Jets running back Breece Hall is now two seasons into his NFL career, and the former second-round pick out of Iowa State still doesn’t believe his full potential has been put on display as a pro. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Hall has put a rookie-year ACL tear in the past and is looking forward to the 2024 NFL season.
Hall hit the ground running as a rookie in New York. Despite coming off the bench in his first five games before finally starting games 6 and 7, Hall was able to rack up 463 rushing yards, 218 receiving yards, and five touchdowns (four rushing, one receiving). His tremendous rookie campaign was cut short by the ACL and meniscus tears, and though he came back to play all 17 games in 2023, he failed to show that same promise. Last year, in 16 starts, Hall managed 994 rushing yards, 591 receiving yards, and nine total touchdowns: not a bad season by any means, but certainly not the delivery of the promise from his rookie season.
This offseason, though, Hall gets to take a different approach. “I ended the season on a good note,” Hall told the media. “Last season, (I was) still not feeling 100 percent all the time, but now, I had my first offseason to not just be trying to get back but to get better. And I’ve gotten better this offseason. I’m a lot leaner. I feel a lot healthier My knee feels a lot better. I just feel like I’m back to my old self.”
Here are a couple other rumors from around the AFC East:
- The Dolphins have welcomed new defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, while former coordinator Vic Fangio has taken the same job in Philadelphia. In another Sports Illustrated piece, Breer underlined how a “one-voice approach” led to Fangio losing the respect of his defense in Miami. Fangio’s approach in meetings minimized the role of his position coaches, and that frustration allegedly bled through to the players who began to ignore defensive calls and freelance on the field. Weaver stands to resonate with his assistants and players better in 2024. A position coach in Baltimore for the last three years, Weaver saw his input magnified by head coach John Harbaugh, who awarded him the additional title of assistant head coach after his first season with the Ravens. Seeing his own input valued in that manner should encourage him to seek the same out of his own assistants in Miami this year.
- As the Bills attempted to rattle off a string of wins to close the season and make the playoffs last year, defensive tackle DaQuan Jones was activated from injured reserve with two games remaining in the regular season. Jones came back from a torn pectoral muscle to finish the season with his team but was certainly not 100 percent upon his return from injury. After deciding to re-sign to return to Buffalo on a new two-year deal, Jones is reportedly feeling much better. According to Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News, Jones is back to feeling 100 percent and should return to a crucial role on the defensive line in 2024.
I’d say that’s a great season for Hall considering defenses stacked the box on almost every play.
And they had a putrid O-line to begin with.