Considered one of the best fantasy football handcuffs of the season, Braelon Allen’s big moment was supposed to finally arrive in Week 14. With Breece Hall missing his first game of the season due to a knee injury, it looked like Allen was destined to become a late-season league winner.
Instead, Allen was part of a New York Jets backfield that was much muddier than expected. Looking ahead, what is Allen’s fantasy outlook and how much FAAB should fantasy managers spend on him?
Braelon Allen’s Fantasy Outlook
Allen had been the clear second fiddle to Hall, making him one of the more coveted handcuff running backs this season. Patient managers were seemingly rewarded with Allen stepping into the RB1 role in Week 14 vs. the Miami Dolphins.
However, the breakout did not occur as expected. Allen posted a respectable 81 scrimmage yards on 11 carries and four receptions. However, fifth-round rookie Isaiah Davis took much more of a role than expected, posting 67 scrimmage yards on 10 carries and three receptions.
By snap share, the two were almost identical, even sharing the field on some plays. Hall played 35 snaps to 33 for Davis.
There weren’t even any real goal-line opportunities for fantasy managers to try and discern value there. The closest carry was from the nine-yard line, which went to Allen. Still, that hardly serves as a definitive signal that he’ll assume the primary goal-line back if Hall remains out.
How Much FAAB Should You Spend on Allen?
With how even the backfield split was, Allen would not be a particularly enticing FAAB option even if Hall were shut down for the season. The Jets do have favorable matchups remaining against the Jacksonville Jaguars (second-most PPR points per game allowed to RBs) and Buffalo Bills (third-most). However, it would be hard to trust either back for a highly inconsistent and sometimes non-functional offense.
Regardless, it appears likelier that Hall will return for those favorable matchups. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Jets have no plans to shut down Hall for the rest of the season, despite their 3-10 record. Given that Hall was able to play through the same ailment in Week 13, it’s possible that he simply needed one week off to recharge.
If anything, this could also blur Hall’s value, as the Jets aren’t incentivized to give him his usual bell-cow workload if the playoffs are out of reach and he’s slightly physically compromised. Hall is going in lineups regardless of when he’s back, but he’d be a higher-risk option than usual.
Allen’s Background
A two-way four-star recruit out of high school, Allen played safety and running back and was projected by some as a linebacker because of his frame. But he quickly found his way into the starting lineup as a running back for Wisconsin, and that opportunity yielded fruitful results all the way through to 2023.
Over that three-year span, Allen was a dominating force on the Big Ten stage. In 2021, he amassed 1,268 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns on 186 carries, averaging almost seven yards per attempt. In 2022, he tacked on 230 carries, 1,242 rushing yards, and 11 touchdowns to his career totals.
Allen was on a potentially historic pace through his first two years, and although his 2023 campaign was less prolific, he still put up solid numbers, amassing 984 rushing yards and 12 TDs on 181 carries.
Allen declared for the 2024 NFL Draft after his true junior season, and after just three years with the Badgers, he was already ninth all-time on Wisconsin’s career rushing yardage list among former Badger greats like Jonathan Taylor, Montee Ball, Melvin Gordon III, and Ron Dayne.
The Jets drafted Allen in the fourth round, 39 picks before they took Davis. Thus far he’s posted 418 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns while playing 28% of the snaps as a rookie.