Max Hall: Fighting to Make the Cut
Max Hall
Former BYU quarterback Max Hall says that he is trying to give the Arizona Cardinals every reason not to cut him.
Hall left Quarterback U with the most victories (32) in program history, but has a lot to prove at the next level.
After signing with Arizona as a free agent in April, Max will be one of four quarterbacks on the Cardinals roster when fall camp opens on July 30th.
The biggest challenges for Max in the NFL may be his size and lack of a cannon for an arm.
He was the shortest of any of the quarterbacks at the NFL combine, measuring just a smidgen over 6 feet tall. His weight of 201 pounds would make him one of the lightest quarterbacks in the league as well.
Each of his competitors are big guys with big league arms. Hall just doesn’t measure up.
But then again neither did guys like Joe Montana or Drew Brees.
Prevailing wisdom would say that Hall’s best case scenario is that he will make the Cardinals practice squad in 2010. But then again, you can never count out a guy with the kind of fire in his belly like Max Hall has. Besides, none of his competitors have exactly established themselves as franchise NFL quarterbacks.
Here is a list of Hall’s competitors:
Matt Leinart: The 6′5″, 232-pound former Heisman Trophy winner has yet to live up to his billing coming out of USC. It sometimes appears like Leinart is more interested as being one of the league’s pretty boys rather than one of its best quarterbacks. Unable to beat out the aging Kurt Warner the past few years, its now time for Leinart to step up. He completed 51 0f 77 passes with three interceptions and no touchdowns in spot duty in 2009.
Derek Anderson: The 6′6″, 230-pound former Oregon State product was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2007, but has otherwise proven to be inconsistent while playing for the struggling Cleveland Browns. He has a career quarterback rating of just 69.7 and has completed less than 53% of his passes. Anderson was brought in during the off season to push Leinart for the starting job.
John Skelton: Some think the 6′5″, 244-pound rookie from Fordam could be the next FCS quarterback to make good in the NFL. He was taken by the Cardinals in the 5th round of this year’s draft and signed a $2 million dollar contract last week. This is the guy that Hall will need to beat out if the Cardinals decide to keep just three active quarterbacks.
We caught up with Max and he talked about his fight to make the cut in Arizona, the chance to play for his hometown team and his thoughts on this year’s version of the BYU Cougars.
Brett, work on your question delivery! Sounds like your making the questions up on the fly!
Otherwise great interview,
We wish Max lots of blessings.
Bob
Why is it that BYU’s quarterbacks are always undersized and their arms are considered suspect? It seems to me we regularly have guys in the program with the big bodies and the big arms but they rarely rise to the top at BYU while undersized guys with “intangibles” seem to rise up regularly and surpass them. If it was just Max, I would say it was just Max but Beck got knocked for his size. Doman got knocked for his size and arm strength. Feterick got knocked for his size and arm strength. Sarkisian got knocked for his size and arm strength. Detmer got knocked for his size and arm strength. That means in two decades, only Walsh wasn’t knocked for his size and arm strength. Amusingly, a guy relegated to second string at the Y, Engeman, actually made an NFL roster and wasn’t knocked for his size and arm strength.
Looking to the future, Heaps seems a little undersized and his arm is “live” but not strong. Nelson is clearly undersized with an even weaker arm. Leaving Munns and Lark as our guys with NFL bodies and arms but they are 3 and 4 on the depth chart. What gives?
That is a great question Casey. Maybe Brett can do a story on that. I have wondered the same thing about our undersized quarterbacks.
I recently read a spring camp report from one of the Cardinals blogs. When they mentioned Hall, they were quick to belittle his size and arm strength but admitted that he was somehow making all his throws and showing good leadership and poise for a rookie. It is possible that the other QB’s are just better but I hope they give Max a fair chance to prove himself in pre-season games before making their choice.
@ Casey and Mike,
The fact of the matter is, by NFL standards, most college quarterbacks lack the size and arm strength most NFL teams covet. Since coverages are much tighter in the NFL, it requires more arm strength to fit the ball in very tight spaces in a hurry.
You may remember Steve Young making the comment that in college everybody was open but in the NFL, nobody was open.
BYU’s offense is predicated on timing, accuracy and the QB’s ability to read defenses. With coverages not being as tight in college it requires less of a gun to be successful.
The Cougars have valued timing, accuracy, leadership and the will to win over size and arm strength. Having a gun for an arm isn’t worth much if a QB can’t read defenses, isn’t accurate, lacks leadership and the will to win.
In my book, I’ll take an undersized winner over the guy with measurables every time.
@ Bob,
I’ll keep working to get better!
