Albany transfer cornerback Aamir Hall committed to Michigan this evening after taking a visit to Ann Arbor on Wednesday.
Hall is a 6'1", 201 lb. corner with one year of eligibility remaining. Originally a signee for FCS Richmond, he spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons playing for the Spiders. He then transferred to Albany in 2023, where he was an FCS All-American, totaling 63 tackles, 5 interceptions, and 15 total passes defended.
After watching some highlights of him playing at Albany this past fall, I think Hall may have a better shot at playing corner than I originally believed. I mentioned in an earlier article that he might be more of a nickel - which was based on going back to watch his high school highlights - but there has been some development since then. He's a good-sized, physical corner who's not afraid to come up and support the run, and he has some nice instincts and ball skills. He plays through the hands of receivers, and he makes some nice adjustments to go up and get the ball, get low to dig out short throws, etc.
Overall, Michigan has found themselves a good addition to the cornerback room to compete with Jyaire Hill for that second corner spot, or perhaps help at nickel with Zeke Berry or Ja'Den McBurrows. Hall doesn't have the greatest speed, but if he did . . . he probably wouldn't be available at this point, and he wouldn't be coming from Albany. Hill probably has higher upside in the long run because he's a better athlete, but Hall is probably a good approximation of Josh Wallace - someone who's capable in pass coverage and who won't be taken advantage of physically.
Albany somewhat famously produced defensive end Jared Verse, who turned out to be a standout player for Florida State before becoming a 1st round draft pick last month. However, Albany has only produced one NFL draft pick, and that was 6th round safety Rashad Barksdale back in 2007.
Michigan is still looking at trying to land more defensive backs from the portal, including Michigan State safety Jaden Mangham, Sacramento State safety Cameron Broussard, and Louisville safety Wesley Walker, among others.
Physical, I'll take that!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a starting CB to me but if Hill pops and they want to play Hall at nickel that's just fine too.
ReplyDeleteWith depth now at CB (Johnson/Hall/Hill) and Safety (QJo/Walker/Paige/Mangum) Michigan has tremendous flexibility to sort nickel out - even if one of the incumbents (Berry/McBurrows) ascend to deserve the starting spot. If I had to bet right now though, I'd guess we see 3 of those 4 safeties on the field starting against Texas.
Either way I think they'll have a normal rotation of 3 or 4 CBs. Last year's roster didn't really have the personnel to do it so it was Johnson and Wallace playing nearly full time and Sainristil rotating over to be the 3rd option. Somehow we got away with a notable deficiency there thanks to the timely addition of Wallace, Will Johnson's excellence, and Mikey's versatility.
Great to see the roster need addressed!
Agree, Lank. Hall looks like a starter. The trail technique, the ball punchouts and the off arm around the WR’s waist all suggest experience and advanced skill. I didn’t see any wrap-up tackling but if he’s got that and decent long speed, he could be excellent.
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