TJ Hall CB Iowa |
NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
| Jersey: #2 ROLE: Outside Zone CB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Updated: 02/25/2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Draft Year: 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FORTY time: 4.59 seconds (17%*) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Age: 22.3 DOB: 04/26/2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Jersey: #2 | |
| ROLE: Outside Zone CB | |
| Last Updated: 02/25/2026 | |
| Draft Year: 2026 | |
| Forty time: 4.59 seconds (17%*) | |
| Age: 22.3 DOB: 04/26/2004 | |
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| Overall Rating: | 80.0 / 100 | |
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| Average rating of opposition Offense player has faced | ||
| Offense Rating: |
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74% |
| Click the links below to view how player ranks vs other prospects. | ||
| QB Rating When targeted: | 73.9 | |
| Tackling: |
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81% |
| Run Defense: |
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90% |
| Coverage: |
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76% |
| Zone: |
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70% |
| Man/Press: |
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76% |
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DRAFT PROJECTION:
7th
Overall Rank:
#232
Position rank:
#43 (DB)
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| College Games: 29 College Snaps: 1127 | ||
ESPN RATING: 77/100
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247 RATING: 88/100
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RIVALS RATING: 5.7 (93%)
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| Player Comparison* (Similarity level) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Shaun Wade - Ohio State |
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84% |
| Tommi Hill - Nebraska |
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81% |
| Nohl Williams - California |
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80% |
Drafted: ROUND: 7 - Pick Number: 219 (NO)
Draft Profile: Bio
Terrence Javaughn Hall grew up in Fresno, California, the oldest son of Monique and Terrence Hall Sr., a former standout wide receiver at Western Illinois. TJ was a four-year letterman at San Joaquin Memorial High School, where he played both sides of the ball as a defensive back, wide receiver, and even quarterback while also returning kicks and punts. His teams went 41-5 over four years and won three straight league championships. As a senior, he posted 26 tackles and three interceptions on defense while hauling in 48 catches for 805 yards and 10 touchdowns on offense, earning all-conference and all-state honors along with team MVP and conference Specialist of the Year. He was also team captain. Born April 26, 2004, Hall checks in at 6-0, 190 pounds.The recruiting path was anything but straightforward. Rated a three-star prospect across ESPN, 247Sports, and Rivals, Hall originally committed to Arizona in the summer of 2021 before flipping to Washington. A personal connection through his father's former college coach, Don Patterson, who had become an Iowa assistant, eventually opened an unexpected door. Hall took an official visit to Iowa City in October 2021 and watched the Hawkeyes knock off No. 4 Penn State, arriving just in time to witness the famous Kinnick Stadium wave and the field-storming celebration that followed. He committed shortly after and enrolled early, skipping his final high school semester to begin spring practice. It was a bold move for a kid from the Central Valley who, by his own admission, didn't know much about Iowa football growing up.
Hall's first two seasons in Iowa City were a trial by fire. He appeared in all 13 games as a true freshman in 2022, getting thrown into extended action against Nebraska when starter Cooper DeJean went down with an injury. The Cornhuskers attacked him relentlessly, and Trey Palmer burned him for an 87-yard touchdown that left a mark long after the final whistle. Hall was so upset he apologized to teammates and coaches afterward. A season-ending injury in 2023 limited him to just six games and five tackles as a sophomore. But he kept grinding. Hall won the starting job ahead of the 2024 campaign and appeared in 12 games with seven starts, posting 19 tackles, two pass deflections, an interception, and a fumble recovery. Then came the real payoff: as a senior in 2025, Hall racked up 47 tackles (30 solo), one interception, and 10 passes defended across 602 defensive snaps, earning Third-Team All-Big Ten recognition and a Senior Bowl invitation. His run defense grading was among the best at any position in the conference that year, and he finished the season without a single missed tackle.
Scouting Report: Strengths
- Run defense ability is flat-out special for a cornerback. His grading against the run over the course of his career sits in rare territory for a corner, and the film backs it up with rep after rep of him firing downhill and setting edges against the run and screen game.
- Thrives working the boundary in zone concepts, reading route stems and triggering on break points with terrific anticipation and spacing discipline that belies his relatively limited time as a full-time starter.
- Press technique improved dramatically in his final season. Delivers well-timed jabs at the line that disrupt receiver timing and then flips his hips smoothly to carry routes when needed. The physicality is genuine and he wants contact.
