It’s looking like the Giants have a winner in their backup running back battle, at least for the short term. Tyrone Tracy left practice with a knee injury today, making it look like Eric Gray will open the season as their No. 2 back (behind Devin Singletary).
Tracy, who played more receiver than running back in college, had been a standout at camp, making him look like a sneaky late-round possibility. They started him in their first preseason game, and he looked just fine, carrying 5 times for 26 yards.
Would it be all that strange if Brian Daboll in October decided he liked Tracy more than Singletary?
But that No. 2 running back position got clouded on Saturday when Gray (after replacing Tracy) ripped off a 48-yard touchdown run (with the help of a nice move and some shoddy tackling). Gray’s other 3 carries netted only 4 total yards but including a 1-yard touchdown, and he caught 4 passes for 46 yards.
I left that game thinking we’d need to re-visit Tracy vs. Gray in the remaining preseason games. Both are fifth-round picks. Gray (who’s pictured) as a rookie carried 17 times for only 48 yards.
But this injury changes things. The indicates it’s just a sprain, rather than a season-ender, but unlikely that he’ll be in uniform again before September. Gray will be sucking up the reps the rest of the way, and the team is probably planning on him being that No. 2 guy.
Once Tracy gets back up to full speed, he can get back to trying to climb his way into some kind of role. But he’s not draftable right now for a 2024 league. (Dynasty league, I would still select Tracy before Gray).
Gray should be your Week 1 backup for the Giants, and that should sneak him into the last round of some drafts. Singletary gets hurt or struggles early in the season, and Gray could be something.
While Gray didn’t do much of anything as a rookie, that doesn’t worry me much. It’s not all that uncommon for backs to come on in their second seasons.
In the last 10 years, 100 running backs have put up top-30 numbers in their second season (using PPR scoring). A third (33) of those running backs are guys who didn’t put up top-60 numbers as rookies.
Those 33 second-year backs are listed below. The last two columns shows what they did during their underwhelming rookie seasons (the stats shows three numbers – rushing yards, receiving yards and touchdowns – while the final column shows where they ranked among running backs).
Last year, two second-year running backs went from afterthoughts to relevant: Kyren Williams and Jerome Ford.
SECOND-YEAR BACKS MAKING A BIG MOVE UP | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Run | Rec | TD | PPR | Rookie | PPR |
2002 | Marcel Shipp, Ari. | 834 | 413 | 9 | 22nd | 0-0-0 | --- |
2002 | Deuce McAllister, N.O. | 1388 | 352 | 16 | 8th | 91-166-2 | 65th |
2003 | Brian Westbrook, Phil. | 613 | 332 | 13 | 20th | 193-86-0 | 81th |
2003 | Rudi Johnson, Cin. | 957 | 146 | 9 | 21th | 67-34-0 | 110th |
2004 | Willis McGahee, Buff. | 1128 | 169 | 13 | 14th | inj | --- |
2004 | Chris Brown, Ten. | 1067 | 147 | 6 | 26th | 221-61-0 | 88th |
2004 | Larry Johnson, K.C. | 581 | 278 | 11 | 27th | 85-2-1 | 116th |
2005 | Willie Parker, Pitt. | 1202 | 218 | 5 | 18th | 186-16-0 | 104th |
2005 | Tatum Bell, Den. | 921 | 104 | 8 | 24th | 396-80-3 | 63rd |
2007 | LenDale White, Ten. | 1110 | 114 | 7 | 18th | 244-60-0 | 72nd |
2008 | LeRon McClain, Balt. | 902 | 123 | 11 | 23rd | 18-55-1 | 99th |
2009 | Rashard Mendenhall, Pitt. | 1108 | 261 | 8 | 17th | 58-17-0 | 128th |
2009 | Justin Forsett, Sea. | 619 | 350 | 5 | 28th | 0-0-0 | --- |
2010 | Arian Foster, Hou. | 1616 | 604 | 18 | 1st | 257-93-3 | 72nd |
2010 | Danny Woodhead, 2TM | 547 | 379 | 6 | 25th | 64-87-0 | 102nd |
2012 | Stevan Ridley, N.E. | 1263 | 51 | 12 | 15th | 441-13-1 | 73rd |
2012 | Mikel Leshoure, Det. | 798 | 214 | 9 | 18th | inj | --- |
2012 | Jacquizz Rodgers, Atl. | 362 | 402 | 2 | 29th | 205-188-2 | 60th |
2014 | C.J. Anderson, Den. | 849 | 324 | 10 | 11th | 38-0-0 | 144th |
2015 | Charles Sims, T.B. | 529 | 561 | 4 | 16th | 185-190-1 | 73rd |
2016 | Jay Ajayi, Mia. | 1272 | 151 | 8 | 11th | 187-90-1 | 85th |
2016 | Tevin Coleman, Atl. | 520 | 421 | 11 | 20th | 392-14-1 | 79th |
2017 | Alex Collins, Balt. | 973 | 187 | 6 | 19th | 125-84-1 | 82nd |
2018 | Aaron Jones, G.B. | 728 | 206 | 9 | 24th | 448-22-4 | 63th |
2018 | Chris Carson, Sea. | 1151 | 163 | 9 | 15th | 208-59-1 | 86th |
2018 | Dalvin Cook, Min. | 615 | 305 | 4 | 30th | 354-90-2 | 72nd |
2018 | James Conner, Pitt. | 973 | 497 | 13 | 6th | 144-0-0 | 113th |
2019 | Ronald Jones, T.B. | 724 | 309 | 6 | 25th | 44-33-1 | 95th |
2020 | Myles Gaskin, Mia. | 584 | 388 | 5 | 25th | 133-51-1 | 90th |
2021 | AJ Dillon, G.B. | 803 | 313 | 7 | 23rd | 242-21-2 | 83rd |
2022 | Travis Etienne, Jac. | 1125 | 316 | 5 | 17th | inj | --- |
2023 | • Jerome Ford, Cle. | 813 | 319 | 9 | 16th | 12-0-0 | 154th |
2023 | • Kyren Williams, LAR | 1144 | 206 | 15 | 7th | 139-76-0 | 90th |
—Ian Allan