Breece Hall made it clear what he wants to see from the New York Jets’ offense
Through a series of posts on Twitter, Breece Hall is alluding to his wishes for the New York Jets offense.
First, on the Thursday before the NFL’s conference championship weekend, Hall retweeted a post from former Jets offensive lineman Damien Woody in which Woody stated, “How some teams neglect the OL is criminal.”
How some teams neglect the OL is criminal 🤦🏾♂️
— Damien Woody (@damienwoody) January 25, 2024
Then, during Sunday’s Lions-49ers game, Hall made a post of his own that seemed to subtly poke at the Jets, saying Detroit’s usage of Jahmyr Gibbs is “a RB’s dream.”
The way they using Jahmyr right now is a RB’s dream
— Breece Hall (@BreeceH) January 29, 2024
Hall’s tweets can be taken in a similar vein to Garrett Wilson’s end-of-season comments, where he said that offense for other teams “doesn’t look that hard.”
In terms of the offensive line, the Iowa State product was stuck behind one of the worst run-blocking units in the league. Between injuries to key players like Alijah Vera-Tucker and below-average production from other starters, Hall’s rushing lanes were few and far between.
Woody’s post directly points to the Jets’ actions in the 2023 offseason. By not investing more resources into the offensive line in the offseason, the Jets were crippled once starters went down and had the entire offense suffer as a result.
The second post from Hall is arguably more significant, at least in terms of his role as a player.
Gibbs, as a first-year player, had fewer receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns than Hall. However, the differences lie in how the running backs were used in the receiving game. In the regular season, Gibbs played 38 snaps in the slot and 45 snaps outside, meaning he played 9.3% of his pass-game snaps in the slot and 11.0% on the outside.
Hall had only 10 snaps in the slot in 2023, giving him 2.4% of snaps in the slot. He did get 43 snaps at outside receiver, resulting in the running back playing 10.5% of his receiving snaps there. Still, Gibbs was used by the Lions in a more versatile fashion.
What Hall is seemingly alluding to is that he wants his full skillset to be used consistently throughout the season and as a focal point of the Jets’ offense.
Like Gibbs, Hall would like to be used outside on screens and to be targeted as a receiver in the downfield passing attack. The Jets did show signs of this utilization, but it was not until the Week 6 matchup against the Eagles that Hall had a snap in the slot or multiple snaps out wide as a receiver.
Heading into 2024, the star running back has shown enough talent to be utilized as a focal piece of the team’s offense. With Aaron Rodgers in the fold, the Jets can be dangerous with the right additions to their unit.
If the organization is smart, it should heed the advice of its running back. Investing in the offensive line will help sustain the offense when healthy and injured.
More importantly, unleashing Hall in all aspects of the offense could be one of the best moves the Jets could make, giving them a weapon that can tilt the field in their favor and seal games on his own.
The Jets did invest in the offensive line last off season, and it wasn’t when the starters went down there was a problem, it’s when the starters AND the backups started going down the problems began. 5 Centers snapped the ball, 7 different players at RG, and 5 different RT. No team has that kind of depth. It wasn’t for lack of investment, they drafted 2 players, and signed 4 guys.