Want to attack every day with the latest Georgia football recruiting info? That’s the Intel. This rep has the latest with Jordan “Big Baby” Hall. He ranks as the nation’s No. 9 DL and the No. 73 overall prospect for 2023 on the 247Sports Composite ratings. The On3 Consensus has him as the No. 6 DL and the No. 56 overall recruit in 2023.
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Georgia just added a crown jewel to its pristine 2023 high school recruiting class. The word went public moments ago from prized 4-star DL Jordan “Big Baby” Hall out of Jacksonville.
Hall becomes just the second true defensive line prospect in this class for the ‘Dawgs. He joins 4-star DT Jamaal Jarrett in what will be a massive playmaking future front for the Bulldog defense.
The decision came down to a final group of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and LSU.
He made that decision dressed in a very stylish jacket that he topped off with a big red UGA hat at his signing ceremony.
To be honest, Hall has favored the ‘Dawgs for quite some time. He looked quite comfortable walking around Sanford Stadium on gameday trips this fall.
Listen to what he had to say after one of his fall visits.
“I would say it is a home away from home,” he said earlier this year. “Some people may take that as ‘Oh, he’s committing there’ since it is home but honestly when you are comfortable somewhere then it feels like home. Because home is where you are comfortable. I can go there and just feel free to - I wouldn’t say do anything now - but vibe out and chill. But then when it is time to learn then that is the time for me to learn. There are honestly not too many things that I am worried about when I go up there.”
“Talking to Coach Smart, he wants to implement the fact that he wants me to be on the team for next year. Coach [Tray] Scott says that as well. I just get a lot by talking to the players and interacting with them. It is like a big brother and a little brother connection. Everybody takes me under the wing. Talks to me. Tells me things. Helps me with my game and all that stuff and we just have fun. I haven’t really gotten a connection with any other school and with any other players like that.”
“I haven’t been really anywhere else. I haven’t been anywhere else where I’ve had the chance to interact with the other players the way I have been at Georgia. I really just feel free there to hang out there, interact, do stuff and chill.”
While walking around Dooley FIeld with the UGA commits, he looked quite at home. Now, he’s a member of that 2023 recruiting class.
Why did Hall choose the ‘Dawgs?
Hall knew all about those 15 NFL Draft picks in 2022. Those five first-round ‘Dawgs. He knows that Georgia is likely going to have at least three guys from Scott’s defensive line room go in the first round of the NFL Draft in a two-year span.
That’s what he likes best.
“Development,” he said earlier this year. “Coach Smart knows exactly what he wants to do and exactly what he wants from all of his players. I know he can name it from the starter to the guy who is a walk-on to the 5-star recruit who just came in that wants to prove he was a 5-star recruit coming out of high school. How good he is. He knows how to put every piece of the puzzle together I feel like.”
Then there is a deep respect for Georgia line coach Tray Scott. He puts Scott right up there with Ohio State’s Larry Johnson and FSU’s Odell Hagins as the best defensive line coaches in the country.
“Outside of coach Johnson and coach Odell in that group, he’s probably the best in the business,” he said. “Most definitely he is up there with those two and plus coach Scott has got a defensive head coach who lets them flow free and do what he needs to do to make his scheme fit with the defensive coordinator’s scheme. Coach Scott, in general, is a technician. He teaches every day. It may be some simple stuff but I feel like keeping everything simple is better. Just works on the little things and he focuses on his players more than anything and anybody. I like that a lot out of everything I have seen out of Georgia.”
What Jordan “Big Baby” Hall means for the 2023 Georgia class
Hall adds to a prolific defensive class in the 2023 cycle for Georgia as the 27th member of the class. The Bulldogs signed 24 of those 27 pledges to the class yesterday.
He’s now the eighth-highest-rated member in the class. That group now has nine players that were picked to participate in either the All-American Bowl or the Under Armour All-American Game next month.
Hall is now the ninth defensive prospect with a top-100 overall ranking in this Georgia class.
The 4-star prospect knows he has that chance to play with Jarrett in Athens. He said earlier this year that would be comforting.
He probably felt that way considering he was getting doubled and tripled and chipped and cut all season at Westside High in Jacksonville.
“I feel like if anything they would double him more,” Hall said. “Like a Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter type of thing. I will still get maybe one or two double teams, but they will double him more. He can take that. I can get the one-on-one and beat that one-on-one. I’ve been practicing beating those 1-on-1s all my life so it would be a big upgrade from my teammates now to someone who is 6-foot-6 or 6-foot-7 and 350.”
