field.
Unfortunately, Hall suffered a concussion on the second drive and didn’t get a chance to finish the game. It allowed Josh Dobbs to come in and lead the Vikings to their most memorable victory in some time.
It also creates a conundrum for the rest of the season. What do the Vikings do at the quarterback position the rest of the season? Do they stick with Dobbs or truly see what Hall has?
Based on his limited play, that might be worthwhile.
Dropback 1
This is a relatively simple play designed to get him in rhythm. He hits Jordan Addison on a screen pass which doesn’t go for much. The important part is Hall hitting this with confidence and accuracy.
Dropback 2
The first thing that jumps off the screen is what Hall does presnap.
He cans at the line of scrimmage. When he puts his hands up to his helmet, it’s a signal to the rest of the offense what the play is. That shows us that head coach Kevin O’Connell trusts Hall to run the offense.
This is something that you often see from rookie quarterbacks. He bails the pocket slightly early and runs eight yards but doesn’t quite get the first down. Moving forward, Hall should be slightly more patient before bailing the pocket, but it’s a minor gripe on this play.
Dropback 3
Once again, Hall is canning. That’s a great sign.
He runs a simple play-action bootleg designed to throw to Johnny Mundt in the flat who runs a split zone action. Hall gets pressured quickly, which is par for the course on this play, but he doesn’t panic. Hall changes his arm angle and hits Mundt for an easy connection and a big gain to start the drive.
This is one of the things that was intriguing about Hall. He has a baseball background and that pops up often on his film.
Dropback 4
Hall cans at the line of scrimmage here and the defense rotates from two-high safeties to a single-high safety.
He sees the rotation and chooses to hit Alexander Mattison on the go route. Is this a coverage bust by Okudah? It certainly looks like he thinks there is safety help over the top but Hall believes in the throw, especially seeing a flat-footed Jeff Okudah. Great read and throw for 47 yards.
Dropback 5
The Vikings run stick and Hall hits Brandon Powell on the field side. Simple three step drop, hits his back foot and drives the ball capably to the outside. Powell makes a defender miss and gets a first down.
Dropback 6
The Vikings run a two-man concept on a bootleg. The goal is to hit T.J. Hockenson on the corner route but the Falcons cover that pretty easily. Hall sees that and finds K.J. Osborn running into the flat on the split zone action. Good read and stays calm when his first option isn’t there.
Dropback 7
This play shows what Hall can do. They run a five-man route concept against zone coverage. Initially, nobody becomes open and he tries to create when the defensive tackle starts to penetrate the pocket. Hall handles the pressure well and moves up in the pocket where Hockenson comes open on the return route. Hall sees the defender in front of him and feels the need to throw it a little farther left than he needs to. Unfortunately, it’s a little high and Hockenson can’t bring it in.
Dropback 8
Similar to the last play, the Vikings send out five receivers against drop eight. They run a modified mesh concept and nobody is open. Hall decided to run the ball here and chose to brace for the hit rather than racing to the corner, which he could have won. It unfortunately ended with a concussion and his day was over. You don’t love your quarterback taking a hit but that will come with experience. It just stinks that it will take a concussion to learn that lesson.
Does Hall deserve to start moving forward?
This is a complicated question.
In a vacuum, the answer is yes. You want to find out about what your developmental quarterback has when there is a chance to find out.
What complicates things is the massive success of Josh Dobbs right out of the gate. If he continues and sustains that success, the Vikings will have to ride the hot hand of Dobbs. If he falters, it makes sense to go back to Hall.
In essence, time will tell us this answer but know this. Hall is better than nothing and could end up being something potentially special.
