I'm not an Aaron Glenn fan. He had a laughably bad first season as Jets' head coach, with his defense somehow going 17 games without recording an interception. Glenn was presumably hired for his work as a defensive coordinator in Detroit and was a three-time Pro Bowl cornerback, making that failing even more glaring.
He's back for another year as head coach (they're paying him $10 million a year over the next four seasons so why pay someone else to run a non-competitive roster), but the team being much better is unlikely. They have a grown-up (Geno Smith) playing quarterback, but that grown-up has averaged 16 interceptions and 53 sacks the last two seasons, one of which came for a team that just won a Super Bowl, so keep expectations low. The team is a dog, which Glenn will be running into the ground and another top draft pick before being mercifully fired.
Anyway, my main reason for not being a Glenn fan is that he either maintains an unnecessary level of secrecy about basic things or makes statements that can't be trusted and cause people to make grievous mistakes with fantasy rosters. Like his latest statement that the Jets will employ a "three-headed monster" at running back.
I say latest but it was actually also one of the first things he said after being hired a year ago. And I'm willing to say it's a meaningless statement now because it was a meaningless then. And that was with Breece Hall in a contract year and supposedly on his way out. Now Hall is armed with a new three-year, $43.5 million contract extension. And we're supposed to believe he's going to be part of a committee backfield? OK.
A year ago, Hall, Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis were healthy for the first four games of the season. Hall in those games accounted for over 70% of the touches and 71% of the yards. Allen was a chance of pace and Davis averaged 2 touches; he barely got on the field. Not very monstrous.
| JETS RBS, FIRST FOUR GAMES (2025) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Run | No | Rec | TD | %Tch | %Yds |
| Hall | 52 | 247 | 13 | 98 | 0 | 70% | 71% |
| Allen | 18 | 76 | 2 | 17 | 1 | 21% | 19% |
| Davis | 5 | 27 | 3 | 24 | 0 | 9% | 10% |
Allen (who by the way says he's bigger, stronger AND faster than he's ever been!) got hurt midway through that Week 4 game a year ago and didn't return last year, which would presumably result in a big role for the third part of that monster, but that didn't actually happen. Instead Davis the rest of the way averaged just over 3 carries and 1 reception per game, only marginally better than when Allen was healthy.
Three times in those games, Davis did get an expanded role, and he did something with his opportunities. Against a terrible Cincinnati defense he turned 12 touches into 109 total yards, and in blowout losses to the Jaguars and Saints he averaged 63 total yards, with 1 TD. There's some potential, maybe. But in nine other games as the No. 2 running back, he didn't reach 35 total yards or score in any of them.
New York does have a new offensive coordinator in Frank Reich. Maybe he handles things slightly differently. But the last time he had a franchise back like Hall (Jonathan Taylor with the Colts) he didn't take him off the field very often.
Best thing about Glenn's proclamation is that some may shy away from Hall, creating a potential value. He's playing on a lousy team, but his chances of scoring more rushing touchdowns look better with Justin Fields gone. And whatever Glenn may say, I'm comfortable that barring injury, Hall is going to be a three-down running back that plays somewhere between two-thirds and three-quarters of the snaps again. I'm not worried about Allen or Davis taking much work away anytime soon.
--Andy Richardson
