Garrett Wilson had a no-look dart up the middle.
This was followed by a 59-yard dime across the field that rolled right for a Xavier Gipson touchdown.
There’s only the latest reminder from Tuesday’s OTAs on what a healthy 40-year-old Aaron Rodgers means for the Jets and what he could mean for Wilson’s inevitable rise to stardom.
The biggest “what if” is whether left tackle Tyron Smith, who has missed 23 games over the past three seasons, can stay on the field to keep Rodgers upright. If he can, and a remodeled offensive line is what GM Joe Douglas and coach Robert Saleh are hoping and praying it can be in a hot season, it could pave the way for Breece Hall to become the quarterback’s new best friend. Because it is. Not to mention offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.
There’s no one in Christian McCaffrey’s $19 million-per-year league, but a full season of Breece the Beast could give him a chance to make some money, free from the mental and physical hurdles of a torn ACL that hampered so much of his 2022 season. Help Rodgers and the Jets power and heat New York in the fall and winter.
This will be Hall’s chance to back up his Twitter rankings from February, when he topped Bijan Robinson and McCaffrey.
“He’s the best in the league,” Wilson said after Hall exploded for 191 all-purpose yards in a win over the Commanders on Christmas Eve. “I expect the world to know.”
So did Breece the Beast, who tweeted on January 3rd:
“Not now
“2024: I will be a top RB
“I’m going to make the Pro Bowl.
“I’m going to be an All-Pro.
“And that will continue for years afterward.”
When asked if he thought he could have an All-Pro running back, Saleh said: “Why not? Remember, Breece is as good of a receiver as he is of the ball, so he can get good touches.”
Hall led all RBs with 76 receptions for 591 yards and 4 TDs on 95 targets. He had 649 yards after the catch. Also remember that in Green Bay, Aaron Jones enjoyed 50-plus-catch seasons with 11 TDs over the final two seasons of Rodgers’ Packers career. Hall went 222-for-994 with five TDs rushing.
The Giants have failed to utilize Saquon Barkley too often in the passing game after a 91-catch rookie season. Let’s take a look at how the Eagles utilize him.
“A quarterback’s best friend is the guy who can get a 5-yard checkdown and turn it into a 20-yarder. I think he did that again last year,” Saleh said. “We can use him in a lot of different ways, but at the end of the day, we’re just trying to find a way to get him the ball.”
Last summer, Rodgers compared Hall to former Packers RB Ahman Green, who enjoyed six 1,000-yard rushing seasons and 242 receptions from 2000 to 2003.
Jets RB coach Tony Dews coached Derrick Henry from 2018 to 2022. Hall is not as stupid as Henry. Because no one does. But he’s more than just a 5-foot-11, 220-pound power back.
“He’s a big, fast, mercurial guy,” Dews said. He did that in college too. He is a restless athlete in terms of his run game. He’s fast. Because he always does side cuts, he ran a lot faster at the combine than you’d think from the movies. But if you see him leaping in a straight line, he can break away.
“And he has impressive ball skills. He does a great job of catching the football in all three areas – short, screen game and intermediate – and he has some route savvy, so I’m looking forward to coaching a guy like that. That’s interesting. “It’s something to look forward to.”
Rodgers would welcome any help he can get. Smith has missed 23 games over the past three seasons. On the rest of the remodeled offensive line. Breece the Beast is currently limited to what Saleh calls “bottom half material.”
Passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Todd Downing was asked what he learned about Hall last season.
“Hey,” he started. “You see versatility and explosiveness. He is a strong runner. I think he’s also a competitor. He is one of those guys who likes to have the ball in his hands as often as possible. I like his ability to adapt to what we want to implement in our weekly game plan. He’s a guy who’s willing to try anything, and he’s eager to come back and figure out how to fix it if it doesn’t work out the first time so he can get on the same page as the quarterback or O-line. .”
Breece the Beast will no doubt do his best to support his lofty goals.
“What makes a guy like Brees special is that he understands the process it takes to get to that point,” Saleh said. Or what it means. By his junior year, I think he fully understands what it takes to do something like that.”
Breece Hall: Aaron Rodgers’ new best friend.
