ROUND 3: Virginia CB Bryce Hall
6-1, 202 – Senior

PREVIOUS PICK: Lenoir-Rhyne SS Kyle Dugger

The Bucs may have a more pressing need at safety, but can’t pass up a player like Hall, who was one of college football’s top cornerbacks before suffering a broken ankle six games into his senior season at Virginia. The Bucs like big, physical cornerbacks, and there were some in the draft world that were giving Hall a possible first-round grade before his ankle injury.

Hall wasn’t regarded as an overly fast cornerback to begin with, and his recovery from ankle surgery won’t let him run a 40-yard dash prior to the draft. In fact, Hall likely won’t be medically cleared for football activities until training camp, so a potential late first-round or early second-round prospect could very well slide into the third round.

It’s not like the Bucs want to draft another slow cornerback. They already have one in M.J. Stewart, a second-round pick from the 2018 draft, who hasn’t panned out. Stewart is the team’s fourth cornerback at best if he makes the team in 2020, and there is a chance he might not even make the roster, especially if the Bucs decide to draft another cornerback for depth with a player like Hall.

Hall is a very cerebral, versatile cornerback, who interviewed with Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles at the NFL Scouting Combine. With a physical style of play similar to that of cornerback Carlton Davis, the rangy 6-foot-1, 202-pound Hall can use his long arms to swat away passes. He led the FBS with 21 pass breakups to go along with two interceptions during his junior season.

Hall’s Virginia Career Defensive Stats
2016 25 tackles, 5 PBUs, 2 INTs, 1 FR
2017 47 tackles, 3 TFLs, 8 PBUs, 1 INT, 1 sack, 1 FF
2018 62 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, 21 PBUs, 2 INTs, 2 sacks, 2 FFs, 1 FR
2019 20 tackles, 3 TFLs, 4 PBUs, 1 sack

Where Bowles might really use Hall is in the slot or even the perimeter as a blitzer. Hall recorded four sacks over the last three years and also forced three fumbles. Hall is a starting-caliber cornerback that can not only provide depth behind Davis, Jamel Dean and Sean Murphy-Bunting, but he can also provide competition to push those three to greatness – or push one of them to the bench.

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