Breece Hall looks at his own résumé and is not happy with what he sees.
Two of his Jets teammates in his draft class — Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson — signed large contract extensions this offseason. Yet Hall is set to be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
But he does not yet believe he’s done enough to earn a long-term deal of his own.
“I’m not really expecting it before the season,” Hall said after practice Saturday. “We got a new head coach, a new GM, obviously I wasn’t drafted by them, I’m not their guy. I gotta prove it every day.”
Hall has shown flashes of stardom across his three years in the league, but has not firmly established himself in that elite tier of dual-threat running backs that Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey and Jahmyr Gibbs occupy.
Last year, the addition of Braelon Allen and the dramatic increase in pass attempts with a healthy Aaron Rodgers resulted in a smaller workload than Hall had become accustomed to.
His rushing yardage (876), receiving yardage (483) and efficiency (4.2 yards per carry) were all down from the prior season.
Allen, who was drafted in the fourth round last year, showed promise as a rookie, recording 334 rushing yards and 148 receiving yards in a complementary role.
Coach Aaron Glenn has suggested he intends to use three running backs — Hall, Allen and Isaiah Davis — in a system similar to what the Lions utilized when Glenn was there.
Hall still believes he’s a three-down running back, though. And he hears the clock ticking.
“I got a chip on my shoulder,” Hall said. “I feel like right now, ‘OK this is my last chance.’ For me it’s always been, ‘Oh he has potential, he’s got potential,’ but I want to be the product. Now, it’s all about putting my head down and working. I don’t really want to discuss all the other stuff, I just try to focus on ball right now.”
Justin Fields is a strong runner at quarterback, providing the potential of a dangerous running duo along with Hall.
And Hall has enjoyed offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand’s plans for him and Fields.
“I think from a whole offensive standpoint, we’re all really bought into this run scheme,” Hall said. “I think it fits our backs more. I think it makes a lot more sense to the guys up front and the reasoning why we’re doing everything and what we’re doing it for, how we’re gonna set other plays up with our run game. To see how much we’ve all bought into it and trust in our coaches, it’s been good.”
Credit: Source link
