Breece Hall was the guy to target in a draft year that lacked many high-end RBs in 2022. Drafted in the second round by the New York Jets as a core part of their rebuild, Hall had an average first week with only 23 yards rushing and six receptions. The rest of the season was great for Hall until it wasn’t when he suffered a season-ending injury in Week 7. How do RB Breece Hall’s injuries affect his fantasy football potential in 2023?
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What Happened to Breece Hall?
The excitement of fantasy football managers who owned New York Jets RB Breece Hall in 2022 was palpable as the season began. The Iowa State RB came into the NFL after rushing for 1460 yards and 20 total TDs his final year. He had the third most rushing yards of any RB in his draft class and tied for the most total TDs.
In his first week on an NFL field, he finished as RB39 but quickly hit his stride. In the other six weeks he played in before injury, he was never lower than RB21 and had three weeks as RB12 or better. Even though he was injured during the Week 7 game, he still finished with 72 yards and a TD.
During the game against Denver, Hall tore his ACL and meniscus and was placed on IR in late October 2022. ACL injuries can be tricky; the average time to return to playing is 9 – 12 months, depending on severity and rehab.
Often, we see RBs post-ACL injury take a little time – sometimes as long as a season – to get back to pre-injury form. Hall managers hope this is not the case.
The Jets organization has been optimistic about Hall all offseason; on August 15, he was activated off the PUP list. He has joined his team on the practice field, presumably ramping up slowly.
Breece Hall working on his cuts & receiving off to the side#Jets | 🎥 @ZackBlatt pic.twitter.com/MOprBqbsjP
— Harrison Glaser (@NYJetsTFMedia) August 24, 2023
What Are New York’s Options If Hall Misses Time?
Head coach Robert Saleh continues to maintain that Hall will be ready for Week 1, but nothing is set in stone. So, where do the Jets turn if Hall needs more time? Until a couple of weeks ago, there were few options behind Hall, but New York made a play, and Dalvin Cook signed a one-year deal with the Jets worth up to $8.6 million.
Beyond Cook, Michael Carter and Rookie Israel Abanikanda fill out the RB room. Carter seems ready to contribute, garnering praise from Saleh, “he has been great this entire offseason, very deliberate in the way he works through, and I am excited about him.”
Abanikanda also looks promising, finishing the preseason with 137 rushing yards and a TD. He also caught all five of his targets for 37 yards.
What Does This Mean for Hall’s Fantasy Ranking?
In PFN Consensus Rankings, Breece Hall is the RB19, sandwiched between Miles Sanders and Alexander Mattison. The question of whether Hall will need more time to bounce back from the ACL injury or if he will have an outlier year like 2012 Adrian Peterson did is still up in the air. If you are drafting Hall, you must have at least two solid starting RBs you can depend on for the first third of the season if Hall isn’t up to snuff immediately.
Lowering Hall slightly in fantasy rankings is entirely understandable – coming back from an aggressive injury and, therefore, not seeing him turn on the “Jets” at camp to view what he is working with is nerve-wracking as a fantasy manager.
Hall’s overall athleticism should be enough to get him through as the season progresses, and I still believe in an RB1 season from him – you might have to wait a little while before you start to see it come together.