NY Giants Running Backs Get No Love in New Ranking

While the New York Giants realized that replacing the epic rushing abilities of Saquon Barkley in their offense wasn’t going to be an easy feat, it turns out their initial plan wouldn’t pan out in the worst possible way last season. 

It needs no saying that Barkley’s void would be humongous in the first year as he was one of the biggest annual producers for the Giants, including his three 1,000-yard seasons, with the last coming in 2022 when he arguably carried the Giants into the postseason for the first time in six years. 

To everyone’s surprise, general manager Joe Schoen’s contingency plan wouldn’t be a total bust. Sure, Barkley went on to the Eagles and posted the career campaign of his life that knocked on the doorstep of the NFL’s single-season rushing crown, but New York’s new prodigy, Tyrone Tracy Jr., stepped up to the plate and flashed his sense of promise as a rookie. 

Now, the Giants have paired what could be their latest late-round hit with another barnstormer in 2025 fourth-round pick Cam Skattebo, the duo spiking early excitement for a new form of dual-threat rushing in the team’s offensive attack this season.

Except when it comes to swaying the opinion of a new running back unit rankings article written by Dalton Wasserman of PFF, though. Wasserman hands the Giants’ ball carriers little love, ranking them 31st overall in the league, ahead of only their divisional foe, the Dallas Cowboys.  

“Giants running backs ranked 30th in the NFL in PFF rushing grade last season, yet the team brought its two leading ball carriers back for another season,” Wasserman said. 

“Tyrone Tracy Jr displayed flashes with three 100-yard games, but he slowed down late in the season and eventually earned a mediocre 69.6 PFF rushing grade. Devin Singletary was a bit less efficient and generated just 10 explosive runs out of 113 carries.”

Wasserman’s bleak analysis appears to be highlighting the deeper statistical facts behind the Giants’ rushing efforts last season. Despite Tracy's heroics, the franchise still finished 20th or worse in three major rushing categories—attempts (25), yards (23), and touchdowns (20). 

Their inability to get a solid run game moving from the start of games often killed many of their drives as well. The Giants were among the league’s five worst teams in terms of average yards (27.3) and points (1.45) per drive, often struggling to move the ball on early downs due to poor run execution. 

Is the Giants running game that bad or is it just inexperience?

But those things aside, it’s fair for us to wonder if his ranking comes down to the overwhelming youth of the Giants running back room as well. 

Singletary is the oldest in the group at 27 years old, entering the 2025 season, and Skattebo has yet to see if his skills translate smoothly to the professional level, making it difficult to make bold proclamations about his impact. 

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The NFL is a much tougher game, and that shift can often force even the brightest rookie prospects to earn their due and overcome the early hurdles that befall them.

We saw that all too well with Tracy, who had a few impressive games but fell victim to coughing up the football in some of the Giants’ tightest games, like Carolina in Week 10 in overtime when he muffed the pigskin, and it led to a grueling field goal loss.

Even with those faults acknowledged, the Giants’ core has demonstrated enough talent to not be ranked this low among the league's rushing units.

They have a player in Tracy who has earned the starter's role after finishing second among rookie running backs with 839 yards, five touchdowns, and yards after contact (546) with 34 missed tackles. 

Skattebo, the second-highest rusher in the nation in 2024, is set to stand right behind him and bring an extra dose of power that came out in the biggest games for Arizona State. If he can bring his usual game to the next level, he, too, will be causing all sorts of trouble in the trenches with an ability to pick up chunk yardage with his bully style of play. 

Understandably, youth can often be the biggest equalizer of top-tier talent from the collegiate stage. Still, the Giants have a unit that, unlike some others, possesses good versatility, which will come in handy when deciding how to attack certain defenses and find that advantage on the ground this season.

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