By Dom C.
Not a year goes by where it seems the NY Jets don’t at least throw a dart in one form or the other at the running back position. Gone are the days of Curtis Martin and Thomas Jones – the days when the Jets brought in veteran, established & formidable RB talent that you had to game plan around.
Running backs seem to be the forgotten men on the 53-man rosters these days. Sure, there are some
studs such as Derrick Henry, Christian McCaffery and Dalvin Cook who are still true bell-cow running
backs that soak up most of the reps for their respective teams, but the majority of the teams in this day and age hold a similar mentality – draft, rinse, repeat. The average career of an NFL running back is 2.57 years.
Running back committees are a thing and they are here to stay. High-end draft capital for a position with such a low sticking point in the NFL just does not make economic sense.
In recent years, the plan that the Jets have established parallels this theory – poke and hope in the late
rounds and see what you come up with. These late-round picks, the likes of Joe McKnight (RIP), Trenton Cannon, Elijah McGuire, Terrance Ganaway, and most recently LaMical Perine, always end up on our roster and struggle to establish identity in the offense.
Yes, maybe a play here or there or a game here or there, but nothing of true substance.
The 2021 draft may have broken the curse for the Jets, as it seems they may have hit on one of their
mid/late rounders in Michael Carter. Carter came in as part of an RBBC but really stood out and played
well enough to set the minds of all Jets fans at ease. His ability to gain yards after contact as well as his
aptitude in the passing game as well as in pass pro is something that the Jets have yearned for the past few years.
The kid looks like a keeper and can be a viable 1A in any running back committee from this point on. The future is bright for Carter, but the rest of the RB room – not so much.
Grizzled veteran Tevin Coleman was brought in on a 1-year deal to help an RB room in need of leadership and offensive understanding. The familiarity with Kyle Shanahan’s offense from his days in Atlanta & SF was key and Coleman lived up to his end of the 1 year/$2m contract handed out to him.
He ran for roughly 350 yards on a very limited 84 carries. Obviously, an upgrade to better compliment Carter would be the ideal play, but even with that, I don’t think that bringing Coleman back on a similar small 1-year deal is the worst thing in the world. If nothing more, he brings a veteran presence and injury insurance.
Ty Johnson was also a part of our committee – the crappy part, to put it nicely. I was really hoping that his bruising style of play would balance out our RBs well, but it didn’t at all.
What stood out for Johnson unfortunately was his utter inability to offer anything of value in the passing game. Due a shade over $1M in ’22 with no dead money, I could see JD moving on from Ty Johnson very easily.
The same could be said for LaMical Perine, a hold-over from the Adam Gase regime. Although again, you would think his physical running would be of use to the Jets, this coaching staff has clearly not seen it.
Perine spent most of the season as a game-day inactive. Cutting him seems obvious, but if he is designated a post-June 1 cut, the Jets can save almost $900K while only dealing with $180K in dead money. Look for that to happen.
Austin Walter came in at the end of the year and offered minimal value and production. Nothing much to write home about here with Walter.
Just like many other position groups, the running backs need an influx of talent and warm bodies. It
could be a position that is attacked both during free agency and in the draft.
With the trend of NFL teams devaluing the position as a whole, a first-round RB just is not going to be an option for the Jets. Even if they were to trade all the way down to the end of the first, I don’t realistically see a situation where first-round capital would be spent on a running back.
That being said, I do see a scenario in which they use a second round (if they trade down) or third-round pick on one.
So, the guys we talk about in this article may not have that first-round flair or pedigree, but it doesn’t mean that they won’t be good pros – especially in the age of the RBCC.
As always, it will be impossible to touch on all the draft prospects. So, the curveball with this article is that we will cover only one high-end prospect while touching on two mid-round targets and one diamond in the rough late-round player that could come in and make some waves.
There are names here that you are familiar with and some names you may not be familiar with. Hell, there are going to be some names not touched on at all that you will see drafted relatively early.
The article is meant solely to be an informative tool that will hopefully entice you to research some of
the players yourself and form your own opinions. That’s what we do here.
On to the RB’s I’d love to see a part of Gang Green in 2022.
Breece Hall
Look, it is not out of the realm of possibility that Breece Hall is at a top of a lot of draft boards and is the
first RB to hear his name called in April at the draft. I also wouldn’t be surprised if that doesn’t happen
until the middle to end of day 2.