- Catch-point competitor who attacks the ball at its highest point. He tallied nine pass breakups as a senior by getting his hands into the passing window and punching through the receiver's catch radius at the precise moment it mattered.
- Tackling reliability took a massive leap as a senior. After struggling with missed tackles earlier in his career, he cleaned up his angles and wrap-up mechanics and did not miss a single tackle in his final college season.
- Football intelligence shows up in how quickly he processes route combinations and adjusts his responsibility post-snap. Recognizes bunch formations and pick plays faster than most corners in this class, and his zone coverage grading reflects that processing speed.
- Versatile enough to line up in different spots. Iowa used him on the boundary, in the slot, and even in box alignments at various points, and he handled all three without looking lost or uncomfortable.
- Toughness and competitive character define his journey. Getting embarrassed as a freshman would break a lot of players, but he came back from that Nebraska game and a lost sophomore season to become one of the better defenders in the Big Ten by the time he left.
Scouting Report: Weaknesses
- Recovery speed is a legitimate concern at the next level. His below-average timed speed shows up on film when receivers stack him vertically, as there is a noticeable hitch in his transition that creates separation he cannot close.
- Man coverage grading trails his zone numbers noticeably, and the gap between those two tells you where his comfort zone ends. NFL offensive coordinators will scheme to isolate him in man situations if given the chance.
- Carries his hands too low in press alignment, giving receivers a cleaner release and more time to counter his jams. At the next level, wideouts will exploit that habit immediately and consistently.
- Ball skills remain a work in progress despite the pass breakup numbers. He gets his hands on plenty of passes but is a poor tracker and catcher of the football, which caps his turnover ceiling. Only two career interceptions in 1,127 snaps tells the story.
- Iowa's defensive scheme kept him in a relatively confined role, so there is a limited sample of him working in true man-to-man against speed over extended field. How much of his coverage production was scheme-aided versus his own ability remains a fair question heading into the evaluation process.
Scouting Report: Summary
Hall is a boundary corner who will earn his paycheck in the run game and within zone-heavy schemes. That run defense grading is not a typo and it is not a fluke. It sits in elite territory for any defender, let alone a cornerback, and it is the single trait that will get him on the field faster than anything else. There is a clear and defined role for him at the NFL level as a physical, assignment-sound defender who can be trusted to execute within a structure. He is not going to shadow a team's top receiving threat in man coverage every Sunday, and anyone drafting him with that expectation is setting him up for failure. But as a piece in a Cover 3 or Cover 4 shell where he can read the quarterback's eyes, sit on routes, and trigger on the ball, he can hold up and contribute right away.The Senior Bowl week was an important showcase for Hall, and he held his own in Mobile, breaking up a pass down the field during practice reps. His game translates best in a system that values corners who tackle, set edges, and play sound, assignment-correct football. Most corners in this range of the draft are liabilities against the run. Hall is the opposite. He plays with a physicality that coordinators covet, and his willingness to stick his face into run-game situations should earn him snaps and special teams reps from day one. The man coverage limitations and below-average speed will keep him from climbing into the premium rounds, but within the right structure, those weaknesses can be managed.
The conversation with Hall always comes back to ceiling versus floor. The floor is a dependable special teams contributor and depth corner who can fill in as a spot starter without getting you burned for big plays, because he rarely gives up the explosive stuff when he can keep everything in front of him. The ceiling, if a coaching staff can unlock better ball skills and build his confidence in man situations, is a starting-caliber boundary corner in a zone-heavy defense for a long time. His growth trajectory from that humbling Nebraska game as a true freshman to Third-Team All-Big Ten as a senior tells you everything about the kind of competitor and worker this kid is. The speed and ball production will push him down boards, but this is a player who will fight for a roster spot and make a coaching staff glad they took the chance on him. Guys with that kind of run defense ability and tackling reliability at corner do not grow on trees.
TJ Hall percentiles vs other Cornerbacks (NFL Combine historically - higher value represents better perfomance)
How other scouting services rate TJ Hall (Overall Rank)
All Scouts AverageOverall Rank
180.8
All Scouts AveragePosition Rank
48.0
*Percentile Ranking in Player's Position Group (NFL Combine Historical Data): This percentile reflects how a player's specific statistics rank
in comparison to historical performances at the NFL Combine, specifically within their position group. A higher percentile indicates a better performance.
For instance, being in the 90th percentile for a particular stat means the player outperformed 90% of their peers in that category.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.