The local kid is staying home. The 2021 Streetsboro graduate and defensive tackle Mike Hall, Jr. will continue his football career in his home state, as he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft last Friday.
“I am just happy for him and his family but we always had that idea that if everything went well for him off of the field he would have the opportunity to play for a long time and have that opportunity to play on Sundays,” Streetsboro Coach Pete Thompson told The Weekly Villager on April 28. “You never want to put that on a high school kid but with the athleticism to go along with his size, it was pretty abundant.”
Hall becomes the first Streetsboro player in program history to be drafted by an NFL team.
While at Streetsboro for three seasons, Hall posted 84 solo tackles, 32 tackles for a loss and six sacks in 28 games for the Rockets before continuing his football career at The Ohio State University.
Hall declared for the NFL draft following the end of his redshirt sophomore year with the Buckeyes. In his two years with the Buckeyes, the 6-foot-2 defensive lineman recorded 45 solo tackles, 10 tackles for a loss and six sacks in 24 games through two seasons.
The Streetsboro alum will continue his career playing for one of the longest-tenured defensive coordinators in the NFL, Jim Schwartz, and will be used as a rotational piece on the defensive line. He will most likely compete for reps with defensive tackles Shelby Harris and Maurice Hurst.
During the draft process, Thompson said he believed that Hall’s skillset only suited a limited number of NFL teams because of his size. The 6-foot-2 defensive lineman had excelled in a 4-3 defensive scheme and only a third of NFL defenses play that defense now.
According to the seven-year coach, he could not envision a more perfect fit for his former star defensive lineman than by playing in a scheme coached by Schwartz, who has a reputation for developing defensive tackles.
“I think he particularly fits with what Coach Schwartz wants to do defensively by turning the line loose and creating some defensive havoc,” Thompson added. “That is what he is best at.”
Hall joins a defensive line consisting of 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year defensive end Myles Garrett, defensive end/tackle Za’Darius Smith, defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo and defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson. Thompson noted that that Hall was not only joining a talented defensive line but also a mature room.
“For some kids I think that can be intimidating but knowing Mike’s attitude, I don’t think he is going to view it as intimidation, but he can view that as motivation,” he said. “You not only have some good football players, but those guys are consummate professionals.”
Although the Cleveland Browns’ defensive line dramatically improved in the 2023 season, most of the quarterback pressure was generated by the defensive ends. Although listed as a defensive tackle, Thompson said one of Hall’s biggest strengths has been to create pressure up the middle and get after the quarterback.
“He is very good with his hands as well and that just lends itself to him being able to get off the ball and cause some havoc there and it fits very well into Coach Schwartz’s system,” Thompson said.
Although he played in 24 games across two seasons for Ohio State, Hall’s usage was limited due to injuries and rotations. Thompson acknowledged that Hall’s playing time was limited but viewed that as a positive. He said that overexposure can be a death sentence for defensive lineman because of the physical nature of the position and much like a college running back, the less playing time sometimes equals the better. In his eyes, Hall will bring some fresh legs to the Browns’ defensive line.
“You cannot be fresh for 80 snaps a game so I think that is a blessing and a curse at a program like that and the injuries that Mike had were relatively minor,” Thompson added. “Your body only has so many reps throughout the totality of your football career. It is better now, and you are a better asset in the NFL that you do not have a lot of carries coming out of college because of that shelf life.”
Hall has been blessed again to continue his playing career close to a program where he left a considerable impact.
“Anytime you get a kid like that, you recognize right away that he had the ability to play Division I football and I think other players in our program rose their level up by playing with a good player like that as well and his last two years at Streetsboro were a special time,” Thompson said.
