Should New York Jets Shut Down Injured Running Back Breece Hall?

The New York Jets may have to make a decision on whether it's worth it to allow Breece Hall to keep playing with his knee injury.

Nov 17, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets running back Breece Hall (20) runs with the ball against the Indianapolis Colts. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The New York Jets still have four games left on the schedule, but their season is over. At 3-10, they've already been eliminated from playoff contention and have clinched a ninth straight losing season.

With the Jets tied for the NFL's second-worst record, they have nothing to play for except draft positioning. At this point, they're better off losing their final four games to give themselves the best possible slot in next year's draft.

New York is playing out the string and already looking ahead to 2025, which begs the question: should the Jets shut down star running back Breece Hall?

Hall, who missed last week's game against the Miami Dolphins (his first DNP of the season), is dealing with a knee injury. He didn't participate in Wednesday's practice this week and could be in danger of missing this week's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

New York reportedly doesn't want to end Hall's season just yet, but it absolutely should.

Running backs take an incredible beating, and Hall is no exception. In 12 games this year, he's averaged a career-high 13.7 carries per game.

All that punishment often leads to injuries, like the gruesome one Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb sustained last year. There's no sense in letting Hall play in meaningless games and risk suffering a similar injury.

Hall is only 23 and still under contract through next year. The Jets may want to keep him beyond that, so they shouldn't do anything to jeopardize his future.

New York also has a couple of rookie running backs that are showing some promise as change-of-pace backs in Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis. Allowing them to get more opportunities would allow the football personnel people that remain to get a full evaluation of both players entering 2025.

Their advantage over Hall is that the pair each has three more years of team control before they can become free agents.

Hall is one of the league's better running backs when healthy, and New York is counting on him to be a big part of its offense next year. It can't afford to have him blow out his knee or suffer some other career-altering injury that could hamper his performance going forward.

At this point, the Jets need to prioritize the future over the present, even if that means keeping Hall off the field for the rest of the season.