The Jets will bring in Dalvin Cook for a visit on Sunday. I take that as evidence Robert Saleh was either being dishonest or just kidding around when he said Breece Hall reached 23 mph while running on the side at a practice last week.
Hall, who tore his ACL list year, remains on the PUP list. He says he expects to be ready for Week 1, but the Jets wouldn’t be bringing in Cook if they were confident Hall was back to 100 percent.
That makes Saleh’s comments at a press conference curious. “Someone gave me a little whisper that he hit 23 [mph] on his GPS, so he looks really good,” he said.
The suggest that Hall, while recovering from a knee injury, might have hit 23 mph was ridiculous all along. In the last six years of NFL play, only 17 players have reached 22 mph in a game. Only twice has someone gone faster than 22.3 (Raheem Mostert did it twice, in the 2020 season).
Hall’s fastest in-game speed thus far is 21.87, on a long touchdown at Denver last year.
| PLAYERS REACHING 22 MPH (last 6 yrs) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | mph |
| 2020 | Raheem Mostert, S.F. | 23.09 |
| 2020 | Raheem Mostert, S.F. | 22.73 |
| 2019 | Matt Breida, S.F. | 22.30 |
| 2019 | Cordarrelle Patterson, Chi. | 22.23 |
| 2021 | Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | 22.13 |
| 2022 | Parris Campbell, Ind. | 22.11 |
| 2020 | Kenyan Drake, Ariz. | 22.11 |
| 2022 | Kenneth Walker, Sea. | 22.09 |
| 2021 | M. Valdes-Scantling, G.B. | 22.09 |
| 2018 | Matt Breida, S.F. | 22.09 |
| 2021 | Patrick Surtain, Den. | 22.07 |
| 2018 | Dalvin Cook, Min. | 22.07 |
| 2021 | Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | 22.05 |
| 2020 | Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | 22.05 |
| 2018 | Devin McCourty, N.E. | 22.05 |
| 2017 | Leonard Fournette, Jac. | 22.05 |
| 2019 | Brandon Wilson, Cin. | 22.03 |
We’ll probably all know a lot more about this situation in a day or two, but I’m thinking the Jets, with Aaron Rodgers having taken a pay cut last week, will use some of that money to sign Cook. That will set them up to use a one-two punch of backs.
Saleh’s comment could have been made with the intention of improving the team’s negotiating position with Cook – making it look like they don’t need him. The Jets are looking to make a playoff run, and they’ve got a tough schedule – they need to come out of the gates firing on all cylinders. Cook could help in that regard.
I would be leery of drafting Hall right now. To me, he’s looking similar to Javonte Williams – talented young backs who should be a lot more productive in future seasons than they will be in 2023.
If I’m walking into a draft today, I wouldn’t be making either Hall or Cook one of the first 20 running backs selected.
—Ian Allan