Jets Writer Proposes 'Potential Plan' For RB2 Role

The New York Jets have three talented running backs, but there’s only one football.

How will offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand design a run game that allows everyone to eat? Breece Hall is the clear RB1, but second-year studs Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis deserve touches, and more importantly, they can both help the Jets win games by diversifying New York’s run attack.

Will Engstrand divvy up the RB2 touches equally between Allen and Davis? How will it all come together? Jets X-Factor’s Michael Nania proposed an interesting solution on Friday.

“One potential plan for the Jets could work as follows: On every other drive, they give Hall a rest, rotating between Allen and Davis on the non-Hall drives,” Nania wrote.

“Their downhill running styles are ideal for keeping the Jets on schedule with positive gains while Hall sits, allowing him to keep his legs fresh and come back in with the energy to unleash home runs. In addition, the changeup between Allen, Hall, and Davis’s differing styles will disrupt the rhythm of opposing tacklers. It wouldn’t have to be a strict rotation, either. While using this rotation as their baseline, the Jets could make adjustments for certain situations. … Hall will likely be the favorite for passing situations. Allen is the best option for short-yardage situations; he was nearly automatic on those plays last year.”

Nania’s idea is intriguing, and it’s important that he mentioned how the rotation doesn’t need to be strict. The Jets wouldn’t want to become too predictable by rotating their running backs on an easily discernible cycle that defenses would pick up on.

The Jets have a good problem with Hall, Allen, and Davis in the fold. So long as Engstrand and Aaron Glenn can figure out how to maximize the abilities of all three rushers, there’s no reason New York can’t have the most productive running back room in the league. The talent is there.