Following his rookie season, analysts were comparing Breece Hall to 49ers star running back Christian McCaffrey.
But heading into his fourth year with the Jets, Hall has still yet to meet those expectations.
After general manager Joe Douglas and coach Robert Saleh were both fired during a 5-12 campaign last year, Hall knows he’s entering a pivotal 2025 season.
“I’m not obligated to anything,” Hall said. “I’m around a new GM, new coaches, a lot of new coaches. For me, I’ve got to prove I am the guy.
“I feel like my skill set [is] that I’m a three-down back that’s second to none. We have a great running back room with a lot of healthy competition, but my mentality is every day I want to prove that I’m the best back on this roster, one of the best backs in the league.”
When Hall was selected in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, he was expected to be one of the cornerstones of a home run draft class that featured first-round picks Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson and Jermaine Johnson. However, Hall has yet to surpass the 1,000-yard rushing mark during his three seasons despite being one of the most talented running backs in the league.
Seven games into his NFL career, Hall tore his ACL and missed the final 10 games of the 2022 season. He returned the following year and played every game and was six yards away from registering his first 1,000-yard rushing season (994 yards and five touchdowns).
However, Hall’s overall rushing yards (876) and yards per carry (4.2) in 2024 were lower than the previous season. He also registered fewer receptions (57) and receiving yards (483).
There have been stretches where Hall looks like one of the best running backs in the league. He’s a five-tool player who can catch the ball out of the backfield equally as well as he runs it.
Hall’s numbers last season were partly a product of the Jets’ pass-happy offense with Aaron Rodgers, who would often change plays at the line of scrimmage. Hall didn’t believe he had a “good” 2024 season after dealing with a knee injury that was more serious than many realized.
“When you’re not playing good, hurt and everything, it sucks,” Hall said. “But it is what it is.
“This is a job at the end of the day. So if you’re not doing your job, then you are going to be replaced.”
Hall is entering the final season of his rookie contract, which is scheduled to pay him a base salary of $3.4 million. Days before the draft, the Jets were rumored to be shopping Hall.
Jets coach Aaron Glenn then called Hall shortly after to let him know he would be part of the team’s future for 2025.
“He told me, ‘Breece, do you think I want to trade you?’ and I said ‘I don’t know,’” Hall said. “He was like, ‘Breece, I don’t want to trade you. I want you to be here and you are going to be here, you are our running back.’
“So, that felt really good and to sit down with him and have a lot of long conversations for him to feel me out, for me to get to know him and everything.”
Hall is expected to be the lead back for the Jets. However, they will employ a running back by committee system under offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand, and Hall will have to compete for carries with Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis, both of whom were drafted last year.
The Jets are expected to lean heavily on their rushing attack this season, with Justin Fields replacing Rodgers, who was officially released in March. If the Jets are out of playoff contention by the trade deadline [Nov. 4], potentially, Hall could be moved.
For now, Glenn is excited about the potential of his top three running backs, including Hall.
“The first thing, they’re big, physical men, and even though this is not a physical camp, you just see the way they run,” Glenn said.
“Breece and Braelon, man, they can really, really run. I’m not just talking about just as a runner, but as far as speed down the field, you see that with them, and I’m excited about all three of those guys, I really am. I don’t know if there are three backs in this league that have the potential like these three, and maybe there is, but I know I’m just focusing on what we have, and I’m excited about the guys that we have here.”