Brett,
I’m aware of the reason arm strength is valued in the NFL. I’m also aware that most college QBs can’t get it done in the NFL. What surprises me is that BYU, with its QB tradition, seems to have so much difficulty getting NFL level talent in at the QB spot. It almost seems like our coaches shy away from developing the obvious NFL types. Maybe the truth is that the obvious NFL types shy away from the rigorous level of film watching and reading defenses necessary to succeed at BYU. They are used to relying on their arm but at BYU they can’t. I don’t know. What I do know is that we have a long and undistinguished line of guys with amazing college numbers and no NFL credentials. Last Cougar to have a long career in the NFL was a long time ago. Last to be a pro bowler was even longer ago.
Stafford and Sanchez both recent first round draft picks were only 6′2 224…
What an interesting point. I still have hopes for Beck in the NFL. Last I read he was competing for the number 2 spot here in Baltimore. I live here in Maryland and might go to a pre-season game between the Ravens and the Redskins to see if I can spot Beck and Pitta. (and cheer for the Redskins)
I think Hall had a good BYU career. I’d be a bit concerned about him at the NFL level. Nothing to do with size, but more his overall play. He made great throws, but had a hard time evading defenses without awesome protection. He dropped the ball a lot when there was contact and seemed to lose his cool quickly when he wasn’t protected well. John Beck had eyes in the back of his head and could quickly step back in the pocket or to the side to evade a defender. Hall ever seemed to have that. I hope he succeeds though and I was pleased to see he got a free agent contract.
I hope he can make the roster and keep on developing to get in a position to eventually play. Best of luck to him.
I thought John Beck could throw the ball through the goal posts from the 30/40 yardline kneeling down?
Thanks for the video. We will all be pulling for Max in AZ!!!!
Good point about the arm strength of most BYU QBs. Hall’s arm really is average and that will likely hurt him when all is said and done. There have been some small NFL QBs but most had at least good arm strength to make up for it – Breese, Flutie
John Beck actually has good arm strength. He does not have a cannon but he definitely has an NFL arm. He gets rid of the ball very quickly too.
I think Heaps is in the Beck-Young category regarding arm strength. Not a cannon but lots of zip and can get the ball out and down the field in a hurry.
It is interesting that we do tend to have good sized, big arm QBs at BYU but they tend to be backups. Munns and Lark will likely be the next to fill that role. I think even at the college level it would be more difficult to get by with a weaker arm playing on a BCS team. There is less seperation between receivers and dbs when you look at those BCS teams. I think playing in the WAC and MWC all these years is one reason why BYU has had success with some relatively weak armed QBs. I think the fact that BYU’s offense has focused heavily on our TEs and RBs out of the backfield much more than down the field passes to WRs has also allowed smart, accurate but weaker armed QBs to succeed at BYU.
David,
Have to disagree on the BCS bit. I agree that dominating a weaker conference will make any QB look good, but I don’t think that’s the deciding factor on how effective he is. Most of the QB’s who have success at BYU have had it against both BCS and non-BCS teams. I think the system is a big part of it but I also think that if you’re good smart QB with great leadership and playmaking abilities, you can have success on any team as long as that team has the right personnel in place to be successful.
The way the stars are aligned at the moment at BYU Munns or Lark will transfer before either have a chance to start. The only factor will be potential injuries. Remember Ryan stepped in when three quarterbacks in front of him went down. But BYU fans are too stuck on Heaps to see the qualities of the other candidates. Those two are looking for other opportunities as I write. You can’t fight the mob. Too bad that they, Munns and Lark, won’t get the full chance to showcase their talents sufficiently without an injury.
Bob Henstra said:
Brett, work on your question delivery! Sounds like your making the questions up on the fly!
Otherwise great interview,
Bob, work on your grammer. Should be “you’re making the questions” instead of “your making the questions”.
Otherwise great post.
Ya just go ask JAWALRUS RUSSELL how that cannon of an arm worked out for him in the NFL………..Oh wait he got cut this year cause he is dumb as a box of rocks. There is alot more to playing QB.
I think Munns will stay and get in lots of reps this year and next as a back-up and in special games situations. I hope BYU understands they have a gem in Munns, He is an outstanding QB—-He will be an NFL type QB as well. I think He will be in shape next week, and will lead the charge for BYU as a QB. I think all you fans when you get a chance to see Munns during fall champ—will be amased. Go luck to Heaps, Nelson, Lark, and of course the great one Munns…..
Perhaps if we had an NFL-type QB they could find an open man against TCU for a change.
Mike Ells,
Please work on your spelling…it’s “grammar” and not “grammer”… (oops!)
Mr. Henstra, please chill. Brett’s questions sounded absolutely fine to me. I recommend a vacation for you, sir, post-haste.
Finally: Bob, please keep up the great work. Your efforts are most appreciated!
Cheers.
Cool post. Thanks for the interview vid too. I hope my grammar and spelling are okay.
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