This obviously hurts Breece Hall. I think from a longevity standpoint, if you have him in dynasty, this isn’t the worst thing that could happen to him. In fact, it’s kind of a good thing - you don’t want Breece Hall getting hurt or overworked because he’s ramped up too fast. That’s what would have happened if the Jets didn’t go out and bring in someone that could take a legit portion of the workload off of Hall’s shoulders. Maybe Zonovan Knight, Michael Carter, and Izzy Abanikanda could have teamed up to help do something like that, but they’re not on Dalvin Cook’s level. That’s from a real-world perspective.
The fantasy perspective, however, is a bit more bleak. Cook’s signing in New York reads simply: fewer touches for Breece Hall. This isn’t the ideal outcome in redraft for either guy – we could be looking at a 50:50 split in terms of workload in 2023. But it’s not like Dalvin Cook has nothing left in the tank - he can still run, can still catch… this isn’t an Ezekiel Elliott situation.
Breece is always going to be the guy that’s more explosive out of these two; more long plays, more home run hits, etc. But for this year, though? He’s not going to be handling any type of workhorse volume. As a result, you have to move Breece Hall down to a low-end RB2 for 2023. I had him as a fringe RB2 / low-end RB1 before the Cook signing, but you have to move him down now that Cook is in town.
As for Dalvin Cook, he’s going to be a mid-RB2 to begin the year and I’d be happy to start him in my RB2 spot or flex spot. I’d also be happy to start Breece Hall as a flex, so he’s not pushed completely off the map because of this signing.
The Patriots and Jets moved quickly to sign these veteran RBs (Zeke signed in New England the same day), and that probably has to do with Kendre Miller getting hurt. The Saints were already thin at RB with Eno Benjamin going down, and they had previously hosted Kareem Hunt on a visit as well. So when Miller went down – someone they were planning to rely on – the alarm went off that they had to swoop in and get their guys before the Saints had a chance to steal them away.