Previously: Last year’s profiles, K Adam Samaha, K James Turner (Tr), S Brandyn Hillman, CB DJ Waller, CB Cameron Calhoun, CB Jyaire Hill, HSP/LB Jason Hewlett, LB Hayden Moore, LB Semaj Bridgeman, LB Ernest Hausmann (Tr), OLB Breeon Ishmail, DE Aymeric Koumba, DE Enow Etta, DE Josaiah Stewart (Tr), DT Brooks Bahr, DT Cameron Brandt, DT Trey Pierce, OT Evan Link, OT Myles Hinton (Tr), OT LaDarius Henderson (Tr), OG Nathan Efobi, IOL Amir Herring, OC Drake Nugent (Tr), TE Deakon Tonielli, TE Zack Marshall, TE AJ Barner (Tr), WR Semaj Morgan, WR Fredrick Moore, WR Karmello English

Kennesaw (North Cobb), GA – 5'11"/235
		247: 5'10/225                     3.45*	3*, 86, NR overall #73 RB, #106 GA
		On3: 5'11/224                     3.22*	3*, 85, NR overall #92 RB, #137 GA
		Rivals: 5'11/220                     3.50*	3*, 5.6, NR overall NR RB, #92 GA
		ESPN: 5'11/225                     3.57*	3*, 77, #327 SE #49 RB, #73 GA
		Composites          3.73*/3.55*	3*, #787/#1043 Ovr #55/#76 RB, #78/#103 GA
		MGoAverage                     3.44*	3*, #726/798 Ovr #55/61 RBs since '90
		YMRMFSPA	Thomas Rawls+
Other Suitors	South Carolina
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello by Alex Drain
Notes	EE. Starting PG for N.Cobb as well.
Film:
Senior Highlights: Jr Highlights. Hudl. Spring Game. Runs at camp. Catches a pass at camp.

People were mad when Mike Hart took a commitment from this Georgia 3-star. Fans wondered if Hart realized he was holding the keys to RB heaven. On3's EJ Holland thought they could have held out and gotten top-100 RB Mark Fletcher, who ended up at Miami (YTM), or top-250 Jayden Limar, who chose Oregon over Notre Dame. Stargazers pointed out Michigan's 2022-'23 hauls since Hart arrived were a big step down from the Haskins-Charbonnet-Corum-Edwards run under Jay Harbaugh under less favorable recruiting conditions. Recruitniks figured Hall was merely the Adrian Witty Memorial cocaine-laced carrot to lure Hall's teammate/M's top edge target Joshua Josephs (who chose Tennessee). Our local coaches noted this was the third time Jim Harbaugh's program took a swing on a low-ranked RB from Georgia, with nothing more to show from the first two than a few fumbly carries by (now-Hoosier) Christian Turner in 2018. Second place South Carolina was all WTF Mike?

When Hall fell from his team's second-leading rusher to its fourth as a senior, people wondered if Michigan was trying to back out of the deal. Then came the Spring Game, when Hall ran 13 times for 96 yards and a score.

The above doesn't even include one of his TDs, which Hall ran in through Jimmy Rolder. Now there's a new narrative.

[After THE JUMP: One spring game doesn't say everything about a player, but it says the most about Ben Hall.]

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Why is Mighty Michigan Recruiting a 3-star?

I should be clear what we mean by "3-star" because recruiting sites stretch the definition. Mike Hart is only a "3-star" by legend because the two services that ranked him such (of the five majors at the time) were the pair that left searchable databases.

Most of the "3-stars" Michigan gets are like that: guys missed a 4th star for a Reason, leaving us to parse whether or not it's a good one. But the appellation these days goes well into the 2000s. CMU commit Mehki Jenkins out of Royal Oak is the composite's 144th RB, 2,258th overall, and a 3-star.

Hall is about halfway between Hart and Jenkins, ranked around Thomas Rawls and Hassan Haskins. Other than Maize & Blue Review's Zach Libby, nobody was stumping for Hall to be included in a top-250. He is a 3-star.

The Reason is good one: Hall wasn't even the second-leading rusher at his school. North Cobb is a suburban Atlanta power, and now-Arkansas QB Malachi Singleton was the primary ballcarrier/playmaker, and Clemson 4-star 2024 commit David Eziomume was the lead running back. Hall and Eziomume also split time with 2023 prospect David Mbadinga (Georgia Southern). Austin Meek talked to Hall's dad to figure out why the Michigan commit went unused:

Hall played in a high school program that utilized multiple running backs, and his coach liked to ride the hot hand. Sometimes that was Hall, but other times it wasn’t. As a result, he didn’t have the touches that most Power 5 recruits would expect.

