Jaren Hall’s time as a BYU quarterback has come to an end.
The fifth-year junior announced on Twitter Friday that he will forgo his final season — one where he could have helped lead BYU into its new era of Big 12 Conference football — and enter the 2023 NFL draft.
It’s ultimately not a huge surprise for the 24-year-old Hall, who served a mission to Roseville, California, for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before playing at BYU and has a family with wife Breanna and daughter Jayda.
Hall’s NFL draft stock has been a talking point through much of the past several months; earlier in December, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. ranked Hall the No. 7 prospect among quarterbacks in the 2023 NFL draft class.
In October, ESPN’s Jordan Reid tabbed Hall as a Day 3 draft prospect, projecting him to be selected anywhere from the fourth to seventh round.
Then on Thursday, it was announced that he will play in the Senior Bowl, which all but sealed the deal on his future plans.
Hall has spent the past two seasons as the Cougars’ starter — he finishes his BYU career completing 65% of his passes for 6,174 yards, 52 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, while also rushing for 798 yards and nine touchdowns.
Hall’s best season at BYU was his last, when he threw for 3,171 yards, 31 touchdowns and six interceptions while running for 348 yards and three touchdowns.
He missed the Cougars’ bowl game — a 24-23 win over SMU in the New Mexico Bowl — with an ankle injury.
Hall’s departure, combined with backup Jacob Conover transferring to Arizona State, leaves BYU looking not only for a new starting quarterback next season, but mining the NCAA transfer portal to immediately build some depth and experience at the signal caller position.
Redshirt freshman Sol-Jay Maiava-Peters, more a dual-threat specialist than a drop back quarterback, started in place of Hall in the bowl game and ran for 96 yards and a touchdown while throwing for 47 yards as BYU used a run-first approach to keep the ball out of SMU’s hands.
The Cougars also have quarterbacks Cade Fennegan and Nick Billoups on the roster — neither has played a down for the school.
Two other quarterbacks are also expected to be on the roster in 2023: Springville’s Ryder Burton, the lone QB signee in BYU’s 2023 recruiting class, and former Corner Canyon High quarterback Cole Hagen, who’s joining the program after originally committing to Yale.