Stop me if you've heard this one before... there's chatter out there on the interweb that the Houston Texans could be interested in bringing in New York Jets running back Breece Hall, who is arguably going to be the best available back in free agency this spring. This has been the mock acquisition du jour for aspiring internet GM's for quite some time now, and it's a topic that's been covered right here at Toro Times not once, but twice in the last year.
Now that the start of the offseason is just a little over one month away, it feels like the perfect time to revisit this match made in football heaven, especially since Mason Cameron of Pro Football Focus has already pegged this as the ideal landing spot for Breece Hall as he prepares to enter free agency.
"The thing about dynamic running backs like Breece Hall is that they can fit into numerous schemes, thanks to a diverse skill set. The Texans are a great example of that, as their run game is centered around gap concepts," Cameron wrote. "They called gap runs at the second-highest rate (37%) in the NFL this past season. Additionally, Houston struggled to generate explosive plays on the ground, ranking 30th in percentage of runs to gain 10 or more yards (7.3%). Without fearing the threat of chunk yardage out of the backfield, opposing defenses were able to tee off on CJ Stroud."
"Hall would solve that issue and fit the scheme. Since entering the NFL in 2022, the 24-year-old back has earned an 82.2 PFF rushing grade on gap runs while averaging the fourth-most yards per attempt (4.7) among qualifying backs," Cameron continued. "He’s also undoubtedly a threat to break away on any carry, with his 47 totes of 15 or more yards ranking eighth over that span."
Hall brings the kind of juice that the Houston Texans offense desperately needs, and that's the case even if we're measuring him against a healthy Joe Mixon, which remains a huge question mark as we approach the offseason. Mixon can consistently get you singles, but Breece Hall is the go who, to continue with the baseball analogy, can get you a home run every single time he steps up to the plate.
Additionally, Hall would be the type of factor in the passing game that could ease the heavy burden that rests on the shoulders of CJ Stroud. Since the start of the 2023 season, the only running backs with more receiving yards than Hall (1,424) have been Bijan Robinson (1,738), Christian McCaffrey (1,634) and Jahmyr Gibbs (1,449). In that three year window, Hall is the only one of these four backs who hasn't made a Pro Bowl or finished in the top ten in Offensive Player of the Year voting.
In that same three-year stretch, Hall ranks 11th among all skill position players in total yards from scrimmage, but of course, you probably wouldn't know that because he's been toiling away in the wasteland that is the New York Jets organization. But with a change of scenery, Breece Hall could put his name alongside some of the most well-known backs in the league.