Translation: Hall fumbled against the #1 team in the state in Week 2, and with three more FBS-caliber ballcarriers in the backfield that was enough to get Charbonnet'd. Sensibly enough, Hall was dropped (On3) or left where he was instead of moving up the season after his Michigan commitment, which came as soon as Hall's offer was committable, which it was as soon as Michigan got him on campus and took his measurements.

To give you an idea of how unenthused the industry was about North Cobb's #3 RB, when I make these articles I start by copy-pasting all the non-fluff written about the guy to a blank document, and fully 2/3rds of Hall's are from after the spring game. It was too late to update the rankings, but 247's Brad Crawford put Hall atop a list of freshmen to watch in 2023, and claimed he'd be starting at every Big Ten school except the three with the best RB rooms in the country.

Oh Lawd

The first thing you notice about Ben Hall is you don't want to be on the F end of Newton's second law of motion when this man is accelerating your way. Hall was already listed at 235 this spring, three pounds heavier than fellow mooseback Kalel Mullings. Maize & Blue Review's Zach Libby was the one stumping since he saw Hall at RCS Atlanta, so we'll let him describe the specimen.

Hall entered Sunday looking to be about 6-foot-1 and close to 230 pounds. Immediately upon seeing him for the first time was how constructed he was in both his upper and lower halves. It seemed like Hall was vying for more muscle weight to compliment his power running back persona. There's more room for him to grow physically and build on his thickness in his thighs, calves, chest, and arms.

Alejandro Zuniga confirmed Hall "looked the part of a physical, bruising back" during bowl practices. Brandon Brown got "AJ Dillon vibes." Steve Lorenz described "a large lower body" and called Hall "compact but also explosive and patient." Clayton Safie said Hall has "tree trunks for legs." Lucas Reimink called Hall "thickly built" with "good upper body strength and … a thick, powerful lower body." Touch the Banner called it a "durable seeming frame and a thick lower body."

The only national recruiting evaluator to offer an opinion was Ryan Wright of Rivals, who thought Hall "already has the look of a collegiate back." Unsurprisingly, this is also the talk from the coaches. Sherrone Moore was all like "he walks the building, his legs are giant — they’re huge — he’s built" and told Jansen Hall's "built low to the ground."

“He’s built low to the ground. Thick, huge legs. His legs are like Blake’s, maybe a little bigger.

Hart offered the Hassan Haskins comp—"he’s hard to tackle; he’s hard to bring down"—before reminding everybody about the 5-star in the class after Hart who sat around watching Hart play.

"But his legs are just so thick. You look at him waist-down, he's a thick guy. So I would probably compare him to the guys we've had here to Hassan. You can go back to Kevin Grady, if you want to, back in the day. Kevin Grady was built that way.

Please put microphones in the vicinity of Mike Hart always.

Thunder

Helpfully for us convention-strapped sportwriters Hall neatly fits the Thunder side of the two-back metaphor his "imposing body type" suggests. Sherrone says he "runs like a train." The unsigned 247 scouting report claims Hall "runs angry and looks to punish defenders with his physical style of play" and pick up "tough yards." Libby saw the "frame and muscle to barrel over defenses with tight footwork and a large upper body." Wright liked how Hall's"power helps push the chains down field."

Reimink decided Hall was the type of RB that gets better as the game wears on.

He is a very thick RB, and is a load to bring down for any defender. Arm tackles won’t work against Hall, as he’d much rather run through you than around you. He has very good power, and does a nice job of keeping his legs churning to fight for extra yards. He also has good pad level, and can run over any LB or DB who isn’t prepared to match his physicality. With his size and upper body strength, he is also good at ball security. He carries the ball high and tight, just like they teach it.

Down-on-Hall EJ Holland compared Hall to 2022 signee Tavierre Dunlap, who like Hall was "more of a between the tackles power back" best used for running through defenders. Touch the Banner described "a battering ram" but the original kind with an actual ram's horns on the front it.

North Cobb assistant coach Tyler Queen confirms this is what coaches were calling him about when Hall rose from a nothing recruit to a medium 3-star when his junior film went out:

Reel-after-reel of Hall carrying defenders on his back with his feet still running had colleges pushing each other over to offer him.

And of course we saw plenty of the pile-moving in the spring game, as well as attempted tackles pinging off those thighs.

This moved 247 national reporter Blake Brockermeyer to put Hall at the top of list of this spring's best true freshmen around the nation.

