Hey there, friends! I am back with another AFC East “A Look Inside” article, this time focusing on the New York Jets. As a noted Patriots fan, I assure you, my dear reader, that I shall remain objective as I dive into one of my team’s bitter rivals. Setting aside my own team’s allegiance, know that you will only get my best fantasy advice here at Club Fantasy!
On to the point of this article: which player will I choose to highlight from the Jets? From a fantasy football perspective, many players could have found their way into these words, but I’m going to highlight one of the big stars: Breece Hall. To talk about the future fantasy success of Hall, it’s important to first look into the past. Let’s start there as I make the argument that Breece Hall will finish this year as the number 1 fantasy-scoring running back in the NFL.
Breece Hall 2024 Fantasy Football Outlook
How did 2023 go for the Jets?
The New York Jets’ 2023 season took four plays to be all but ended when Aaron Rodgers went down with an Achilles injury. Fantasy expectations for the Jets last year were sky-high, as the likes of Garrett Wilson had never had an established NFL-caliber QB and Rodgers was going to be just that, elevating the whole team to a new level. So how did the team fare without the star QB? In short: not great!
Scoring fantasy points at a high level is fairly easy to understand. You want the team your player is on to score a lot of points and gain a lot of yards, increasing the chances that it was your player that led to the offensive success. The Jets in 2023 finished 31st in yards per game and 29th in points per game. From a fantasy perspective, this is not ideal production, especially for a team where expectations were so high going into the year.
Breece Hall must have had a bad year, too, then, right?
I know what you’re thinking: knowing what we know now about how the season ended for the Jets, added to knowing that Hall was going into the 2023 campaign coming off a torn ACL and added competition from newly signed Dalvin Cook…Hall surely must have fallen victim to the demise of the Jets as well, right? Oh, ho ho, would you be wrong!
All Hall did in 2023 was finish just shy of 1,000 yards rushing with five rushing touchdowns while adding 76 receptions for 591 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns. In most standard-scoring leagues, this was good enough to easily be a top-10 campaign, more than making up for his ADP and the pick you used to get him. Hall was able to do all this even when opposing defenses could focus on stopping him. Sorry Zach Wilson, but you weren’t scaring anybody!
Check out the No Punt Intended team breaking down the Jets in this week’s episode!
Enough about the past. Let’s talk about Breece Hall’s future!
As I highlighted in my intro, I firmly believe that Breece Hall will finish the year as the top-scoring fantasy football running back in 2024. Before you go off thinking that this is some crazy/bold claim, as of writing this, Hall is going off the board as the RB2, only behind the San Francisco 49er whiz Christian McCaffrey. I’m just here to tell you to BELIEVE in that hype and feel confident in drafting him in the first round of your redraft leagues.
Why am I so bullish on Hall? First of all, the Jets will have a healthy Aaron Rodgers leading the charge for the Jets offense. This will lead to longer drives and more scoring opportunities, leading to more points for the third-year running back. If he could have as much success as he did last year with such an anemic offense, the sky is the limit for Hall when the offense actually clicks.
Secondly, there are no real threats in the Jets running back room to vulture scoring opportunities from Hall. Sure, the Jets spent a fourth-round pick on former Wisconsin Badger Braelon Allen, and they still have Hard Knocks fan-favorite Israel Abanikanda, but neither project will truly impact Hall’s production in 2024. The biggest threat to Hall might be a more pass-heavy offensive scheme, but the additional scoring opportunities will more than make up for that!
In conclusion, draft Breece Hall whenever possible!
There are many strategies for drafting a functional fantasy football team, and with the zero-RB strategy taking over in recent history, you might consider passing on Breece Hall in the first round of your draft. To that, I say: did you read my article? The stable of quality WR1s has never been deeper, making it all the more possible to wait on that position and shore up your running backs early in your drafts.
Other than McCaffrey, are there any others in the position that you have more confidence in performing than Hall? I thought not! He’s involved in the running game, he’s involved in the passing game. He’s the focal point on an offense that projects to explode this year with a competent quarterback, and he’s going into the year totally healthy. Go and draft Breece Hall and thank me later!
Be sure you’re following Matt Record on Twitter. You can also find more great fantasy football content here!
A Look Inside the New York Jets
Editor’s Note: While Matt focused on Breece Hall in fantasy football, we don’t want to leave you hanging on the rest of the team. Here is a quick look at the other fantasy-relevant Jets from Ryan Weisse.
Aaron Rodgers
Assuming he plays more than four snaps, Rodgers represents a huge upgrade at QB for the Jets. In 2022, the last time he played a full season, he finished with 3695 yards and 26 TDs, good enough for QB13 in fantasy. This is likely a case where the rest of the Jets benefit more from Rodgers than fantasy managers.
Garrett Wilson
The largest beneficiary of Rodgers’ return will be Wilson. Wilson’s career has been marred by poor QB play, but he has still put up respectable numbers. With Rodgers at the helm and better complementary receivers across from him, it should be a career year for Garrett Wilson and a possible top-10 finish if he is Rodgers’ favorite target.
Mike Williams
Williams signed a deal with the Jets this offseason, leaving the Chargers. He is a big-play threat whose style of play often leads to injury. When he is on the field, defenses will have to account for his downfield ability, and that should open things up for Garrett Wilson. Williams missed most of the 2023 season but was the WR32 in 2022. That feels like appropriate value as the second option in an Aaron Rodgers-led offense.
Tyler Conklin
Conklin is more of a streaming option for fantasy managers but was targeted 87 times last season, finishing as the TE15 in fantasy. Tight ends are hit-or-miss in Rodgers’ career, and there are far better options in Hall, Wilson, and Williams. Conklin will be fourth in the pecking order but streamable in the right matchup.
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