IOWA CITY — The New Orleans Saints selected Iowa defensive back TJ Hall in the seventh round of the 2026 NFL Draft. He was the 219th overall selection.
Hall made 42 appearances in his Hawkeye career, including 18 starts.
Hall's Iowa career had some rough patches, including a poor outing against rival Nebraska when he was thrown into the fire as a true freshman. He missed time due to injury in 2023 and then was in and out of the starting lineup in 2024.
But Hall's perseverance paid off with a breakout 2025 campaign, where he emerged as Iowa's top cornerback. Hall was exceptional in coverage for the Hawkeyes and accumulated a career-high 47 tackles. He was named third team All-Big by media and coaches.
Hall's time at Iowa was not always smooth, but he finished his college career playing his best football and pushed his way into the NFL conversation.
Low-cut cornerback with fast feet, good balance and a highly competitive spirit. Hall loves staying as tight to the route as possible and supports the run with ideal aggression. He has adequate press strength and is solid matching releases, hugging man routes and quickly closing to tackle from zone. Though he plays fast, he lacks long speed and receivers can separate from him on vertical routes. He is twitchy to close but is more of a responder than an anticipator, limiting his on-ball production. Hall’s toughness against the run helps his cause as a likely Day 3 pick at nickelback.
Balanced mover with sudden change-of-direction quickness.
Usually stays tight to route stems and turns from tight press-man.
Crowds receiver and closes his catch window when contesting downfield.
Urgency and physicality show up consistently at the catch point.
Serious run supporter who usually defeats his blocker.
Has takeaway twitch but rarely seen challenging into passing lanes.
Needs quicker depth gain from zone relative to route concepts.
Face-guards from start to finish instead of locating the ball when his back turned.
Still has some technical issues to clean up in man.
Sometimes leans into receivers instead of using feet to close distance.
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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: TJ Hall draft: Saints pick Iowa DB in NFL draft