He also flashed his ability to finish runs and move the pile. He’s tough to bring down once he gets to full speed and doesn’t shy away from contact

Vision and Patience

Some power backs don't hesitate; they exhibit no restraint in cutting upfield and seeking contact. What had Devin Gardner all excited is Hall's willing to wait for it.

Hall himself admits his defining trait is lying in wait, while Wright reports this is what attracted Hart. Brockermeyer said Hall "looks like a steal" because of the excellent patience displayed in spring, and going back to 2021.

Seeing how he slides through the holes; he knows the offense well. While in the mix making the move to the second level, his field vision is elite allowing him to pick up extra yards

This was echoed by Sam Webb—"ran with patience that belies his class standing, showed good burst when he saw an opening," Chris Balas, Touch the Banner, and if listened to the post-spring podcast, me.

The run that had me going off was this one:

Give Persi(+1) credit for taking the slant from Bennett and turning that into a huge gap, but watch how Hall uses his puller, #58 Gio El-Hadi. The Derrick Green thing to do when you get to this spot is to leave the blocking and run through the free MLB (Rolder) down the hash mark.

Not only does Hall downshift to set up El-Hadi, he uses that time productively to press the outside of TE AJ Barner's block on Ernest Hausmann, keeping the WLB outside when he's got time and leverage to take both gaps.

Hall times his acceleration to hit the gap at the same time El-Hadi is making contact with Rolder, giving the LB no chance to recover and make the tackle even if Rolder is attacking the correct shoulder.

Then he bounces off the safety and falls forward with two guys on him. Chef's kiss.

Acceleration/Burst/Agility

This is the slider we're editing the most on Hall's hypothetical NCAA attributes sheet following the spring game performance. That bounce outside when he almost scored was harder to miss that Zack Marshall's hold on Marcus Pollard, and might have made it irrelevant. Reimink saw solid agility and foot speed, and the 247 scouting report noted the ability to bounce it outside as well, though references to this were rare.

But this was hardly a consensus take, especially before spring. Touch the Banner:

What Hall lacks – which is not surprising at his size – is acceleration, top-end speed, and elusiveness. … The big question with him is does he have enough juice to get through the hole. … doesn’t shy away from contact or try to be something he’s not; he’s not elusive, he seems to know it.

Even Libby admitted Hall's "not an elusive guy."

If there's a concern about Hall's athleticism it's that he doesn't have that De'Veon Smith ability to stay upright no matter what. Hart even pointed this out after spring.

"I told him today: He should have had two touchdowns and he fell twice. He stepped out of bounds once, tripped on the other one."

Hart's keeping it light, but a lot of Hall's big runs on his senior highlight reel ended with him stepping out of bounds a yard before the football brain thinks he will, which is a balance thing as well as a speed thing.

The 8th Most Important Thing for Running Backs

Right, so even if TTB amended his take from "Hassan Haskins but slower and less jumpy" he's still saying is Hall "won’t ever be a superstar because he lacks great speed." This is the most overrated running back attribute, but it isn't not an attribute. EJ Holland kept up with the Dunlap comp, noting he "had a decent burst and long speed, and the same can be said about Hall." This was echoed by Safie—"doesn’t seem to have top-end speed"—and our Alex Drain—"I didn't think Hall was overly fast watching the Hudl tape."

This wasn't a consensus however. Wright said Hall has the burst and speed to finish. There isn't a 40 time to dwell on.

Pass Protection & Receiving

Hall had some surprisingly good numbers as a receiver, and the Blue team even tried to get him out in space once (McBurrows ripped him down in the backfield before he had a chance to move). There was also that one moment of pass pro we got to pick apart when Hall picked up, lost, then re-acquired a CB blitz.

Libby, who had nobody else to watch, came away from RCS Atlanta with a lot more than that:

During the pass blocking session against the linebackers, Hall's initial punch was violent, and the power that went into his first step would immediately slow down the velocity of a blitzing defender right from the whistle. During the 1v1 showcase, Hall absolutely dominated in his route running and pass catching. There wasn't a rep in which he didn't lose. For Hall to show the ability of not just being lethal on the ground will make for him having the same versatility as

And Reimink saw solid hands and body control, but…

He doesn’t have a very advanced route tree from the RB position, and will need to learn how to run routes to be able to contribute in this capacity at the next level. He will likely never be a great pass-catching RB because of his marginal ball skills, as he doesn’t showcase much of an ability to catch anything down the field. As a pass protector, Hall has an excellent lower body, and has a willingness to maintain his ground and pick up a blitzer when necessary. He projects to be a good pass protecting RB due to this combination of effort and ability.

