Throughout the season, NewYorkJets.com will provide a Stock Report focused on players and themes trending after the Jets' most recent game and ahead of the next matchup.

This week's report features TE Mason Taylor, RBs Breece Hall and Braelon Allen, and Raiders QB Kirk Cousins, and of the Jets' Week 8 game against Las Vegas.

📈Jets Running Back Depth
Dating back to the middle of training camp, HC Aaron Glenn has confidently maintained that Braelon Allen and Breece Hall are capable of carrying the load in the Jets' run game.

Allen has proven Glenn right over the last 4 games, rushing for 357 yards (4.95 yards per carry) and a touchdown in Hall's absence. Hall has missed the last four games with a quad injury.

With Hall, an elite back who has totaled more than 1,300 scrimmage yards and at least 5 touchdowns in each of the last 3 seasons, is nearing a potential return this week against the Raiders or in Week 9 against the Chiefs. HC Aaron Glenn is excited about the possibilities of a deep and talented backfield when healthy.

"Their roles won't change," Glenn said of Allen and Hall, who were both be limited participants in practice Wednesday. "I think you know that Braelon, we gave him the ball when Breece was with us and playing, and I've said this here numerous times that both of those guys can carry the load, it doesn't matter which guy is in there. Whoever goes down, we have full confidence in those guys. I just like exactly where he's at right now, mentally and physically."

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📈Mason Taylor
TE Mason Taylor found the end zone twice in the Jets' loss to the Dolphins last Sunday and earned the highest Pro Football Focus offensive grade, 93.3, among tight ends for the week.

Taylor earned that grade by attacking every part of the field and making it difficult for Miami's defense to pin him down because of his diverse route tree.

In Week 8, Taylor, a second-round pick out of LSU in the 2025 draft, caught 6 passes for 62 yards and 2 touchdowns and added a 2-point conversion. He did most of his work on the right side of the field, but according to TruMedia, all 6 of his receptions came on different routes, and only 2 catches came with a free release.

On Taylor's first catch, a 13-yard touchdown in the first quarter, he lined up on the right end of the offensive line, ran a deep out, according to TruMedia, and came down with a leaping grab over the cornerback.

Later, in the third quarter, Taylor ran an out-and-up, and QB Geno Smith placed the ball perfectly on his outside shoulder for a 20-yard gain that set up a Jason Sanders field goal.

Finally, late in the fourth quarter with the Jets trailing, 28-17, Smith connected with Taylor on a corner route for a 12-yard score. Taylor's other 3 catches, receptions of 11 and 6 yards plus the 2-point conversion, came on a shallow out, flat route and block-and-release out, respectively.

"What a day it was for Mason Taylor," NFL analyst Brian Baldinger said in his breakdown of the tight end's performance. "… He showed up over and over again despite the defense not making it easy on him."

📈Raiders QB Kirk Cousins
Raiders QB Kirk Cousins, three seasons removed from the torn Achilles tendon he sustained in 2023 as a member of the Minnesota Vikings, has been playing like one of the league's best signal-callers — at 38 years old.

The second-oldest starting QB in the NFL, behind only the Steelers' Aaron Rodgers, Cousins has thrown 16 touchdown passes and 5 interceptions during Las Vegas' 3-4 start. He began the season with three straight 3-touchdown games and is the only QB in the league this season to throw for at least 2 touchdowns in 6 games.

Cousins' resurgence, following two uneven seasons with the Falcons in which he threw 28 touchdowns and 21 interceptions over 22 starts, does not come as a surprise to Jets HC Aaron Glenn.

"When you're coming off an Achilles, sometimes it takes a while to really get going," Glenn said Wednesday. "But man he's somebody that always had a chance of winning. Once he gets streaking, he gets going, now he's tough to stop, and you can tell the way he processes, like he's really elite when it comes to that."

Cousins' backup is Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick in April's NFL Draft and the reigning Heisman Trophy winner. Despite Cousins' strong start, Las Vegas has lost four straight after opening the season 3-0, leading to questions for HC Klint Kubiak about whether it was time to make a change at quarterback.

Kubiak, in his first season as the Raiders' head coach after spending last season as the Seahawks' offensive coordinator, emphatically shut down that narrative Sunday following Las Vegas' loss to the Rams.

"Kirk is our starting quarterback," Kubiak said. "There is no controversy there. He is playing at a very high level. He's got to continue to do that for us to win, and we've gotta keep helping all the areas around him. Excited for him to go play here against the Jets."