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Intro The New York Jets are continuing their rebuild this year as they try to keep up in a competitive AFC East. In the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, they selected running back Breece Hall from Iowa State. Hall played three seasons for the Cyclones and totaled 3,941 rushing yards and 50 touchdowns on the ground.
This draft choice was a slight surprise as the Jets had used a fourth-round pick the year prior on North Carolina running back Michael Carter. While he didn’t take the league by storm or anything, he showed improvement through his rookie season. It looked like it would be enough to allow him to keep the starting job, but the presence of Hall puts that into question. How should you handle the rookie Hall as you get into your fantasy football drafts?
PPR ADP — RB22, Overall 50
Hall looks like he will be the starting running back for this Jets team. His quarterback Zach Wilson will likely be sidelined to start the season as he suffered an injury in the preseason. Veteran Joe Flacco would fill in if that is the case, which could lead to Hall seeing work early. When it comes to season-long projections, I’m not sold that Hall is going to be a three-down back the entire season.
You are drafting him to be your second starting running back, which is slightly high for a rookie running back on a New York football team. He is going ahead of guys like J.K. Dobbins and Antonio Gibson, who I would rather have than Hall. In my opinion, he should be drafted in the top 25 of running backs, but 22 is a little too high.
Standard ADP — RB20, Overall 37
In standard leagues, Hall is going higher than in PPR. This should tell you that projections don’t think his involvement in a passing game would elevate his outlook. Hall was one of the best collegiate running backs between the trenches that we have seen. I mean, the dude scored 50 touchdowns in three seasons on the ground. He should be in line for a solid rookie year, but again I’m not sold on the New York offense being fantasy relevant, nor am I that Hall will see all three downs the entire season.
Going ahead of guys like Josh Jacobs, Eli Mitchell, J.K. Dobbins and Chase Edmonds seems way too high for me. I don’t recommend taking Hall as the RB20 in fantasy drafts.