The Giants didn’t make much of an effort to re-sign Saquon Barkley a year ago, but they still look healthy at the position. They’ve got Tyrone Tracy and Cam Skattebo, both on cost-controlled rookie contracts, and they’ve got veteran Devin Singletary, who’s started games with three different teams.
I don’t know if the Giants can climb out of the basement in the NFC East, but I don’t think it will be running back that holds them back.
Skattebo put together a magical season at Arizona State last year, including 2,316 combined yards and 24 touchdowns in 13 games. He’s a tackle breaker, looking at times like a modern-day Larry Csonka.
Skattebo is slow; reports suggest he ran 4.65 at his Pro Day, and he declined to run at the combine. That contributed to him lasting until early in the fourth round. But his other testing numbers were impressive, including a 39.5-inch vertical and 10-foot-3 in the board jump. To me, Skattebo is promising enough that he needs to be rostered in a typical league. (I’m not expecting much, but maybe.)
Singletary, I think, will either be their second- or third-string back at the start of the season, depending how things transpire with the rookie. Singletary wasn’t a big factor last year but ran for over 800 yards in each of his three previous seasons (with the Bills and Texans).
If there’s a big-time back here, however, it most likely will be Tyrone Tracy. Tracy was mostly a wide receiver in college, but he switched to running back for his final two years at Purdue, averaging 6.6 yards per carry. And Tracy looked good at times as a rookie.
Tracy was a lightly used backup for the first month of the season, but in October ran for 129 yards at Seattle and 145 at Pittsburgh, averaging over 7 yards per carry in both of those games. He later ran for 103 yards in a game against Carolina (though also with a loss-clinching fumble, and he lost another fumble the following week).
Despite the Giants adding another running back, Tracy says his goal is to finish with dramatically better numbers. "Dominate," Tracy said. "I think that the best thing that I can do is dominate where I was last year and then, shoot, try to multiply that this year. Last year, I had 800 (rushing yards). This year, I need to go for (1,500 yards). … Wherever I was last year was last year. It don't matter. It's a new year."
In the 32-team era (since 2002), only 32 other rookie running backs have run for 125-plus yards twice. Only 12 have done it more times than Tracy.
A couple of good games, on the other hand, doesn’t guarantee second-year success. Looking at those same 32 backs, only half of them finished with top-20 numbers in their second season (using PPR scoring). Only six were able to move up into the top 10.
But if I’m walking into a draft today, I’m definitely selecting Tracy before Skattebo.
| ROOKIES WITH MULTIPLE GAMES OVER 125 (the next year) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | G | Run | Rec | Tot | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 2003 | • Clinton Portis, Den. | 13 | 1,591 | 314 | 1,905 | 14 | 314.5 | 6 |
| 2004 | Onterrio Smith, Min. | 11 | 544 | 394 | 938 | 4 | 155.8 | 30 |
| 2005 | Julius Jones, Dall. | 13 | 993 | 218 | 1,211 | 5 | 186.1 | 19 |
| 2005 | Kevin Jones, Det. | 13 | 664 | 109 | 773 | 5 | 127.3 | 32 |
| 2006 | Cadillac Williams, T.B. | 14 | 798 | 196 | 994 | 1 | 135.4 | 36 |
| 2007 | • Maurice Jones-Drew, Jac. | 15 | 768 | 407 | 1,175 | 10 | 217.5 | 11 |
| 2008 | • Adrian Peterson, Min. | 16 | 1,760 | 125 | 1,885 | 10 | 269.5 | 9 |
| 2009 | • Chris Johnson, Ten. | 16 | 2,006 | 503 | 2,509 | 16 | 398.9 | 1 |
| 2009 | • Matt Forte, Chi. | 16 | 929 | 471 | 1,400 | 4 | 223.0 | 12 |
| 2009 | Steve Slaton, Hou. | 11 | 437 | 417 | 854 | 7 | 171.4 | 27 |
| 2012 | DeMarco Murray, Dall. | 10 | 663 | 251 | 914 | 4 | 150.4 | 26 |
| 2013 | Alfred Morris, Was. | 16 | 1,275 | 78 | 1,353 | 7 | 186.3 | 20 |
| 2013 | Doug Martin, T.B. | 6 | 456 | 66 | 522 | 1 | 70.2 | 57 |
| 2013 | Bryce Brown, Phil. | 16 | 314 | 84 | 398 | 2 | 61.8 | 63 |
| 2014 | • Eddie Lacy, G.B. | 16 | 1,139 | 427 | 1,566 | 13 | 276.6 | 6 |
| 2014 | Zac Stacy, St.L. | 13 | 293 | 152 | 445 | 1 | 68.5 | 68 |
| 2015 | Jeremy Hill, Cin. | 16 | 794 | 79 | 873 | 12 | 176.3 | 20 |
| 2016 | • Todd Gurley, LAR | 16 | 885 | 327 | 1,212 | 6 | 200.2 | 15 |
| 2016 | Thomas Rawls, Sea. | 9 | 349 | 96 | 445 | 3 | 75.5 | 61 |
| 2017 | • Ezekiel Elliott, Dall. | 10 | 983 | 269 | 1,252 | 9 | 205.2 | 12 |
| 2017 | • Jordan Howard, Chi. | 16 | 1,122 | 125 | 1,247 | 9 | 201.7 | 15 |
| 2018 | • Kareem Hunt, K.C. | 11 | 824 | 378 | 1,202 | 14 | 230.2 | 12 |
| 2018 | Aaron Jones, G.B. | 12 | 728 | 206 | 934 | 9 | 173.4 | 24 |
| 2018 | Leonard Fournette, Jac. | 8 | 439 | 185 | 624 | 6 | 120.4 | 41 |
| 2019 | • Saquon Barkley, NYG | 13 | 1,003 | 438 | 1,441 | 8 | 244.1 | 11 |
| 2021 | • Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | 17 | 1,811 | 360 | 2,171 | 20 | 377.1 | 1 |
| 2021 | Clyde Edwards-Helaire, K.C. | 10 | 517 | 129 | 646 | 6 | 121.6 | 43 |
| 2022 | Elijah Mitchell, S.F. | 5 | 279 | 7 | 286 | 2 | 43.6 | 82 |
| 2023 | Kenneth Walker, Sea. | 15 | 905 | 259 | 1,164 | 9 | 199.4 | 22 |
| 2023 | Tyler Allgeier, Atl. | 17 | 683 | 193 | 876 | 5 | 137.6 | 36 |
| 2023 | Dameon Pierce, Hou. | 14 | 416 | 101 | 517 | 3 | 82.7 | 55 |
| 2024 | • DeVon Achane, Mia. | 17 | 907 | 592 | 1,499 | 12 | 299.9 | 5 |
| 2025 | Tyrone Tracy, NYG | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
—Ian Allan