After standout wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. was taken by the Arizona Cardinals at No. 4 overall on Thursday, Mike Hall became the second Buckeye to hear his name called as he was taken by the Cleveland Browns with the No. 54 overall pick in the second round of the 2024 NFL draft.

bringing in another Buckeye

: #NFLDraft on NFLN/ESPN/ABC pic.twitter.com/Zf0B0QC3WH

— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) April 27, 2024

Advertisement

A native of nearby Streetsboro, Ohio, Hall will now return to Northeast Ohio to begin his NFL career.

Hall is the first Ohio State defensive tackle drafted since Tommy Togiai was picked No. 132 overall in the fourth round by the Browns in the 2021 NFL draft. He’s the fourth Buckeye drafted by the Browns in the last four years, joining offensive linemen Dawand Jones and Luke Wypler, who were both drafted by the Browns last year.

He becomes the fifth Buckeye on the Browns’ current roster, joining Jones, Wypler and defensive backs Denzel Ward and Ronnie Hickman.

Great addition in Mike Hall for the @Browns! You cant go wrong with Buckeyes!

— Denzel Ward (@denzelward) April 27, 2024

Hall was the eighth defensive tackle selected in this year’s draft after Texas’ Byron Murphy went to the Seattle Seahawks with the No. 16 overall pick and Clemson’s Ruke Orhorhoro (No. 35 overall, Atlanta Falcons), Illinois’ Jer’Zhan Newton (No. 36, Washington Commanders), Texas’ T’Vondre Sweat (No. 38, Tennessee Titans), Florida State’s Braden Fiske (No. 39, Los Angeles Rams), LSU’s Maason Smith (No. 48, Jacksonville Jaguars) and Michigan’s Kris Jenkins (No. 49, Cincinnati Bengals) all went in the first 17 picks of the second round.

Hall had been a projected Day 2 pick in nearly every mock draft and will have a chance to make an immediate impact in Cleveland’s defensive tackle rotation. He saw his stock rise after a prolific Senior Bowl performance in February, which he followed up by running a spectacular 40-yard dash time of 4.75 seconds at Ohio State’s pro day, proving he has rare athleticism for an interior defensive lineman that gives him high upside at the next level.

Hall was one of just two players from his recruiting class, along with Harrison, to enter the 2024 NFL draft after just three years at Ohio State. But while many of his teammates chose to stay in Columbus for another season, Hall decided to go pro because he wanted to provide for his son Michael Hall III, who was born one day before OSU’s third game of last season against Western Kentucky.

“It definitely weighed, but just got to do what’s best for my family and feed my family first,” Hall said in February at the NFL Scouting Combine.

RELATED Becoming A Father Drove Mike Hall’s Decision to Leave Ohio State Early for 2024 NFL Draft

Hall battled injuries during the past two seasons which may have prevented him from playing to his full potential after redshirting as a true freshman. Still, he flashed plenty of playmaking ability in his two playing seasons, recording 43 total tackles with 9.5 tackles for loss and six sacks and earning third-team All-Big Ten honors in 2023.

“I would say just having (Ohio State defensive line coach) Larry Johnson as a coach and (Ryan) Day as my head coach just developed me greatly as a player and just helped me on and off the field,” Hall said. “I knew I was ready for sure.”

Michael Hall Jr. is headed home.

Hall was drafted by the Cleveland Browns at No. 54 overall on Friday night during the 2024 NFL Draft, and the Ohio native from Strongsville looks to be a good match for the Browns’ defense.

Browns general manager Andrew Berry made the call to Hall to let him know he was off the board and coming to Cleveland.

“Big Mike! … We’re really excited to get you in the building. We want you to attack, disrupt the line of scrimmage, and get after the quarterback,” Berry told Hall during a video call after the selection. “That’s the big thing, alright? We enjoyed having you here a couple of weeks ago, and we can’t wait to get going.”

Berry then turned the call over to coach Kevin Stefanski who acknowledged Hall’s link to the city of Cleveland.

“Yo Mike! Do you know anything about Cleveland? We are pumped to get you up here, Stefanski said during the call. “You are a DNA fit for us. We love everything you bring to the table as a player, as a person, and you’re going to wreak some havoc for us, alright? Congratulations!”

Hall wasn’t the first Buckeye taken in the draft, as wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. went with the No. 4 overall pick on Thursday night during Round 1.

A Streetsboro High School (Cleveland, OH) alum, Hall made his presence felt in several instances over his three years with the Buckeyes. Hall recorded 45 total tackles and six sacks, along with numerous tackles-for-loss at critical times in games.

Ohio State fans are having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that there’s a new top dog in the Big Ten Conference, and it happens to be their most hated rival — the Michigan Wolverines. 

However, after three consecutive wins over the Buckeyes, three straight conference championships and now the ultimate prize of a national championship in 2023, it’s become an undeniable fact that Michigan has taken control of the greatest rivalry in all of sports. And Ohio State fans can’t stand it.

On Friday, during the second night of the 2024 NFL Draft, natives of ‘the Buckeye State’ had some salt poured into those still-open wounds. The Cleveland Browns selected Michigan’s unanimous All-American offensive guard Zak Zinter in the third round with the 85th overall pick, and announced their pick with a social media post that had Ohio State fans seething at one of their two home-state NFL teams.

As you can imagine, the comment section underneath this Twitter post is overflowing with angry Buckeye fans, falling back on the same coping mechanisms they’ve utilized for the past six months to explain away the Wolverines’ success — the usual banter about Michigan “cheating” their way to wins over Ohio State and a national title.

Nevermind the fact that U-M’s roster was stocked full of NFL talent, as evidenced by a school-record seven players drafted in the Top 100 picks, and a bunch more expected on Day 3 of the draft. That certainly had nothing to do with it, amiright Brutus?

What makes the Browns’ comment about Zinter “bringing winning habits from up north” even more hilarious is that Cleveland had just selected a Buckeye — defensive tackle Michael Hall Jr. — one round prior. For that social media announcement, the Browns simply noted they were “keeping it local” with Hall “staying home”. He’s a good, solid player who projects well at the next level. But, Hall went 0-3 lining up against Zinter, “a product of the trenches”, in those same trenches over the past three years. Just sayin.

The 2024 NFL Draft has turned into a final celebration of sorts for everything Michigan accomplished this past season. By the conclusion of Day 2, the Wolverines were tied with the national runner-up Washington Huskies for the most draft selections with seven. Now, entering Day 3, Michigan has its sights set Georgia’s record of 15 draft picks from one school, set following the Bulldogs national championship season in 2021. It will take another big day for the Wolverines to reach and/or eclipse the mark, but after a record 18 players were invited to the NFL Combine earlier this year, Michigan may be poised to make some more history on Saturday.

For more of the best coverage of the University of Michigan Athletics, follow Wolverine Digest publisher Brandon Brown and beat writer Eric Rutter on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook by clicking HERE and our YouTube channel by clicking HERE.