Hall fits the part of the oft-forgotten bell-cow running back. He’s got the chops to be a true 3-down player and he has put those skills on display the past 2 seasons at Iowa State.
He touched the ball over 600 times for more than 3,500 yards from scrimmage and 44 touchdowns in 2020 and 2021 combined – an insane amount of production behind a very lackluster offensive line at Iowa State.
Breece Hall offers tremendous contact balance for a guy standing 6’1’’ tall. Although he is not a burner, he offers enough long speed to hit the hole and break big runs.
Breece is also a very patient runner and understands how to read defensive schemes, making him especially adept in a zone-blocking schemed offense.
He offers some production in the passing game with soft, natural pass catching abilities although his route tree was limited to basically check downs and screens and shows good effort in pass pro, although his blocking techniques can tighten up a bit.
At 220 pounds, he can run through arm tickles without breaking stride and plays with more nimble footwork than you would expect for a player of his size.
The knock on Breece Hall really stands two-fold: A) how much tread is left on the tires? He was the focal point of the Iowa State offense for 3 seasons, accumulating close to 900 touches in his college career and B) the fact that he is 6’1’’, he can sometimes run with a high pad-level, something that will not result as favorably in the NFL as it did for him in college. His running style is very reminiscent of a pre-New York Jets Le’Veon Bell with all the patience and technical running style.
Breece Hall is destined to see his name get called at some point on Day 2, probably at the end of round 2 or beginning of round 3. It would be a wonderful thing to see him alongside of Michael Carter for years to come.
Imaging chalking up another position that we don’t have to worry about for the next 6-8 years? I think I can speak for the majority of Jets fans when I say, “Sign me up.”
Dameon Pierce
I know what everyone is going to say right off the bat – please, not another running back from the
University of Florida. Please, do not commingle Pierce with Lamical Perine – although they played at the same college, they are not the same athletes.
Pierce, when all is said and done may be my favorite RB in the entire draft class. Pierce is built like a legitimate brick shithouse – a 5’10’’ 215-pound bruiser. A physical and compact runner, it is rare to see Pierce lose ground or get stopped in his tracks – constant forward movement grinding out every bit of yardage possible.
Through four years at U of F, Pierce compiled over 1800 yards and 23 touchdowns on the ground with only 329 rushing attempts. He added another 400 yards on 40 receptions. Pierce’s career yards per carry was 5.6 and he amassed 59 broken tackles in his college tenure.
There is not a lot of tread worn off the tires on Pierce – which leads to possibly the biggest conundrum about him – for a player who was so productive, why did he touch the ball so infrequently?
Yes, he a victim of a bad offense and saw a coaching change leading in to his senior year. We discussed Breece Hall earlier and the offense and O-Line he played behind was head and shoulders worse.
He lost a lot of carries early in his collegiate career to Perine and Kadarious Toney – but last year, when it was his soap box to stand on here never saw more than 23 snaps in a single game.
My best analysis is this: the new coaching staff at Florida for his senior year saw something and
realized that his best work came in short spurts. Pierce correlates to a sprinter, not a marathon
runner. Pierce did his most damage when utilized as a focal point of the offense coupled with frequent rest & recovery time.
Alabama game in ’21 is a perfect example of how hard it was to defend against Pierce when he runs on a full tank. Pierce is not the home-run hitter, and his long speed is not anything to write home about, but he can see a hole and hit it hard.
I liken him to the great Jerome Bettis, who had a lot of similar traits coming out of Notre Dame back in the day and could see him carve out a perfect complementary role as the thunder to Michael Carter’s lightning in the Jets backfield.
I’d be more than happy to hear his name called with one of our 4th round picks, or if we traded back up into the mid/late 3 rd round.
Tyler Allgeier
Who doesn’t like the underdog? If you are anything like me and are a sucker for a good, heartwarming
story you are definitely going to like Tyler Allgeier.
Tyler came out of high school in a very obscure fashion – he only received one offer during his recruitment – a division II school who wanted him to come in and play linebacker.
Allgeier had bigger aspirations and decided to walk-on at BYU. After starting his collegiate career on the defensive side of the ball, he transitioned to RB and ended 2021 as the bell cow for the BYU offense.
