While quarterback Aaron Rodgers was the center of attention in the New York Jets‘ convincing victory over the New England Patriots Thursday, there is a potential situation brewing with the Jets’ running backs that could turn out to be even more important for fantasy managers.
Is Braelon Allen Hurting Breece Hall in Fantasy?
For the third straight week, 20-year-old Jets running back Braelon Allen saw his touches increase. In fact, Allen had more touches in Week 3 (14) than the first two weeks combined (11).
Considering how well he has performed, it’s understandable to provide Allen with an increase in his workload. Allen led the Jets in rushing against the Patriots Thursday, finishing with 55 yards on 11 carries (5.0 yards per carry). He also caught three passes on three targets for 13 yards.
woah there, @BraelonAllen! @KyleBrandt… angry run???#NEvsNYJ on @NFLonPrime pic.twitter.com/tuycKURDVN
— New York Jets (@nyjets) September 20, 2024
Allen’s 68 scrimmage yards were easily his most this season, and after three games, despite only 25 total touches, he is averaging almost 6 yards per touch (5.6).
To put that in perspective, last season — albeit on a much larger number of touches — Breece Hall’s yards per touch average was 4.9.
For his part, Hall was still the more dominant player on the field between these two running backs Thursday. Hall had 55 rushing yards on 16 carries (3.4 yards per carry) and caught four passes for 29 yards. Hall’s 83 scrimmage yards were significantly better than Allen’s total on Thursday.
In addition, from a fantasy standpoint, Hall was the much more productive player between the two, finishing with 14.3 fantasy points. For all of his increased production, Allen still finished with just 6.8 fantasy points Thursday, far below his Week 2 performance against the Tennessee Titans (19.6 fantasy points).
Fantasy Outlook for Hall
Going forward, just how much is Allen impacting Hall’s fantasy production, and how worried should Hall’s fantasy managers be?
While Hall is clearly still the Jets’ best option at running back and the most productive back between the two in fantasy, those who have Hall in their lineup each week are no doubt seeing Allen’s increased workload taking some of Hall’s fantasy scoring away.
Hall’s 14.3 fantasy points Thursday were his fewest in a game this season and far below his production in fantasy in Week 2 (24.4 fantasy points).
Still, Hall is getting the ball when he’s on the field. Somewhat remarkably, Hall has had exactly 21 touches in all three games this season. However, after coming up with an average of 5.4 yards per touch against the Titans in Week 2, Hall finished with 4.0 yards per touch on Thursday.
While Allen is up-and-coming and will be looked at closely by fantasy managers going forward, Hall remains the best fantasy option among the Jets’ running backs. After all, when you’ve caught 111 passes in just 27 career NFL games, you can be sure a future Hall of Fame QB like Rodgers is going to get you the ball, one way or another.
But exactly how much Allen’s ascension really means for Hall’s overall fantasy value for the rest of this season remains to be seen.