The New York Jets are about to unleash Braelon Allen.
The 6-1, 235-pound back out of Wisconsin was drafted in the fourth round by the Jets in 2024. He broke in that year with 334 yards in his 2024 rookie season, with a long of 22. It was envisioned that he and Breece Hall would be a great tandem for the next few years.
But Allen injured his knee and missed most of 2025. Now recovered, he started 2026 with a strong opening game against the Tennessee Titans in Week 1. In that game, he had 10 carries for 40 yards, and had a 23-yard touchdown run called back by a holding penalty.
The Jets running game fizzled for the next two games, and Allen has tallied just 21 more yards since then, a combination of poor line play and the Jets’ situations in those games.
Now, he’s the man, as star Breece Hall is out for a while with a quad pull. Allen is being counted on for more consistent yards to take some heat off the passing game.
Allen will be backed by Isaiah Davis, also a third-year man out of South Dakota State. He was a fifth-round draft choice by the Jets in the 2024 NFL Draft. In limited action his first two years, he’s put up some decent numbers. He had 5.8 yards per carry for 174 yards in 2024, then 5.5 for 236 in 2025.
So far in 2026, he’s been invisible, with no carries or catches and just special teams duties. The reason for that is missing a big part of training camp with a knee injury.
“He’s going to get his shot,” head coach Aaron Glenn promised. “I’ve always said with those three guys (including injured Breece Hall), man, listen, I’m good with any of them and they’ll go out there and make plays for us.”
So far, that hasn’t happened much beyond opening day, when the Jets had 152 yards rushing and two touchdowns to go along with 11 first downs on the ground.
Reality then set in, as the Jets rushed for just 125 yards over the last two games against Green Bay and Detroit. A lot of the blame for that pathetic showing falls on the Jets offensive line, which has struggled with run blocking. Right tackle Armand Membou has been particularly bad. His PFF run-blocking score is down to 45.0, a number that falls off the cliff from his rookie mark of 72.2.
The tight ends haven’t been much help, either. Frank Reich has used them to good effect as pass receivers, but Kenyon Sadiq (39.0 run blocking score) and Jelani Woods (39.7) have not done anything to slow down the opposing defenses. Tight end Jeremy Ruckert has a league average 60.0 PFF score.
The Lions stacked the box on 47.4 percent of Jets rushes, daring Geno Smith and offensive coordinator Frank Reich to beat them through the air. Smith rose to that challenge, but his numbers were inflated after the Jets gave up on the run game and started airing it out.
This weekend, the Jets will undoubtedly try to get the running game rolling against the Chicago Bears. It’s the Allen and Davis show, and their success will go a long way toward helping the Jets in what’s expected to be a tight game.