Standing 5’11 and weighing 220 pounds with a very thick and sturdy lower body, Allgeier fits the mold of an NFL running back. He is yet another very tough runner who consistently falls forward and rarely gets stuck without gaining positive yardage.
He is your prototypical one-cut running back who plays with toughness and great vision – ideal for a heavy zone-blocking scheme like the Jets run. Allgeier was second in the nation with over 1,100 of his yards coming after contact. He is no-nonsense when he runs and craves contact.
He does have home run potential, although it may take him a while to get up to top speed. Not the shifty type and not shot out of a rocket, Tyler is not going to be a stop-and-go kind of runner. He’s going to find the hole, hit the hole, and lower a shoulder to run through anything in his way.
Allgeier amassed over 2800 yards and 33 touchdowns in his BYU career while also contributing for 3 years on special teams – a trait that is often looked at very highly and one that will help him see the field right from the get-go.
A very adept pass blocker, Allgeier uses his stout lower half to set well and he does not give up a lot of ground when picking up the blitzers. Some teams are going to shy away from him due to his heavy usage the last two years at BYU and his lack of usage in the pass game.
On top of that, his running style and lack of that explosive second gear are not going to be conducive to some offensive schemes.
Allgeier also needs to work on his ball security at the next level. He put the ball on the ground way too much in college.
Bringing in Allgeier, who Zack Wilson has a lot of familiarity with, would be a perfect complement to the running backs already in the stable. I think Allgeier plays a lot like James Connor and would be a no-brainer in the fourth round.
The question is, will other zone-heavy offenses think along the same lines and pluck him earlier than the fourth round?
There is not a lot of “wow factor” to his game, but the flip side is that there is not a whole lot to dislike.
Brian Robinson, Jr.
The last prospect that we are going to touch on is Brian Robinson out of Alabama. 6’1 1/2’’ and 225
pounds with very little wear and tear on his body after playing second fiddle to Najee Harris for most of his collegiate career.
He finally got his chance in 2021 and busted out for over 1300 yards with 13 touchdowns while adding another 300 yards on 30 receptions.
Robinson is bigger and stronger than most of the guys he plays against. That won’t change in the NFL.
Power is his calling card, and he knows that. Robinson plays very physically and runs violently. Arm tackles don’t stand a chance against him and as a true fan of the old-school style of football, I love to see that.
Robinson is not going to make many defenders miss in space. He is very reminiscent of Chris Ivory – a big, bruiser who understands his skill set and his limitations but learned how to be productive, nonetheless.
Robinson runs with a good pad level and balance, which is especially good to see for an RB who some may feel too “tall” for the position standing over 6’1’’.
Although it is a very undervalued and overlooked tool in his arsenal, Robinson has very soft hands for a big back – again, very similar to Ivory during his time with the Jets. Why it may be an overlooked aspect of Robinson’s game is the fact that most of his receptions didn’t come through running pass patterns – they came via the check down.
The pink elephant in the room when looking at Robinson’s game film really comes two-fold – he is very poor in pass pro, which will be a severe hindrance of him seeing the field for anything more than first or second down and the fact that his game is void of burst and/or acceleration. Just an average athlete. He runs hard, but he runs in one gear and one gear only.
Robinson also doesn’t maintain the best ball carrying vision either – he had too many instances of running into the back of his lineman. Robinson’s ideal role at the next level most likely will start as that 2-down bully/short yardage specialist. That role is something that the Jets RB is void of, so to me it makes sense.
Round 5, as the 12th -15th running back off the board is where I feel Robinson fits. He can do some of the things that the diminutive Michael Carter doesn’t excel at, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he shows out a game or two with a 20/95/2 TD line.
Again, we really focused on a type – bigger RBs that schematically fit our zone blocking concept. A guy that can work as a complement to Carter, who I still expect to see the lion’s share of the touches in the backfield. Keep filling holes and keep supporting Zack. JD is going to have to replenish the RB room, and I think any of the four prospects mentioned could fit the bill as that no-nonsense kind of runners that can be tangible pieces in a very active running back committee.
The time is now re-tool and establish some dominance – and that dominance starts with the work we do on the ground. Both a lot of effort and a lot of draft capital have been spent in the trenches on offense, let’s put them to work.
Oh, how dark it is before the dawn…
Let’s go Jets.