NY Giants running back Cam Skattebo Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

How Can NY Giants Get the Most Out of RB Cam Skattebo?

Originally posted on New York Giants on SI
By Stephen Lebitsch | Last updated Aug 7, 2025 10:00 AM ET

While the New York Giants offense might be expected to throw the football down the sidelines a lot more this upcoming season, they have something that could be equally exciting brewing in their backfield with their new running back duo of Tyrone Tracy, Jr., and Cam Skattebo.

Tracy already put himself in the good graces of the franchise and the fan base with a surprisingly strong stat sheet in his rookie year. He took over the starting job just five weeks into 2024 and churned out 839 yards and five touchdowns on the ground to finish among the league’s best first-year performances.

Now, Skattebo, the Giants’ fourth-round pick out of Arizona State, is coming to East Rutherford for his NFL debut, and his arrival has created enthusiasm for the revival of a dual-threat rushing package that the franchise hasn’t boasted since the days of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw.

Skattebo rose onto a ton of people’s radars during his senior season with the Sun Devils, when he owned a top-five rushing resume in the nation behind 293 carries for 1,711 yards and 21 touchdowns and a barnstormer style of running that is truly hard to find at the professional level these days.

The Giants figure to deploy their new pairing of backs, assuming Skattebo beats out veteran Devin Singletary for the No. 2 role in the team's backfield, in a manner where Skattebo can take on the dirty work in the gaps and wear out opposing defenses. On the other side, Tracy will utilize his speed and elusiveness to cause damage in the zone, rushing snaps.

There'll even be some receiving work sprinkled in for both players as well, given both have shown to own a strong set of hands and an ability to drag along or make defenders miss in the open field.

Still, how can the Giants get the most out of Skattebo's physicality when they elect to attack the interior?

The answer is by letting Skattebo use the gaps between the offensive tackles as the places where he is typically most efficient in his bruising style of run game.

Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

While Skattebo doesn’t discriminate on where he is comfortable handling the football and punishing defenders in his way, his numbers after contact during his time at Arizona State reached their best when he took carries up through his blindside blockers.

Last season, Skattebo tallied a whopping 969 of his 1,711 yards after reaching the point of contact and averaged 3.91 yards per carry in that same category, which was good for the fifth best in the entire FBS level.

He also earned top marks in missed tackles forced (82), 10+ yard rushes (38), and breakaway yards (422) as a result of his broad frame and tireless motor that is tough to bring down, especially when he finds some open turf to rumble through.

When his team designed the rushing plays to go into the gaps between the tackles and the inline tight end blockers, those same metrics turned their brightest for the Arizona State offense. Skattebo’s rushing chart saw average attempts of 7.1 and 8.4 yards on 67 combined carries for the left and right sides of the front line, respectively.

From those same attempts, Skattebo recorded a combined 230 yards after contact with an average between 4.33 and 6.60 yards per rush, which was good for his top stats of any rushing direction. He also added 18 missed tackles forced, 10 carries of 10+ yards, and seven touchdowns.

What’s more is that efficiency didn’t come with the benefit of an experienced or premier run blocking unit at Arizona State, one that ranked 95th in the nation with a 58.4 grade as a team. They were much better against the pass rush, though, where Skattebo can also contribute with his soft hands, scoring 78.0 to rank 19th best.

It’s not to say that the Giants' offensive line has proven itself to be much better, but they’re slated to be back to full health with their starting lineup.

That includes the return of left tackle Andrew Thomas, who, when in full form, usually elevates the overall performance of the unit, and helped them with a 73.8 grade that ranked third in the position group.

If Evan Neal enters the fold, he led the Giants in run blocking efficiency last season despite playing in a reserve role, and he will likely juice the team’s ability to open up lanes for the running backs. The interior was the biggest area of concern entering camp, but with his early progress, it could be strengthened in the short term.

Skattebo is certainly a running back who doesn’t shy away from pounding up the middle and taking bigger and smaller obstacles trying to swallow him up. As his resume shows, he can do some serious damage with some beefier protection and nice size gaps out in the zone area to burst through and churn the extra yardage that the Giants will need to help them win on offense.

Get him involved in the trenches, supply him the reps in zone rushing, and trust his hands over the top of the second level of the defense. The Giants should unlock the full plethora of skillsets that made Skattebo so intriguing as a prospect that shouldn’t have been on the board until round four.

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