3 NY Jets who improved the most during the 2021 season

3. Bryce Hall, CB, NY Jets

The Jets asked a lot of Bryce Hall in 2021. A fifth-round pick a year earlier, Hall missed half of his rookie season recovering from a devastating ankle injury that cut his college career short and caused him to drop significantly in the 2020 NFL Draft.

While Hall held his own as a rookie, it seemed like a major gamble to entrust a former fifth-round pick with just eight career games played to be the team's No. 1 cornerback in 2021.

Yet, Hall managed to exceed all expectations and establish himself as not only a starting-caliber cornerback, but someone who played like a legitimate CB1.

Hall finished second in the NFL in passes defended behind just Marshon Lattimore and was one of only a handful of Jets players to appear in all 17 games in 2021.

Hall's 64.5 PFF coverage grade ranked 18th in the NFL among cornerbacks to play at least 80 percent of coverage snaps. Again, he was a borderline CB1 this past season.

Given his lack of experience heading into the year, that's nothing short of extraordinary. Jets fans should remember a similar story with Blessuan Austin, another former Day 3 pick whose draft stock dropped because of injury.

Austin, like Hall, missed the first half of his rookie season before returning and showing significant promise down the stretch. The Jets entrusted him with a starting role in his second season, but he never lived up to the hype.

Bryce Hall did, and the progress he showed from year one to year two is what lands him on this list.