The Jets offense, by any standard, was an absolute letdown in 2023 – but not necessarily by any faults of their own. After Aaron Rodgers went down just four plays into the season, Zach Wilson was thrust into the spotlight and exposed New York’s critical unpreparedness to deal with an injury to the future HOF quarterback; and with that sinking ship went star WR Garrett Wilson’s fantasy stock. Wilson was able to turn in a respectable year despite New York taking the rockiest road possible at signal caller this year, but it was Breece Hall that stole the show for the Jets offense and fantasy managers alike as he kept himself afloat as a top fantasy running back in the league in the murky depths of New York’s offense.
Breece was able to establish himself as a premier dual-threat running back despite less than serviceable QB play all year from backups Zach Wilson, Trevor Siemian, and Tim Boyle: his 16.3 PPR fantasy points per game were good for eighth in the NFL among RBs, a feat made all the more impressive when we consider that he was operating on the 2nd-worst offense in total offense per game and 4th-worst in total points scored.
So how was Hall able to overcome the odds? It came down to astonishing levels of efficiency on the ground and through the air, plus a little help from a massive workload in the passing game thanks to backup QBs who weren’t exactly eager to push the ball downfield. Hall’s 3.43 yards after contact per attempt ranked 4th among RBs with 100 or more carries, and his 1.76 yards per route run ranked second among RBs with 50 or more targets in 2023. Couple that with a league-leading 90 targets and 76 receptions as a running back, and Hall was able to make the most of the negative game scripts he was forced to play in in 2023 like a ferrari tearing up a dirt road.