Emanuel Hall is a high upside UDFA who easily could have been drafted
The Chicago Bears were one of the busier teams of the day, with four draft picks followed by a flurry of UDFA options. While many of these players are not going to make an impact there is always one clear favorite every year.
Last year that was Kevin Toliver, who had plenty of upside but questions off of the filed. Toliver wound up making the roster. This year, the Kevin Toliver of the UDFAs is Emanuel Hall.
Hall averaged over 20 yards per catch. It is one thing to put up those stats in college, but he did it in the SEC. The ability to consistently get deep was impressive.
On top of that, he showed up to the combine and tested extremely athletic.
In fact in terms of weight adjusted athleticism, his closest comparison was D.J. Chark, an SEC burner who went in the second round last season. So, Hall has second round tape, and second round athleticism and went undrafted. Heck, we even rated him over fourth round pick Riley Ridley when breaking down options for the Bears. What gives?
Reports seem to be medically related. Hall did not play a full season in 2018, and while he tested extremely well at the combine, teams must be wondering how his health can hold up in the NFL. There also are some on the field questions, as he is not the most physical receiver and does not run a varied route tree. The Bears bragged about the route tree of Riley Ridley as a reason to draft him. They may have passed on Hall for those reasons.
This is a team that tagged Cameron Meredith and let him walk. They will draw the line on injuries. Other teams may have failed Hall medically, but the Bears may have took Hall in round four if Ridley was gone. Now, they wound up with both. Hall will be the player to watch this offseason as he will push everyone on the roster, including the rookie Ridley.