Breece Hall had an uncharacteristically awful 2024 season, and as a result the heat is on the New York Jets running back in 2025.
Hall was named as one of nine NFL players under the most pressure to perform in 2025 by ESPN NFL writer Bill Barnwell.
After posting 1,585 all-purpose yards, and nearly 1,000 on the ground (994), and nine touchdowns in 2023, Hall regressed last season. He finished with 876 rushing yards, 1,359 and eight touchdowns in 2024 for an offense that averaged just 19.9 points per game — the 24th-best mark in football.
Couple that with the fact Hall is in the final year of his rookie contract, and Barnwell states the case for the heat being on.
Why Is There Pressure On Breece Hall In 2025?
Because he was selected in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, at No. 36 overall, Hall did not receive a fifth-year option. That means he is eligible to become a free agent after this season.
Hall burst on the scene in his rookie season with explosive plays before tearing his ACL in Week 7 that year in Denver. He assuaged fears in the Jets’ season opener in 2023 by posting 127 yards on 10 carries, including an 83-yard run in the second quarter against the Buffalo Bills.
But Barnwell noted Hall’s struggles since.
“Hall returned to the field for the season opener in 2023 and took his first two carries for 26 and 83 yards, but he hasn’t been able to sustain that sort of explosiveness,” Barnwell wrote. “He has averaged 4.1 yards per carry and 54.5 rushing yards per game since that game.
“His 36.5 percent success rate since then ranks 39th out of 43 backs with at least 200 carries over the past two seasons, and he has fumbled once every 70 carries, the sixth-highest rate among those backs.”
Hall’s lack of explosiveness not only threatens his tenure with the Jets but in the NFL as a whole. Plus, with the Jets changing administrations — as they seem to every four-or-so years — that means Hall will not be propped up by the men who drafted him.
“Hall has just eight carries of 20 yards or more in 32 games since the first game of the 2023 season, which is one more than Gus Edwards, who did that with far fewer carries and is currently a free agent,” Barnwell wrote. “Hall is a better player than Edwards and offers more as a receiver, but with former New York general manager Joe Douglas and coach Robert Saleh no longer in the building, the people who drafted him aren’t around and incentivized to give him a new deal.
“If he’s just an average back or worse, the Jets will be better off spending their money elsewhere.”
Can Breece Hall Have A Bounce-Back Season?
The good news for Hall is he is still a productive running back, albeit less efficient. Plus, as Barnwell noted, he stands to gain from having quarterback Justin Fields with him this year — as opposed to receiving handoffs from the immobile Aaron Rodgers in 2024.
“Quarterbacks who are part of the team’s run game change the numbers for the defense and typically create more efficient opportunities for backs behind them,” Barnwell wrote.
Add that to the Jets’ improved offensive line, and Barnwell closed his segment on Hall bullish on the running back’s resurgence.
“The Jets have to feel better about their offensive line than they have in years,” Barnwell wrote. “If it’s ever going to happen for Hall, who looked like a superstar in the making before the ACL tear, let’s hope it happens now.”
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