Jettin' from Breece Hall

By: Josh Frey-Sam

It’s too early to write someone off for next season, but I’m getting damn close with Breece Hall.

Yes, I’m talking about the RB4 in half-PPR formats from two years ago— a player who is entering just his fourth season and was regarded as one of the league's most promising running backs 365 days ago.

There are a couple of reasons for my stance, the biggest of which is where the New York Jets running back is currently being drafted.

RB10 — ahead of Chase Brown, Ashton Jeanty and Kyren Williams.

A lot can — and will — change between now and August, but for argument's sake, let’s say it stays like this. I don’t think I could take Hall ahead of any of those guys.

Hall finished as the RB17 in half-PPR formats last season after having the least efficient season of his young career in 2024, fumbling a career-high six times (losing two), and frankly, not looking nearly as explosive as he was in 2023 coming off an ACL injury.

He logged just five top-10 weeks and six in the top-12. He was a top-22 RB eight times, which means he finished worse than an RB2 — despite being drafted as the RB2 OVERALL — seven times (he missed two games).

The most concerning part was that he logged 266 touches last season, down from the 299 he recorded in 2023.

Now, there are a couple of underlying reasons why Hall was disappointing.

1. The entire offence was disappointing, particularly the offensive line, which made life extremely difficult for both Hall and Aaron Rodgers

2. He was misused. Hall recorded nine — NINE — rushing attempts inside the 10-yard line last season. The Jets struggled to get in the red zone last year, but when they did, it was a lot of passing

3. Braelon Allen emerged as a legitimate weapon

Let’s look at that last point. Allen, the Jets’ fourth-round pick last year, often looked like the best running back on the team. He was explosive, powerful and exciting — superlatives we used to describe Breece the year before.

Allen finished with 92 carries, 19 receptions and, most importantly, three touchdowns. Hall only outpaced him in goal-line carries by five.

The point on Allen is a perfect segue into the second reason why I’m taking this stance.

It was Monday morning at the owner’s meetings in Florida when newly minted Jets head coach Aaron Glenn, surrounded by reporters, made a comment that rippled across the fantasy world.

"I think, mentally, (Hall) is in a good place, but I would say that we have three running backs on this team (Hall, Allen and Isaiah Davis) that we're going to utilize as much as possible," Glenn said. "They're all big men, they can run, they're violent, they're physical.

"So I think once we get a chance to get the players in and see exactly how they operate, I think every player is going to be happy with the way that we go about this offence, and I think he's going to be one of them."

It didn’t come as a shock to hear Glenn say that, given his most recent stop was in Detroit, where he watched a prolific offence deploy two RBs consistently.

It was still a gut-punch to prospective fantasy owners, especially in dynasty formats.

Glenn’s comments also fired up the rumour mill that Hall could be on the trade block. For the record, I don’t think that’s the case.

A reason for optimism would be that Hall is entering a contract year. Even though he could spend a good chunk of the year in a committee, an efficient season could vault him to the top of next offseason’s free agency class and entice a team to pay the soon-to-be 24-year-old big bucks to become their feature back.

That’s enough motivation for anyone to perform their best.

Again, it’s still early. Lots can change in the next five months, and we still need to see how the real draft shakes out before we can jump to conclusions.

But the way it projects, Hall looks more and more like an avoid in 2025, which might be tough because the RB position doesn’t look overly glamorous, at the moment.

Thanks for reading and, as always, have a great day.

Josh