The Jets are getting a mulligan in 2023, which is good because it means they get a full season of Breece Hall. It’s also bad, because Aaron Rodgers and his torn Achilles are one year older, and Garrett Wilson is one year closer to free agency. The Jets, set on defense, took offense with their first six picks in the draft. Four of those were in fantasy football-eligible positions. Let’s take a look at the wide receiver, quarterback, and two running backs, shall we?
FULL 2024 NEW YORK JETS DRAFT RESULTS
| Round | Pick | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 11 | Olu Fashanu | OT | Penn St |
| 3 | 65 | Malachi Corley | WR | Western Kentucky |
| 4 | 134 | Braelon Allen | RB | Wisconsin |
| 5 | 171 | Jordan Travis | QB | FSU |
| 5 | 173 | Isaiah Davis | RB | South Dakota St |
| 5 | 176 | Qwan’Tez Stiggers | CB | Toronto Argonauts |
| 7 | 257 | Jaylen Key | S | Alabama |
Round 3, Pick 65 Overall: Malachi Corley, Wide Receiver, Western Kentucky (5’11” 215 lbs)
Talent:
Who let this running back out there to run routes? Corley is an extremely unrefined route runner, and he doesn’t do much that looks like wide receiver stuff out there. But, he does look a lot like Aaron Jones (just the pass-catching part of Jones) when he’s out there doing his thing. Anything that goes for any sort of YAC is because he bowls over guys guarding him or just sprints straight past them. He’s incredibly hard to bring down, as he has impeccable contact balance (again, running back stuff) and he’s a demon with the ball in his hands. I don’t think he does a lot at the NFL level, because his skill set does not lend himself to being a wide receiver. If he was a high-volume scat back (think J.D. McKissic) then we’d be cooking. As it stands, he’s my Trey Ragas Memorial Pick (a player who might not be good but is fun).
NFL Comparison: Laviska Shenault
2024 Opportunity:
Garrett Wilson and Allen Lazard accounted for 75.3% of the Jets’ wide receiver targets last season. But, that’s a skewed statistic. Garrett Wilson’s 168 targets accounted for 58% of the WR targets, and Lazard accounted for 17%. But, the Jets also went out and got oft-injured Mike Williams in the drat. That is to say… there’s some room in this offense for Malachi Corley to do his thing, but who loses a spot? My guess would be Allen Lazard. With Rodgers calling Corley his favorite receiver in the draft, and the Jets accommodating him by taking him early in the third round, it’s clear that they have a plan for him, but the only question: what is that plan?
CBS Sports’ Jordan Dajani outlined the good and the bad around Corley: he’s a YAC monster who everyone loves, but he’s already hurt at OTAs. But, with Breece Hall, Garrett Wilson, and possibly Mike Williams ahead of him, a May puff piece isn’t going to stop me from giving pause with his skill set.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
It’s hard to overlook the “YAC King” when you get deeper into drafts. Those kinds of guys can take short targets a long way, making themselves a quarterback’s best friend, and getting more opportunities. That being said, you don’t have to draft Corley, but you can keep him on your fantasy football shortlist as the season progresses. After all, we’ve fallen prey to Aaron Rodgers loving a receiver before (Jared Abbrederis, Jake Kumerow, Reggie Begelton, etc.).
TALENT:
2024 OPPORTUNITY:
2024 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
Round 4, Pick 134 Overall: Braelon Allen, Running Back, Wisconsin (6’1” 235 lbs)
Talent:
For a long time, fantasy football analysts have tried to shovel dirt onto James Conner’s grave. Unfortunately, he catches too many passes, pushes leverage too hard, and pass blocks too well to die. Braelon Allen does two of these things well, and he reminds me a ton of James Conner… without the pass-catching. Allen is a patient runner with good contact balance, which is the one-sentence scouting on Conner’s running style. He can maximize his blocking by riding the blocker’s hip and cutting extremely late, turning a small hole into a big one. He’s a bruiser with okay balance but completely lacks the top-end speed to turn short runs into big runs. He’s extremely unlikely to get below 15/85 on his carries but is unlikely to get 15/135. He does the little things on runs (falls forward, understands contact balance) that get him a few extra yards. Ultimately, the lack of pass-catching limits his upside at the NFL level, especially since he had fumble problems at Wisconsin that could have him screwed to the bench.