Obviously he's not a Donovan Edwards-esque receiver, but doesn't drop easy ones, and a rumbler in the open is its own kind of danger. The sense is he's got the makeup for a good pass protector but a lot to learn. There's also a sense that he won't be hard to teach.

Worker

Harbaugh's description managed to skip any scouting, focusing on Hall's work ethic and saying it was a theme of this class. Also mentioned Hall ran to practice with Fredrick Moore. Sherrone also hit on the theme.

He’s always in here. You’ve gotta kick him out. He’s always walking around with a water bottle with his headphones on just always locked in, focused.

…as did Hart.

You wouldn’t guess he's 18 years old, just turned 18 a few weeks ago. He acts like he's been here a long time. He works hard. He studies, he understands the offense.

Libby also noted Hall was first in line for all the RB drills, "particularly the ones that focused on vision up field and footwork." North Cobb doesn't have captains but Queen said Hall was the only guy voted unanimously to the leadership council on a team with plenty of FBS-boudn players.

Etc. Plays point guard for the basketball team (dad is an assistant). RB MVP of the Under Armour All-America Camp Series stop in Atlanta but wasn't invited to UA AA game. Favorite show is The Office.

Why Thomas Rawls+? Rawls was another compact 3-star with tree trunk legs and good vision—his comp was Kevin Grady or Mark Ingram—whose underratedness extended to coaches who refused to play him for unknown reasons. You could also go with DeVeon Smith, who ran over guys and developed good vision over his career, but here at MGoBlog we demand precision in our RB comps, and the bouncy, compact Rawls that Hoke should have been playing is closer to Hall than the not-very-agile  rock that ran through his pads.

The plus is because I'm including what Rawls became after he transferred to CMU, churned through the MAC, signed as a free agent with the Seahawks, and put together a decent pro career highlighted by a monster game when Marshawn Lynch was out. It's not Rawls's fault that Brady Hoke played Derrick Green ahead of him.

Guru Reliability: Very low. Only one major service had a take by Hall's commitment, and after he rode pine for most of his senior year, nobody thought to try again. Hall did attend a few Atlanta camps, even finishing atop the RBs at 247's, but the only writeup is now ghosting around without an author.

Variance: Low. Running backs are usually what they are, but is Hall the guy we saw in one scrimmage or the guy North Cobb fans didn't see lining up in the backfield last year? Since nobody's claiming he's got 4.4 speed to go with the rest, and they all have him somewhere in the 3-star pile, it's a fair bet Hall's not going to be a 1st rounder. Since he's the talk of the town after one open practice, it's a fair bet he's going to have a nice college career and at least a look at the next level.

Ceiling: High-minus. Blake Corum he ain't, but that doesn't preclude one hell of a football career that leaves cleat marks all over the Big Ten. There's a lot to like here.

Flight Risk Level: Medium-Low. He has a highly touted Lightning in the class and a 4.5-star Thunder arriving next year from Ohio, and a few Mike Hart-scouted prospects in the class ahead, not to mention every back with half a whit of sense banging at the pearly gates. He's also from way down in Georgia, without any local connections beyond the friends he's made on the way. On the other hand, Hall seems like a perfect cultural fit, has already inserted himself into the conversation for third back, and, I mean, the guy didn't seem to mind moving down to third string in high school.

General Excitement Level: High. Baseline 5; –1 for lacks top-end speed dawww, +1 for great vision, +1 for did you see that bounce? +1 for tree-trunk legs, +1 could already be RB1 for eleven teams in the Big Ten.

Projection: I am a little bit terrified that the difference between "mooseback who was 3rd string in high school" and "Mike Hart but Thicc" is one practice game that might mean worse things for Jimmy Rolder than we all want to admit. I'm also telling that voice to shut the hell up before Ben Hall tramples its face. You can fake a lot of things in football but when a running back has vision and timing, run through tackles, and can bounce and accelerate well enough to scoot through the holes he maximizes, the only things standing in the way are the competition, himself, and injury. The last you can't control, the second isn't a concern with this guy, and the first is less of a problem at a school that's struggling to recruit receivers because it's gotten around that they run too much between the best OL in the country every year.

Hall is also an excellent fit for how that offense operates. Yes, I'm basing this off of way too little information, but how much do you need to know whether a back has a feel for the bullet time he has to operate in? It took one game to see it with Hart. It took one play to see it with Corum. It took a night with Washington to understand the core of Michigan's offensive philosophy. As long as that's the offense for the next four years, unless the other guys are as incredible as the current guys, I expect Hall to be a part of the rotation.