The data is on Breece Hall’s side as he prepares for a post-ACL comeback
When healthy, New York Jets running back Breece Hall is one of the most dangerous weapons in football. He proved it over his first seven games as a rookie.
The question going forward is whether Hall can be the same player he was, and if so, how long it will take him to return to that form. Hall is recovering from a torn left ACL he suffered on October 23.
According to one sports surgeon, the odds are in Hall’s favor.
Deepak Chona is a Harvard-trained sports surgeon who does data-driven analysis for FantasyPros. Chona says, based on machine learning and past running back ACL recovery data, Hall is predicted to have a “strong comeback.”
#NFL Injury FAQ:
1) Breece Hall – Machine learning + RB ACL data predicts strong comeback
2) Kyler Murray – Fading his ’23 season hard
3) Javonte Williams – Major skepticism about Week 1 readiness. Optimism for Wk 8+
Check out the thread below for more on these 3
1/5
— Deepak Chona, MD. SportsMedAnalytics (@SportMDAnalysis) May 9, 2023
Elaborating further, Chona says Hall fits the “outlier mold of RBs who recover faster.” The main reasons for this are Hall’s youth, 96th-percentile athleticism, and high draft-pick status.
Breece Hall has the makings of an RB1.
RBs average 10 months to return. Week 1 will be 11.
Pooled together, RB production dips for 18 months post-injury. But Hall fits the outlier mold – young, 96th percentile athleticism, high draft pick – of RBs who recover faster.
2/5
— Deepak Chona, MD. SportsMedAnalytics (@SportMDAnalysis) May 9, 2023
Hall will be hoping to mimic the spectacular post-ACL comebacks of running backs such as Jamaal Charles and Adrian Peterson. After suffering an ACL tear at 24 years old in 2011, Charles responded with three consecutive Pro Bowl seasons, recording at least 1,300 yards from scrimmage in each of them. Peterson also tore his ACL in 2011, aged 26, and he responded by with an MVP-winning season.
Still just 21 years old (he’ll be 22 on May 31), Hall is significantly younger than Charles and Peterson were at the time of their injuries. There still could be many years of elite football in Hall’s future.