NFL Comparison: James Conner Without the Receiving
2024 Opportunity:
The Jets have one of the few backs in the NFL who is capable of keeping all other backs on the roster off the field, with Breece Hall playing at least 60% of the snaps in 10 of the last 11 games, and averaging 20 touches per game in that span. With Hall due for a massive breakout campaign, and being ranked that way (RB2 by ADP), it’s hard to find room where Braelon Allen will thrive going forward. After all, he doesn’t have pass-catching chops, so he just works as a rotation back on first and second downs. That doesn’t work out well when the starting back carried the ball 37 times in the last game of the 2023 season, for funsies. It’s not a good situation for Allen in 202
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
Ultimately, the Jets are going to ride Breece Hall as hard as they can. They did it last season when they had nothing to play for, and now that their Aaron Rodgers window cracked open again, they won’t give Allen more than 8 touches per game.
TALENT:
2024 OPPORTUNITY:
2024 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
Round 5, Pick 171 Overall: Jordan Travis, Quarterback, FSU (6’1” 200 lbs)
Talent:
Finally! We have an answer to the question: “What would happen if we put Colin Kaepernick in Baker Mayfield’s body?” This man played in shotgun most of the time at Florida State but he’s definitely a pistol quarterback. As in, footballs are coming at you at 1,000 feet per second in a straight line. Bucket throws are a mess, and forget trying to feather it into the second level. No change-up. No curve ball. Nothing but straight gas. Since he’s Colin Kaepernick in Baker Mayfield’s body, he gets Baker’s stride lengths. So, unfortunately, we don’t get any gazelle striding out there. Just little-legged action. He’s not great, and he doesn’t have prototypical size. He’s a tiny version of a player that we already saw flame out of the league. That having been said… he’s fun. He’s very high on the Boz-O-Meter which can give you maximum chaos, and maximum fantasy potential. Pre-draft I declared that I don’t care where he ends up, he’s ending up at the end of my dynasty benches, as a treat.
NFL Comparison: Tiny Colin Kaepernick
2024 Opportunity:
It all depends on how much faith you have in Aaron Rodgers’ ability to heal his Achilles. With everything but an injury keeping him out of the starting role, I am going to say that he has no opportunity to play this season.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
If Rodgers loses his battle with age for the second time in two seasons, then Jordan Travis would be a useful QB2 in two-quarterback leagues. But, outside of that, he provides no value.
TALENT:
2024 OPPORTUNITY:
2024 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
Round 5, Pick 173 Overall: Isaiah Davis, Running Back, South Dakota State (6’0” 218 lbs)
Talent:
Isaiah Davis is a bruiser. There are no two ways about it, he is going to punish you if you try to tackle him. That being said, he doesn’t play like that. He wants to be a far more nimble back than he is, trying (and failing) to bounce it outside with far too much frequency for my tastes. Whichever team drafts him would be well-suited to maximize his ability to produce in traffic and make him their short-yardage and touchdown back (think late-career Jordan Howard). He can catch the ball, and pass block, but that’s not the best use of his skill set.
2024 Opportunity:
The Jets will likely use Davis exactly as I outlined above, mostly because they took a much better back (Braelon Allen) in the draft, and because they have a back better than both of them combined (Breece Hall) leading the charge. Davis could finish the year with 45 carries for 6 touchdowns, should the Jets use him properly in their back rotation, but he should also only have about 125 yards on those carries.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
You can ignore Davis, there’s just too much ahead of him on the depth chart.
