Which team was crazier — the forever rebuilding New York Jets for their willingness to trade their best all-around offensive weapon for just a third-round pick? Or the floundering Kansas City Chiefs for refusing to match that price?
Regardless, the 24-year-old Hall is once again establishing himself as part of the long-term solution in Florham Park. He’s closing in on his first 1000-yard rushing season with 834 yards through the Jets first 12 games. Plus, despite only recently being featured in the passing game, he’s currently ranked 11th in the NFL with 1143 yards from scrimmage. As a point of reference, the leading Chief is Travis Kelce, who is ranked 43rd with 720 yards.
As Boston Celtics legend Red Auerbach was quoted as saying, “sometimes, the best trades are the ones you don’t make”. In this case, that applies to the Jets. The Chiefs? They might’ve preferred a do-over.
FINAL WORD ON THE ILL-FATED JUSTIN FIELDS ERA
The knock on Justin Fields when he came out of Ohio State five years ago was his inability to read defenses, make quick decisions, and throw with anticipation. Unfortunately, Fields has not progressed in any of those areas. Having said that, Head Coach Aaron Glenn and Offensive Coordinator Tanner Engstrand need to take their share of the blame for this failed $40m experiment.
Michael Vick (2006), Lamar Jackson (2019, 2020), and Fields (2022) are the only three QBs in NFL history to have rushed for 1000 yards in a single season. Yet, other than an outlier gameplan in Week 1, designed runs were rarely incorporated into the Jets play-calling.
On Thursday, November 13, the Jets had a 14-play, 72-yard opening touchdown drive that included five carries by Fields for 28 yards and a score. He only ran five more times in the game, with the Jets losing 27-14. If that confuses you, wait until to you read this exchange during Glenn’s post-game press conference.
Reporter: Seemed like the following (after the first) drives in the first half, you got away from Justin running the ball a little bit. What was going on there?
Aaron Glenn: Well, the thing is, we don’t want to make it a habit of our quarterback just continuing to run, because we can put him in harm’s way. The thing is the plan was to get the ball. And I wanted to get it first, and I want the offense to get ball first. The reason why, is when you look at how they operated, they’ve had six times their defense is on the field, it was three touchdowns and two field goals, so I felt like if we get a fast start we’ll be in a good position. And Justin ran the ball quite a bit. The thing is, we, man, can’t put Justin in a situation where that’s a running back, and I think we all know that, because we will put him in harm’s way. You’re right, he did a good job on some of those runs. We just have to be calculated when we do those things.
The Jets acquired Fields knowing he was historically a below average passer, but an elite runner. While it’s admirable that the Jets tried to elevate Fields’ weaknesses, it’s inexplicable that they never took advantage of his strengths. Coaches are paid to put players in a position to succeed. The Jets never did that for Fields.
Bottom line — with Fields under center, the Jets didn’t resemble a legitimate offense. Tyrod Taylor deserves to be the starter. But two things can be true at once.
Fields failed the Jets, but the Jets also failed Fields.
HOLIDAY SEASON SCOUTING
While many New Yorkers will spend the weekend putting up holiday decorations and scrolling through Amazon for gifts — ‘Tis the season for Jets fans to start dreaming on their next QB.
If you want to do some scouting, here’s some games to watch:
Alabama Crimson Tide (10-2) vs Georgia Bulldogs (11-1)
Saturday 4p ABC — SEC Championship Game
The Jets drafted Alabama alums Joe Namath (1965, first overall) and Richard Todd (1976, sixth overall) and they combined for three AFC Championship Game appearances and one dramatic Super Bowl victory. Current Bama QB Ty Simpson is having an outstanding first season. He’s completed 65.8% of his passes for 3056 yards, with 25 TDs against 4 INTs.
Indiana Hoosiers (12-0) vs Ohio State Buckeyes (12-0)
Saturday 8p FOX — Big Ten Championship Game
The early consensus is that there are three quarterbacks that, if they declare, would be Top 10 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft. They are Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, Oregon’s Dante Moore, and the aforementioned Simpson. Mendoza has completed 72% of his passes for 2758 yards, with 32 TDs against 5 INTs.
But he’s not the only QB to watch in this game. The Jets flurry of trades not only left them with two first-rounders in 2026, but three in 2027. That’s when Ohio State’s super-sophomore Julian Sayin is eligible to be drafted. All Sayin has done as a 20-year-old is complete 78.9% of his passes for 3065 yards, with 30 TDs against 5 INTs — for the top-ranked team in the country.
Indianapolis Colts (8-4) at Jacksonville Jaguars (8-4)
Sunday 1p CBS
Daniel Jones saw the writing on the wall in Minnesota. He went to Indianapolis, beat out incumbent Anthony Richardson, and now leads the Colts against the Jaguars with the AFC South lead on the line. As a pending free agent, Jones is building a solid resume. The 28-year-old has completed 66.3% of his passes for 2312 yards, with 15 TDs against 3 INTs.
Seattle Seahawks (9-3) at Atlanta Falcons (4-8)
Sunday 1p FOX
Follow the errant pass — in 2018, the Jets went hard after free agent QB Kirk Cousins, who used the Jets contract offer to solidify his deal with the Minnesota Vikings. After six seasons, he left for Atlanta (which promptly drafted Michael Pennix, Jr). Meanwhile, the Vikings signed former Jet QB Sam Darnold as his replacement (and promptly drafted JJ McCarthy). Prior to this season, Darnold left Minnesota for Seattle (where he replaced former Jets QB Geno Smith). Now that Pennix is injured, Cousins, now 37 and expected to be released this winter, gets an opportunity to show NFL teams if he still has what it takes to be a starter.
PROPS TO LAVERANUES COLES
Laveranues Coles played 153 games in the NFL, including 105, across multiple stints with the Jets. He was drafted in 2000, and became his draft-classmate Chad Pennington’s favorite target. He finished his 10-season career with 674 receptions for 8609 yards and 49 TDs.
The 47-year-old Coles was back in the news this week — joining a group of nine former NFL players serving in law enforcement in the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. As we look back at Coles’ career and celebrate his latest accomplishment, the bigger lesson to be learned is that we are sometimes too quick to judge a person’s character.
Coles had multiple run-ins with the law when he was in college. That led to him being dismissed from the Florida State football team, and dropping into the third-round despite having first-round talent. He was 22 when he was last arrested. He went on to not only become a good professional football player, but a well-respected teammate. Now, he’s the one enforcing the law.
Congratulations Laveranues, and Godspeed.
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