BYU Football: How big is the gap between Hall and Wilson?

It is no question that Zach Wilson is the starter right now for BYU Football, but how big is the gap between him and Hall?

To preface this article, I am not calling for change. If you want my view on how I feel about calling for change at the QB position early in the season click here.

Zach Wilson is the guy and unless he is still struggling with shoulder issues come Fall Camp, there is no way that he is not going to be the guy against Utah. But how close is the gap?

Kalani Sitake a few weeks ago on BYUtv’s BYU SportsNation said something very interesting about the quarterbacks in general. He said this talking about Zach Wilson, “It is going to be a humbling experience for him because he is going to be helping the guys that are going to try to beat him out.”

From what is sounds like, Kalani Sitake is letting the guys battle over the starting role. Based off of practice results and the open practice, Jaren Hall is clearly the second string quarterback right now with some distance between him and Joe Critchlow and Baylor Romney.  It is tough to know exactly how close he is to Wilson though for a few reasons.

The first reason is that Hall was not for the most part not hit at all this spring season, whereas Zach Wilson and Tanner Mangum had to go through a lot of live scenarios where they were hit last year during the spring and Fall Camp. Knowing that whatever you do, you won’t be hit takes off a lot of pressure in the pocket. If you get sacked, well that’s too bad, but at least you weren’t just pounded by a 350 lb defender.

Another reason is that Wilson and Hall have never really ever split snaps during practice. Last spring Hall was still on his mission and in Fall Camp, Hall was the fourth stringer behind Critchlow. During the season only the first and second stringers get snaps normally and again that was Mangum and Wilson.

Experience Matters

Last season, with the same offensive staff as this season, the coaching staff decided to lean heavily on game experience when giving Tanner Mangum the start. They never came out and said that, but after watching him and Wilson both play a significant amount of time, the only advantages that Mangum seemed to really have were the deep ball and experience.

That would likely play a huge role if Hall was close to Wilson in talent during Fall Camp statistically.

The reality is, Wilson has done nothing to show that he shouldn’t be the starter, afterall he threw 18 for 18 in his last game with a shoulder injury.  Take that in with the fact that Hall has taken less than five snaps in his college career and it becomes obvious that the gap widens in favor of Wilson.

Overall, Wilson’s gap between him and Hall talentwise may be similar, but to this point, I have seen nothing to show me that he is better.

My prediction is that Hall will be used in a similar role to what the New Orleans Saints have with Taysom Hill, and what BYU did with Taysom early in his career. I can see him being a solid third down and short or goalline quarterback to give a run or pass option without having to put Wilson in dangerous situations. From what I’ve seen, Hall is a better one cut runner than Wilson and that could prove to be very useful on tough plays.

The bottom line is fans don’t and shouldn’t be debating the issue of Hall vs Wilson. Wilson is the guy and we should all be rooting for Hall to be an excellent backup so that BYU finally has a really good 1-2 punch with both guys being able to play in different situations.