The Green Bay Packers defense has failed to beat bad quarterbacks. That's the reality of another underwhelming season for Joe Barry's unit. On Sunday, they get another chance — and this is the most important one, a season-defining divisional game against the Minnesota Vikings.

On Thursday, the Vikings announced that rookie Jaren Hall will make his second NFL regular season start, replacing veteran Nick Mullens. While there's little film for the Packers to analyze, there is a lot of information about the rookie, and how it's possible to build a gameplan able to affect his game.

This is how NFL Network's draft analyst Lance Zierlein described Hall in the pre-draft process:

^{"An undersized pocket quarterback with unimpressive arm strength, Hall's field command gives him a shot to make it at the next level. He throws with excellent ball placement to targets on the move and delivers a feathery soft deep ball with accuracy. His lack of drive velocity creates smaller margins for error and his timing needs to be impeccable to beat NFL man coverage. Hall operates with ideal poise from the pocket. He does an adequate job of reading coverages and getting rid of the ball without taking sacks. The size and arm strength will concern some teams, but offenses operating out of heavy play-action with levels-based route concepts could target him as a solid future backup."}

In the pre-draft process, Hall was linked to Green Bay a lot. He had an informal pre-draft meeting with the Packers front office, but they went in another direction. Fifteen picks before the Vikings took Hall in the fifth round, Green Bay selected a similar concept of prospect in Sean Clifford. Both are physically limited players, but ahead of their years in terms of processing information — the Packers chose Clifford probably because he's bigger, and Gutekunst later said he was the latest quarterback with a draftable grade still on their board. That means the Packers saw Jaren Hall as an undrafted caliber of player.

"There was a quarterback run, and a lot of quarterbacks underneath him (Clifford) went, so as we looked at it, we had a number choices up there that were all kind of the same," Gutekunst said right after the selection. "But there weren’t any quarterbacks after him that we felt strongly about like we did him. That made it easy.”

NFL experience

Jaren Hall played against the Packers back in week 8, after Kirk Cousins got hurt. But it was basically garbage time, with Hall completing three of four passes for 23 yards. In the following week, the rookie made his first NFL start, but he ended up playing just 12 minutes before suffering a concussion.

How does the Vikings coaching staff look at this drive that Jaren Hall put together against the Falcons and not see if he can do it again?? He CANNOT be worse than Mullens or Dobbs man. #Skol pic.twitter.com/H4xHvn2I9s

— PJ (@PandemicJones) December 24, 2023

During almost a quarter of the action, he did some nice things, but also showed signs of rawness and limitations. He finished the game with 5/6 for 78 yards.

It was evident how Hall is more comfortable playing against zone coverage, especially because the Vikings have a well-designed offense by head coach Kevin O'Connell. When the Falcons played man, it became more challenging to Hall, even though he has decent pocket presence and calmness to operate the system.

The arm is limited. When the receivers were open, Hall was able to place the football correctly with touch, but there's little pressure on the pass.

That's why he had a tough time completing passes in short windows.

Gameplan

The Packers tried to use more man coverage against the Carolina Panthers, and it didn't work out as well. However, this is still a smart approach in Minnesota — especially because the Vikings are bad at running the ball, 28th in rush EPA this season.

Green Bay has to challenge Hall, forcing him to keep the ball and make progressions, while getting pressure from the edge. It's time to use Rashan Gary more frequently — he hasn't played 70% of the defensive snaps in any game this year yet.

Especially with tight end TJ Hockenson and maybe wide receiver Jordan Addison out with injuries, Jaren Hall won't have great options beyond Justin Jefferson. Against the Falcons, the Vikings tried to exploit short passes to gain yards after the catch. Therefore, avoiding missed tackles is essential for the defense.

The Packers defense is built to play against better quarterbacks, and Hall's ability to process information and beat zones can signify a dangerous matchup. But there are multiple ways the Packers can affect him, and a competent performance might be enough to secure a decisive win.

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