What Ohio State DT Mike Hall Jr., ‘Baby Aaron Donald,’ brings to the Browns

COLUMBUS, Ohio — If Ohio State football’s Mike Hall Jr. had nicknamed himself “Baby Aaron Donald,” it could have been dismissed as the bravado of a confident young man.

That moniker, though, came from the teammates attempting to block him or avoid his grasp. The Browns, who have brought in a handful of OSU defensive players in the past few years, are now banking on that upside to invigorate their defensive front by selecting him in the second round, 54th overall, Friday in the NFL Draft.

Hall’s counting numbers — at least the full-season performances — do not jump off the page. Injuries each of the past two seasons did not keep him off the field for extended stretches but did slow him down. However, some of the single-game stat lines explain why the Browns showed such confidence in selecting Hall when they did.

The best example was the 2.5-sack night at Michigan State in 2022, when Hall played only eight snaps. At his best, his ability to create interior pressure blew up backfields and wrecked games. At the start of that same season, his interior presence set a tone in a victory over Notre Dame when the Buckeye offense had not yet clicked in.

Hall said at the NFL Scouting Combine that he was up to 293 pounds. Ohio State listed him around 280 last season. The truth likely lies somewhere in between, and for that reason, Hall always projected as a 3 technique tackle in a 4-3 system. It’s the role in which he most thrived for the Buckeyes.

Hall demanded a lot of double teams at OSU, which opened the door for big seasons from teammates such as Tyleik Williams. He is a lot to handle in a small space and he regularly flattened the pocket.

Those attributes showed up against other elite competition at the Senior Bowl, where the offensive linemen voted him the best defensive lineman in the camp.

Hall joins nose Tommy Togiai and safety Ronnie Hickman as recent Buckeyes in Cleveland. He has the highest ceiling, though, thanks to that ability to create the interior push teams covet so much.