Isaiah Davis Could Eat Into Braelon Allen's Fantasy Football Value In The Jets' Backfield

We debate how the New York Jets' backfield will play out for fantasy football owners.

New York Jets running back Isaiah Davis (32) participates in a drill during minicamp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With Breece Hall going down in Week 3 with a quad injury, Braelon Allen was a hot waiver-wire target this week. We listed him as our top waiver-wire pickup of the week. However, there is one factor that everyone seems to be simply ignoring, and that's the potential emergence of Isaiah Davis.

Braelon Allen vs Isaiah Davis

Head coach Aaron Glenn has repeatedly praised Davis, and he played well last season, establishing himself as a viable pass-catching option. In his career, the third-year veteran has carried the ball 73 times for 410 yards and two touchdowns at 5.6 yards per carry; last season, he caught 21 of 28 targets for 186 yards.

It's a safe bet that Allen will be the lead back on the ground for New York, but there is a serious chance that Davis could carve out a significant role in this offense as a pass-catching back. This is an offense that heavily targets their running backs. Hall has already caught all 10 of his targets this season, and those valuable opportunities could be going to Davis rather than Allen while Hall is sidelined.

This doesn't destroy Allen's value or anything, but it could limit his perceived upside. It could also boost Davis up to being a potential sleeper or streaming option. It's worth considering if he's sitting on your waiver wire.

On Sunday, the Jets will take on the Chicago Bears, who are a perfectly average matchup for the Jets' backs. Chicago is 16th in the league when it comes to allowing fantasy points to running backs this season.

Looking beyond this week, the Jets have a tough matchup against the Cleveland Browns next week, who are allowing the ninth-fewest fantasy points to running backs this season. It's not the worst matchup, but it's also not a layup. We wouldn't look much beyond that, with Hall currently being considered week to week.

Advice

Start Allen this week, but Davis is worth a stash just in case the injury to Hall lingers longer than they are leading on. However, he should be left on your bench this week unless you are in a desperate situation.

If you own either of these backs, you should be sure to monitor how both backs are utilized this week. After seeing how they are deployed this week, we will reassess the situation for Week 5 and beyond, for as long as Hall is sidelined.

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