Jaren Hall had become the forgotten man on Minnesota’s quarterback depth chart. He gave everyone a reminder of his presence on Saturday in Cleveland.
Hall, a fifth-round pick from BYU in 2023, completed four of five passes for two touchdowns, 87 yards, and a perfect passer rating of 158.3.
“Days like this you just cherish forever,” Hall told reporters. “It’s a game I’ll always remember, preseason or not. Just to play and execute the simple plays that are being called. I trust in the coaches’ call. It just feels good. It’s fun to enjoy with your teammates like that.”
Making the performance more impressive is that it happened on a rainy day.
“That’s part of football,” Hall said. “At that moment, you go to the backyard and there’s days you play in the rain. That’s just part of the deal. You just try to take care of the ball, have ball security and do what you can.”
He was clearly proud, as he should be, of reaching perfection on the NFL’s formula for determining passing efficiency.
“Very few people do it,” Hall said. “It’s a preseason game, you take it with a grain of salt and do your best, but that doesn’t take away anything. There are great players out there. But when you keep it simple and you just execute, which is what we did in that last group and it just comes together.”
Hall handled four drives. One covered only eight yards for a score; the other went for 94, with a 71-yard touchdown pass to Jeshaun Jones.
Last year, Hall got the first start after Kirk Cousins was lost for the year with a torn Achilles tendon. Against the Falcons in Atlanta, Hall led the Vikings right down the field before suffering a concussion at the goal line. This year, with Cousins going and Sam Darnold arriving and J.J. McCarthy being drafted, Hall has slipped down the depth chart.
Currently, he’s No. 3, behind Darnold and Nick Mullens. After yesterday, it might be hard for the Vikings to slip Hall through waivers and add him to the practice squad. They’ll likely have to carry Darnold, Mullen, and Hall into the regular season on the 53-man roster.