Given more expansive playing time in the Vikings' preseason finale against the Cardinals on Saturday, rookie quarterback Jaren Hall took another step forward in his development and showed some flashes of dual-threat upside. He also provided several reminders that he has a long ways to go.
In each of the two previous exhibition contests, Hall took over for backup QB Nick Mullens after halftime. This time, he played the entire game. Hall's first half was better than his second half in the Vikings' 18-17 loss. He finished his day 16 of 27 (59 percent) for 178 yards with one touchdown and one interception, adding 21 rushing yards and taking six sacks.
"I thought he threw the ball really well today, (was) efficient in and out of the huddle with the operation, all the way really down to the end of the game," Kevin O'Connell said. "Might not show up stat sheet-wise, but I thought it was a real positive day for Jaren."
Hall led the Vikings on a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to open the game, connecting with Jalen Reagor twice and Nick Muse once. After a turnover gave the Vikings the ball on the Arizona 5, Hall hit Abram Smith for an easy touchdown pass, his first of the preseason. Less than six minutes into the game, Minnesota led 14-0.
Late in the first half, the Vikings had the ball with a chance to get into a two-minute drill. Whereas most of Hall's previous success had come on easy, schemed-up throws, the two-minute situation forced him to play from the pocket and operate with tempo. Hall looked excellent, completing five consecutive passes for 74 yards to move the offense into the low red zone. The drive stalled there, but it did result in three points.
It was a possession that showcase Hall's ability to process things, maneuver in the pocket, and deliver the ball with accuracy to his targets.
It wasn't all positive for Hall. The six sacks are way too many to take, even if some were less avoidable than others. His interception was thrown directly to a Cardinals defender. After making some substitutions at other positions, the Vikings' offense managed less than 100 yards of offense in a scoreless second half. And to end the game, Hall showed his inexperience by throwing an illegal forward pass beyond the line of scrimmage — it was completed for a would-be big gain — when he could've likely taken off and run for the first down.
Overall, though, this was another solid step forward for Hall in his first opportunity to play an entire preseason game. His final stats for these three August games aren't great (26 of 48 for 264 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT), but he showed signs of progress on each of the last two Saturdays.
These were valuable game reps for Hall, whose development will continue behind the scenes over the course of this regular season. The fifth-round pick seems to have the raw tools to potentially have an intriguing future.
"I definitely would like to keep him around," O'Connell said. "I think my philosophy, when you're going to draft a quarterback, I think you pour into him on a daily basis. Development is a huge word, but I love the fact that we got him as many reps as we did this camp, not only just in the preseason games, but Chris (O’Hara) and Grant (Udinski) did a good job working him in when they could even with the second offense throughout the early part of camp. We did a lot of developmental periods, threes-on-threes throughout the training camp.
"I feel like Jaren has a really, really good understanding of our offense, where he can grow, where his comfort level can grow, and hopefully hit the ground running the next opportunity that he gets."
More must-reads: