2023 NFL Draft Results: Minnesota Vikings select Jaren Hall

Many people speculated as to whether or not the Minnesota Vikings would take a quarterback in the 2023 NFL Draft. Well, it took them a while, but late in the fifth round they’ve done just that.

Jaren Hall

Photo by Chris Gardner/ Getty Images

Date of Birth: 24 March 1998 (24 years old)

College: Brigham Young University

Drafted: Round 5, #164 overall

Height: 6’

Weight: 205 pounds

Twitter handle: @jarenhall3

With the 164th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Minnesota Vikings have selected quarterback Jaren Hall from Brigham Young University.

Hall, as a lot of players from BYU tend to be, is an older rookie, having served a religious mission for two years before returning to the University. He was a dual-sport athlete for the Cougars, as he played for their baseball team in 2019 and 2020. He’s going to have an opportunity to compete to be the backup for Kirk Cousins and, potentially, something more going forward.

Dane Brugler of The Athletic has Hall as the #8 quarterback in this year’s draft class. Here’s what Brugler has to say about Hall:

A two-year starter at BYU, Hall was a multi-sport athlete for the Cougars and played in offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick’s balanced scheme. The first African-American starting quarterback in school history, he replaced Zach Wilson and posted an outstanding 51-to-11 touchdown-to-interception ratio the past two seasons. A compactly-built athlete with strong character, Hall is poised in the pocket and a smooth operator on the move to make plays with his arm or legs. He won’t benefit from as many scheme-winners at the next level and will need to improve his passing anticipation to push the ball versus NFL defenses. Overall, Hall is a cerebral, dual-threat passer with above average control and efficiency in his process, but his average arm talent, short stature and injury history are potential road blocks. He has NFL backup potential in an RPO-based, play-action offense.

Well, Kevin O’Connell and the rest of the Vikings’ coaching staff hope that Hall has more potential than being a backup, but that’s something that we’ll be figuring out going forward. He’s going to get an opportunity to develop and it will be interesting to see what the Vikings do with him this preseason and going forward.

Welcome to Minnesota, Jaren!