He’s not quite 6 feet, 5 inches. Probably the best gauge would be to place him around 6-foot-4.5 in height. The nation’s No. 7 DL also said he’s right at 305 pounds.
It doesn’t look like he’s that heavy. He carries that on his frame well.
The other thing to note here from a physical perspective is he’s strong.
He will squat about 525 pounds. That was his max in March of this year. He maxed out at bench press at 345 pounds.
Yet that’s a lot of natural strength. Hall said he’s only been in the weight room for maybe the last year. That’s something he said is not prioritized at his high school.
Hall was making it his priority this fall, though.
“I’m really up at my school every day,” he said. “Working out like 24/7. Football is all day. Every day. I may take a rest day or two but I’m trying to catch up on the lost time that I had my freshman, sophomore and junior year.”
Where did Jordan Hall get that “Big Baby” nickname?
Well, this occasion certainly seems worthy of a rehash of that story.
How did Hall get that nickname? Well, it was from a while back. He probably shouldn’t be that proud of it, but it takes him back to where he started.
The genesis of that nickname is found below. Hall breaks it all down in his own words.
It came when he was a freshman football player. He was performing well at a scrimmage.
THE INTEL ON JORDAN “BIG BABY” HALL
- Height/Weight: 6-4/310
- High school (City/State): Westside HS/Jacksonville, Fla.
- Early enrollee: Yes
- 247Sports rankings: No. 9 DL and No. 73 overall(Composite); No. No. 6 DL and No. 55 overall
- On3 rankings: No. 6 DL and No. 56 overall (Consensus): No. 6 and No. 29 overall
- Rivals ranking: No. 4 DL and No. 61 overall
- ESPN300 ranking: No. 16 DL and No. 131 overall
- Finalists: Alabama, Georgia, Florida and LSU
- All-American Game: All-American Bowl in Texas
- High school stats or honors: Jordan was drawn to a winning program in college. His high school team finished 1-9 this fall and wound up 2-8 in 2021. That wasn’t due to a lack of effort on his part playing on both lines for his team. Hall finished his senior year with 106 tackles, 31 stops for losses and nine sacks. “Big Baby” had 34 tackles, 15 stops for losses and five sacks as a junior.
- Sentell’s Intel on Hall: Big and powerful with a mean streak. Hall projects as an interior DL in the SEC in the Devonte Wyatt mold. He’s very talented and has been underrated for most of this cycle. He’s the type of prospect who can play early in Athens. When looking at all the interior DLs that Georgia has signed under Kirby Smart, the only one that is considerably ahead of Hall at this stage would be Jalen Carter in the 2020 class.
The recruiting skinny: Hall was No. 1 for the last few weeks on the DawgNation weekly “Before the Hedges” top targets list because he plays a premium position in the Georgia defense. The only other DL prospect that the ‘Dawgs have committed in this class is 4-star All-American Jamaal Jarrett and he is more of a “zero” tech or a true noseguard.
He also had 31 tackles for losses and nine sacks despite constant double teams this fall.
The ‘Dawgs have been in great shape for some time with Hall. He has long since talked about taking as long as he can to make his college decision. That’s why he will declare his college choice at 2:30 PM on Thursday afternoon and not the traditional first day of the early signing period on Wednesday.
SENTELL’S INTEL
(check on the recent reads on DawgNation.com)
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- BREAKING: Electric North Carolina speedster Kyron Jones decides he will be a ‘Dawg
- AJ Harris: What DawgNation needs to know about its new 5-star signee
- Signing Day preview: The 12 Days of Christmas for the Georgia football recruiting class
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- Roderick Robinson II: The stuff you don’t know about the next great RB at UGA is pretty special
- Georgia football recruiting: Three lists that will triple your excitement about the 2023 class
- Several UGA commits and recruiting targets see a big rankings boost in the latest updates
- Justice Haynes: The 5-star legacy RB is set on playing for Alabama
- Kyron Jones: Previewing the weekend official visit with the NC State commit with 10.6 speed
- BREAKING: ‘Dawgs add 5-star LB Jadon Perlotte to 2025 recruiting class
- What exactly is UGA getting in its new OT commit Jamal Meriweather?
- BREAKING: Georgia flips 6-foot-7 in-state offensive tackle Jamal Meriweather to its 2023 class
- BREAKING: 5-star EDGE Sam M’Pemba decides it is time to be a ‘Dawg
- While the ‘Dawgs keep chopping it is time to put some respect on this historic winning tear
- Bo Hughley: Prized OT says his pledge to UGA remains strong
- Lawson Luckie: The real reason this remarkable young man committed to Georgia will touch your heart
