Ja’Raymond Hall, Wolverine

Ja’Raymond Hall, Wolverine


December 5, 2015

Oak Park (MI) Oak Park OT Ja’Raymond Hall

Oak Park (MI) Oak Park offensive tackle Ja’Raymond Hall committed to Michigan on Saturday. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Ole Miss, Penn State, Tennessee, and some MAC programs.

Hall is a 6’5″, 270 lb. prospect. He ran the 40 in 5.82 seconds.

RATINGS
ESPN: 4-star, 80 grade, #25 OT, #235 overall
Rivals: 3-star, #33 OT
Scout: 4-star, #21 OT, #196 overall
247 Sports: 4-star, 94 grade, #15 OT, #87 overall

Hit the jump for the rest of the commitment post.

Hall was an early offer by Michigan, who offered him near the end of Jim Harbaugh’s first spring practices. Tennessee – who pulled in Hall’s 2015 teammate John Kelly – jumped into the mix along with Penn State, and Hall visited both schools. However, he had Michigan as his leader for virtually his entire recruitment, so it seemed like only a matter of time before he would commit to the Wolverines. He finally pulled the trigger and made it public on Saturday after putting out the word to a select few that a commitment was impending.

The first thing that sticks out about Hall is that he has excellent feet. He does a very good job of mirroring defenders, and he has quick enough feet to stick with players coming off the edge. That should make him a solid left tackle prospect at the least. He does a good job of sitting back in his pass set and not getting overextended. He also shows that he can identify blitzes and stunts, which prevents him from getting in poor position in pass protection. Hall is a strong run blocker who finishes blocks and drives people into the ground. Just like in the passing game, he moves those feet well and gets movement at the line of scrimmage. Hall has good length at 6’5″ and a good body for the tackle position, although he will never be the most massive lineman.

On the negative side, Hall’s feet can get too narrow when run blocking. He can get off balance at times, and that causes him to use his upper body strength more often than should be necessary. Because of that, he sometimes gets his hands outside the frame of the body, and that can translate to holding penalties at the next level. If he widens his base, that should also help him stay lower and get leverage against players who will be bigger and stronger at the next level.

I like Hall as an offensive line prospect, and he’s a good player to reel in at this point in the process. Michigan needs offensive tackles, particularly blind-side guys who are slightly lacking in the previous classes so far (unless Michigan can pull in Jean Delance). Hall also has some other FBS prospects on his Oak Park squad, including 2018 offensive guard Marquan McCall, the only other Michigan offeree. Michigan has not pulled in an Oak Park High School product since good ol’ Herb Steiger and Irwin Uteritz in the 1920s. Remember them? (EDIT: It turns out, Steiger and Uteritz were from Oak Park High School in Illinois, not Michigan. I apologize for the error. According to the database, no Oak Park, MI player has ever suited up for Michigan.)

Michigan has 27 players scheduled to graduate after the 2016 season, so the 2017 class should be a large one. This is a product of Brady Hoke – and Jim Harbaugh – retaining the vast majority of players that Hoke recruited in the 2012 and 2013 classes. There will be attrition between now and then, too, so grayshirts and preferred walk-on offers will also be a part of the recruiting process.

3 comments

  1. Comments: 6285
    Joined: 8/11/2015
    Lanknows
    Jan 06, 2017 at 3:19 PM

    Any updates on Hall? I know he’s dropped in the rankings, but I’m wondering if you’ve seen anything from his senior year to update this. Given Michigan’s critical need for an OT I’m wondering if there is any reason to think Hall could be ready to play as a freshman.

    • Comments: 3844
      Joined: 7/13/2015
      Jan 06, 2017 at 3:41 PM

      With the way his body and skills developed, I can see why he dropped in the rankings. I think he lost half a step, and his lower body filled out a little more. He looks more like a guard to me, and he still has the issue of getting overextended/keeping too narrow of a base. I still like him as a prospect, but he dropped off a bit, IMO.

      • Comments: 6285
        Joined: 8/11/2015
        Lanknows
        Jan 06, 2017 at 3:43 PM

        Thanks. I won’t get my hopes up about him taking over at LT then. Not yet at least.

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