The Jets dropped their preseason game to Tampa Bay 24-16, but the box score wasn't really the story. Breece Hall opened the game and played the vast majority of the first-drive snaps, business as usual for the guy the Jets just paid to be their lead back. Then Allen came in on the second drive and turned four carries into 44 yards, capped by a 31-yard scamper to the house.
Allen breaks a tackle attempt and outruns the Bucs defense to the end zone on his lone extended look of the night.
That's a wildly efficient four touches for a guy who spent last season fighting for scraps. Allen was a fourth-round pick in 2024 who looked like he might carve out a real role early in 2025, playing 28% of the Jets' snaps through the first three weeks before a knee injury in Week 4 ended his year. He's healthy now, and Friday was the first real evidence of what he can do with a clean shot at touches.
Naturally, the internet had fun with it. Not many backs run through Tampa's front seven for a 31-yard house call in their preseason debut.
But before Jets fans start penciling Allen in for touches he hasn't earned yet, it's worth remembering why Hall got the extension and the first-drive reps in the first place. New York signed Hall to a three-year, roughly $45.75 million deal back in May after he posted his first 1,000-yard rushing season in 2025, making him one of the highest-paid backs in the league. That kind of investment doesn't get split down the middle over one preseason touchdown.
Fantasy analyst Hayden Winks put it plainly after watching the tape: Hall's 90% snap share on the opening drive is the real signal here, not Allen's touchdown. Winks doesn't expect the Jets to rotate drives once the games count, which is why he's framing Allen's flash play as only a modest positive for Hall's outlook rather than a threat to his workload.
Breece Hall played 90% of the snaps on the first drive. Braelon Allen then played all the snaps on the second drive, scoring a TD. I doubt they are rotating drives in the season and am reading this as a slight positive for Hall.
Still, a healthy, explosive Allen behind a locked-in Hall is a good problem for the Jets to have. Coordinators love a change-of-pace back who can rip off a long run when the starter needs a breather, and if Allen keeps flashing this kind of burst, he'll push his way into more meaningful preseason reps before roster cuts. For now, though, this looks like exactly what Winks called it: a nice moment for Allen, not a changing of the guard in New York's backfield.