The Chicago Bears paid a considerable amount of money (relatively) to sign Missouri wide receiver Emanuel Hall as an undrafted free agent. It was considered a coup at the time. Despite some health issues, the kid illustrated near limitless potential with his mixture of 6’2 size and blazing speed. With enough work and hopefully some good fortune on the injury front, he could end up being a stud in the future.
Sadly that wasn’t the case. Hall faced a tough situation from the beginning. The Bears had invested heavily at wide receiver even before his arrival by adding Cordarrelle Patterson and Marvin Hall as free agents, then Riley Ridley in the 4th round of the draft. That undoubtedly increased the pressure on him to perform in practice. Something that is difficult to do when his body won’t let him.
Hall suffered from a series of minor injury setbacks, robbing him of critical reps down in Bourbonnais. All the while others like Javon Wims, the other Hall, and even fellow undrafted rookie Thomas Ives were standing out. The Bears finally seem to have lost their patience waiting on him. They announced on Tuesday that Hall had been waived.
Chicago Bears cutting Hall wasn’t just about health
Plenty of people were shocked the Bears made this decision. Why not just place him on Injured Reserve. This would enable the team to maintain their hold on his rights, let him get healthy and offer another chance down the road to continue exploring his talent. It’s the right idea if health were the only issue. Anybody who watched him in practices though should not be surprised the team made this move.
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Availability wasn’t the only issue with Hall. He also struggled even when he was able to practice. He didn’t really stand out in drills and had a persistent problem with catching the ball. Not just with QBs throwing to him either. Simple hands drills that required concentration and movement between pads saw him constantly messing up. It’s not hard to understand that coaches started to get frustrated with him.
Perhaps there’s still a chance he ends up on injured reserve if nobody claims him on the waiver wire. If not though, the reasons for his exit will have been easy to understand.
