As BYU football fans learned after watching him start at quarterback in 25 games for the Cougars from 2018-2022, Jaren Hall is about as even-keeled as an athlete can get.
The current Minnesota Vikings quarterback is as steady with his emotions as any of the great QBs who have made their way through Provo.
So when the Minnesota Vikings lost veteran signal-caller Kirk Cousins to the Atlanta Falcons and then signed another quarterback, Sam Darnold, to a one-year deal for $10 million in March, Hall quietly went about his business.
Hall’s attitude and demeanor remained the same in late April, when the Vikings selected former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy with the No. 10 pick in the 2024 NFL draft. With training camp beginning next week, Minnesota now has four QBs on its roster: Darnold, McCarthy, Nick Mullens and Hall, who is 26.
Something has got to give.
The Deseret News caught up with Hall and former BYU receiver Puka Nacua, who had a spectacular rookie season with the Los Angeles Rams, on Tuesday as they teamed up to put on a youth football camp at Orem High, an event sponsored by ProCamps, an event management company.
Minnesota’s offseason moves probably mean that Hall’s future with the Vikings is in jeopardy, since most NFL teams keep only two or three QBs on their 53-man rosters.
How does the father of two who has spent his offseason back home in Utah County view the current quarterback situation in Minnesota?
“Just going in (to training camp) with a competitive mindset,” he said during a break at his camp. “I don’t know what the reps will look like for me. You can see the situation, and the roster spots, and how they will fill out. So I just gotta take advantage of anything I am given.
“You know, from individual (work) to snaps in preseason — whatever it is, good or bad, I just gotta be ready,” he continued. “I understand the offense a lot more. And that has just been my focus, is when I show up to the building just show that I am ready. I have done that a good amount since (organized team activities) and that is what I am going to keep doing.”
Asked for his reaction when the Vikes drafted McCarthy as their potential future franchise QB, Hall replied that his mindset didn’t change. Minnesota picked Hall in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft.
“That is the business. It is always going to be happening, and you always have to be competing. It brings the best out of you,” he said. “I did that all through college — competing against one of the best players in college football (former BYU QB Zach Wilson) and it was good for me, and I am no stranger to that.”
Mullens is 29, Darnold is 27 and McCarthy is 21. Hall has three more years left on the four-year, $4,119,276 rookie contract he signed on May 12, 2023.
He received a $279,276 signing bonus as well, so the Vikings seemingly will try to keep their investment around, perhaps on the travel squad if they don’t trade away Mullens and if Hall doesn’t beat out Mullens for the QB3 spot.
Predicted the “Purple FTW! Podcast”: “Hall is clearly QB4 … If coach (Kevin) O’Connell and the Vikings staff starts pumping up Hall, it is because they want to trade him. … He probably won’t get a lot of preseason reps, either.”
When the Vikings’ offseason training program concluded, O’Connell noted that Darnold will be the starter when training camp opens. He also mentioned that the club needed four quarterbacks last season, including Hall.
“I’ve told all four of those guys, ‘Look, depth charts are great, it’s great to understand where I’m at currently today,’” O’Connell told reporters. “But that will mean really nothing about the future.”
Hall started in two games for the Vikings, with mixed results. He led the team on a touchdown drive against Atlanta before sustaining a game-ending concussion in the first quarter.
But in his second start, a Week 17 contest against Green Bay, he struggled mightily. He was sacked three times, fumbled the ball away once and threw an interception that bounced off both hands of a Viking tight end. He was benched at halftime in favor of Mullens.
“It was a roller coaster. A lot of good and a lot of bad. But looking back now, there is a lot of stuff I can learn from. I think that is all you can ask for. Good or bad, they are just opportunities to grow,” Hall said. “Because that is how you make plays when your opportunities come to get in games. So just being able to grow and learn. There is a lot of good stuff that I have grown from.”
More rookie recollections
Hall completed 65.2% of his passes for 6,174 yards and 52 touchdowns, with just 11 interceptions, during his career at BYU. He had another year of eligibility remaining, but opted instead after the 2022 season to enter the NFL draft.
He said Tuesday he doesn’t regret the decision, given his age, his injury-riddled college career, and the prospects of getting drafted — which happened as he thought it would.
Here are more of Hall’s comments on his first season in the NFL.
On the biggest surprise about playing in the NFL:
“Just how much you gotta be dedicated to your personal process. There are a lot of ways guys go about learning and improving and getting ready for games. So just from my couple of starts, how is the best way, what is the best way, to prepare for a game? What is the best way to take in all the new information for that week for that opponent? What is good? What is bad?
“There is so much information at your fingertips. You just gotta really know it and use your coaches and the vets and your teammates to know what is important, and what is not. Just understanding now what you need to know, what is the most important stuff to hold onto. So that is something I am still trying to figure out.”
On the value of getting to start in two games, even if he wasn’t able to finish them:
“It was very valuable. Going into (this) preseason, (the game) should feel a lot slower than the last game did. … I think there is a lot of good that will come from just getting snaps and understanding what is going on. That week of practice, you know what to expect more leading up to a game.”
On if he had to answer a lot of questions about BYU from his teammates:
“No, not really. I feel like BYU is such a big brand now, and has had a lot of great guys drafted, like Zach (Wilson) going No. 2 overall, that it is known. I think BYU has gotten out there a lot the last couple of years, and now that it is in the Big 12, I think a lot more respect is paid to BYU.”
On how he’s handled living in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area:
“Yeah, it is beautiful. It is a nice city. I don’t go there too much at all. I am not a city dweller by any means. We live out in the suburbs and stayed there for the season. And the facility is south of the city. So it is a nice place, but I don’t go in there too much. It is beautiful. There is great golf, great grass, out there.”
An avid golfer, Hall said he has yet to play Minnesota’s most famous golf course, Hazeltine National, but has played a little bit there and some since he returned to Utah for the summer. His best 18-hole score this year was a 75 at Gladstan in Payson.
On how he looks back at his time at BYU:
“Nothing but positive from me. I have all the love for BYU. That’s where I am from. I am just glad it was a good ending to my career there and I left on a positive note. So I love BYU and I am always looking to be around it as much as I can.”
