Maliek Collins Injury Opens Door for Mike Hall Jr. in Crucial Browns Training Camp

This week, the Cleveland Browns placed defensive tackle Maliek Collins on the physically unable to perform list ahead of training camp.

Collins suffered a knee injury in Week 13 that ended his season last year. He’s pushing to be ready for Week 1 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the Browns have a player ready for a big opportunity this training camp in the absence of Collins.

Before his injury last season, Collins made an immediate impact on the Browns. He had 15 tackles and 6.5 sacks from his defensive tackle spot, serving as an anchor alongside Myles Garrett on the defensive line.

Garrett is out of the picture and Collins won’t be ready to go for training camp, which opens up a big opportunity for Mike Hall Jr.

Inside Mike Hall Jr.'s big opportunity

The Browns used the 54th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on Hall, a productive defensive tackle from Ohio State. The Streetsboro, Ohio native has played just 17 games over his first two seasons with the Browns as a MCL tear in the final game of his rookie season caused him to miss the beginning of his second year in Cleveland.

Although Hall had an injury scare during OTAs, he’ll enter his third NFL training camp healthy, with a big opportunity to start on Cleveland’s defensive line while Collins works to the side.

New defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg was hired partially because he’d keep most of Jim Schwartz’s successful wide-nine scheme intact. Schwartz would consistently rotate his defensive line throughout the game, keeping fresh legs to get after the quarterback.

If Hall can flash during training camp, especially if Collins is sidelined until the pads come on, this new coaching staff would probably give him more opportunities in rotation. Further, the 23-year-old can prove to Browns general manager Andrew Berry that he can be a foundational member of this defense for years to come, and is much more than a depth piece to this roster.

Even with Garrett on the Los Angeles Rams, the defensive line should still play a big role for the Browns this season Jared Verse is a suitable replacement and Alex Wright has consistently grown during his time in Cleveland.

But in order for the Browns to stay elite up front, Hall needs to play a bigger role in 2026. He has 25 career tackles, 2.5 sacks and 10 quarterback hits. Those numbers feel low due to a small sample size, but if he can make splash plays that don’t necessarily show up in the box sheet, that’ll be a huge win for Rutenberg’s defense.

There aren’t many major opportunities on this defense, hopefully foreshadowing another successful season from that side of the football. The starting jobs are locked up defensively. You know which rookies will see playing time on defense, and which ones won’t.

That’s what makes this a rare, big opportunity for Hall. Even if Collins returns to his starting post when healthy before the season, a big training camp from Hall would benefit everyone.

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