Could Skattebo Unseat Tyrone Tracy As Giants' Starter?

Every year, the fantasy football community is reminded that running backs fall fast. Last year’s stars can run out of gas, and promising young prospects can fall out of the limelight.

In 2024, the New York Giants replaced Saquon Barkley with Devin Singletary, a lesser player coming off the best year of his career. He lasted about a half-season as the starter.

Soon enough, he was replaced by the younger, cheaper, faster Tyrone Tracy Jr., a fifth-round pick and converted receiver. Tracy’s explosiveness and Singletary’s mediocrity made that possible, and the former entrenched himself in New York’s long-term plans.

But God laughs at plans, and so do other running backs.

Giants rookie running back Cam Skattebo could emerge as a starter sooner than fans expect. That isn’t necessarily an indictment of Tracy’s talent, nor does it take away from what he accomplished as an impressive rookie.

“Yeah, absolutely. I mean, he's a really fast running back and there's nothing about his game that you can take away from,” Skattebo said earlier in the offseason. “He might be a little faster than me, so if you want to call it thunder and lightning, go ahead. But it's a running back field no matter how it goes. Whatever our roles are, if he plays the whole time and I play not at all, I'm just going to be here and I'm going to work, put my head down and keep going.”

Skattebo and Tracy will almost certainly split time, with the incumbent getting priority given his proclivity for the big play. The rookie projects better between the tackles in short-yardage situations, but Tracy’s instincts were ahead of expectations, and he offers more athleticism.

Even so, Tracy wouldn’t be the first Day 3 running back to lose his gig in Year 2. Dameon Pierce is the premier example in recent seasons, but the league has a long history of letting draft capital dictate decisions in the backfield.

Skattebo will have to prove himself to be more consistent in the early going, but his pass protection lends itself to passing-down playing time, and he’s no slouch as a receiver.

Tracy earned the right to begin the season as a starter. He may very well break out in his second season. But that next step isn’t guaranteed. Nor is his grip on the starting job.

“How many snaps of the NFL have you seen me play? Zero, right? I've proved nothing. I've proved what I am in college, but I've proved nothing at this level. So now where I'm at, I have to prove myself and if that's for five years or if that's for 10 years, I'm going to continue to prove myself.”