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New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Giants RB Tyrone Tracy Named to 2025 NFL All Breakout Team

Originally posted on New York Giants on SI
By Stephen Lebitsch | Last updated Jul 14, 2025 12:00 PM ET

The New York Giants have boasted a very young team over the past few seasons, and with that identity has come a reliance on several newcomers, such as the rising second-year running back Tyrone Tracy Jr., to step in and fill important roles on both sides of the ball for the organization.

For Tracy, the Giants’ 2024 fifth-round pick out of Purdue, where he started as a wide receiver, the onboarding process to the professional level was supposed to be a little more patient.

The 25-year-old was expected to be the developing backup behind Devin Singletary in the team's backfield that Saquon Barkley once dominated for six productive years.

Instead, Tracy would quickly get thrust into the spotlight after Singletary was forced to the sidelines with an injury in Week 5 last season, and the rookie put his name on the map with an impressive performance that caught the attention of the coaching staff.

He slashed through the Seattle Seahawks defense for 129 yards on the ground in that contest, one of his three 100-yard outings in his rookie campaign, leading New York to one of its three victories last year. The rest was history as he took control of the starting rushing workload for the rest of the season.

As Tracy heads into his second season with the Giants, the goalposts have now been moved. He projects as the franchise's No. 1 rusher within a vastly improved offense that underwent significant changes at the helm this offseason. That opportunity is why NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks just named the Giants' ball carrier to his party of 2025 All-Breakout Teamfor the upcoming campaign.

"After rushing for 839 yards as a rookie, the fifth-round running back has an opportunity to surpass the 1,200-yard mark in an offense that features more efficient quarterback play with veteran leader Wilson set to take over from Daniel Jones," Brooks said.

"The improved passing game will lead to more light boxes (six or fewer defenders) and wider lanes for the former college wide receiver to scoot through on off-tackle runs and designed cut-back plays.

"With Wilson also expected to target Tracy frequently on swing, screen, and option routes in the pass game, the Giants’ unheralded RB1 could put up massive scrimmage yard totals as a multi-purpose threat from the backfield."

If Tracy could even come close to that mark predicted by Brooks in his analysis, it would certainly be a wildly successful year for the young back who didn't wait long to make history as a novice.

Tracy joined fellow draftee and wide receiver Malik Nabers as the newest pair of first-year offensive players to surpass the 1,000 scrimmage yards mark that hadn't been passed in the league in well over a decade.

While the Giants are ultra-focused on making their offense more explosive through the air, given Wilson's status as a moonball specialist, they won't be throwing the run game out of the way. The Giants' ground game saw its second consecutive season in the bottom half of the NFL in 2024, a reality that must improve if they are to be taken more seriously.

Having a fully healthy offensive line should help the cause, but Tracy is more than capable of churning the extra yards with the added space he could enjoy from his blockers. He tied for the sixth-largest yards per carry last season at 4.4 yards per attempt and ranked second behind Bucky Irving for the most yards after contact (546) and breakaway yards (263).

His prowess in collecting short passes will often come in handy for a Giants' system that wants him to take on more of those receiving snaps as a checkdown option for Wilson, who is one of the best at executing the quick passing game. At the same time, rookie Cam Skattebo joins in and assumes the power back identity in the huddle.

No matter what befalls him and the run game this season, Tracy still has an obstacle that he must eliminate before he can pull off a breakout year, and that's his turnover woes.

He had five fumbles last season, including a couple that were game-sealing mistakes for the young running back that he is vowing to distance himself from as he strives to become a better player.

If he can better protect the football and keep it off the turf, the sky feels like the limit for the Day 3 selection who is emerging as a budding dual-threat player.

Tracy is now poised to make noise in this new chapter of his blossoming career, and if he takes his stats up to another level as Brooks projects, he will soon become the latest fan favorite who impacts the game at such a young age.