Drafting Dalvin Cook and Breece Hall in Fantasy Football: Experts weigh in on new-look Jets backfield

Even with Breece Hall recovering from a torn ACL suffered last October, the New York Jets entered training camp with impressive depth in the backfield in the form of Michael Carter, Zonovan Knight and 2023 fifth-round pick Israel Abanikanda. On Monday, the Jets added the biggest name of all to the mix with their reported signing of former Vikings star Dalvin Cook to a one-year contract.

Cook spent the first six seasons of his career in Minnesota, where he ran for at least 1,100 yards while adding at least 34 catches in each of the last four years, making the Pro Bowl in each of those four seasons. His peak came in 2020 when he rolled up 1,918 total yards from scrimmage and scored 17 touchdowns in just 14 games while averaging 111.2 rushing yards per game and 5.0 yards per carry. 

The addition of Cook may hint toward a clearer timetable emerging for Hall, the talented second-year back who managed just three games as the team’s feature back as a rookie before succumbing to a torn ACL. The Jets placed Hall on the PUP list at the start of camp and he’s yet to see any action while continuing his recovery. If his absence does extend into the regular season, does that give Cook a chance to be the top back in the Jets offense playing with longtime rival Aaron Rodgers? Complicating things further is that Cook is recovering from shoulder surgery himself and is reportedly at least a week away from practicing.

I asked CBS Fantasy Football experts Heath Cummings and Chris Towers how they would approach the Jets backfield moving forward in draft season.

“Hall was already expected to be brought along slowly, now the Jets can take all the time they need,” Cummings said. “We saw how long it took J.K. Dobbins to get going in 2022 so it shouldn’t be a surprise if Hall is a flex or worse early in the season.” Towers agreed, saying, “Don’t draft [Hall] expecting him to be your RB2, but he should get there before long, and there’s still RB1 upside once he’s 100% if this offense is as good as we think it could be.”

But which back should be the better long-term option for Fantasy managers already thinking about the playoffs?

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“Once Hall is 100% I would expect Hall to be the 1A and Cook the 1B a la Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon,” Cummings said. Towers is also prioritizing Hall in drafts, saying, “Cook is likely to be the better option early in the season, and should be a decent starting option for much of the season. It’s possible he has more left in the tank than we saw last season and ends up holding Hall back all season long, but I’d bet on the young guy who looked like an elite playmaker in both facets of the game a year ago.”

As for where specifically they’re drafting each player, Towers is valuing Hall as a fifth-round pick as the 24th running back on his board, while Cummings is placing him in the Round 6-7 range. Cook is a seventh-rounder for Towers as his RB29 and a Round 9-10 pick for Cummings.