Cam Skattebo is the New York Giants running back who gets all of the attention from fans and media. It is Tyrone Tracy, though, who is coming off back-to-back seasons of 1,000 or more yards from scrimmage.
Does Tracy ever feel overlooked?
“Not really,” Tracy said on Monday. “When you say he gets all the attention, I really don’t care about that, to be honest. I’m about football. About what I do on the field, how I carry myself on the field and off the field as well. But at the same time, I’m going
to go out there and do what I need to do at the end of the day.”
A fifth-round pick by the Giants in 2024, Tracy had 1,123 scrimmage yards as a rookie and 1,028 last season. He did not begin either of those seasons as the team’s No. 1 running back.
What the Giants actually have at running back is a 1a and 1b with Skattebo and Tracy, whichever order you put them in.
Head coach John Harbaugh said Tracy will have “a big role” for the Giants.
“Both those guys are going to be together back there playing a lot of football,” Harbaugh said. “You can’t play with one back anyway, and they’re both competing for everything at this point in time. Against themselves, against each other, against the opponent, against the defense. Both those guys are going to play a lot.”
Tracy understands the assignment.
“Iron sharpens iron, so he’s going to push me, I’m going to push him,” Tracy said. “And, obviously, we are two different running backs, so I think we complement each other really well. So, it’s not necessarily like me against him, but best believe that I’m going to push him to be the best that he can be, and he’s going to push me to be the best that I can be each and every day. Whether it’s running the ball, passing, blocking, being a good teammate.
“Obviously, Skatt’s really loud. He’s loud. He’s a great leader, so that’s allowing me to be – pushing me to be a great leader as well. Each and every thing that we’re doing, I’m trying to challenge him, and he’s going to challenge me. So, I think we complement each other really well.”
Tracy said all of the Giants’ running backs understand that Harbaugh wants an offense that leans on the run game.
“We want to run the ball. I think if you look at Harbaugh and where he’s been, and all the running backs that he’s used really his whole career, they’ve all been successful,” Tracy said. “So, when he came here, we were all excited. You’ve got a running coach that’s coming to you, so as a running back room, we’re excited for him to be here, to be honest.”
The mastermind behind the Giants’ run game is senior offensive assistant Greg Roman, a four-time offensive coordinator with a reputation for designing run concepts.
“I think he has his schemes, to be honest. His schemes are so different. I’m sitting there in awe, really, each and every time he gets up to talk. He’s very detailed. He knows exactly what he’s talking about,” Tracy said. “If he says it’s going to be this way versus a certain look, I promise you, you go out there, and that look is going to end up exactly what he says. So, he’s been around the game. He’s been around winning teams. College level, too. When he was at Stanford, I think he said he ran the ball; one guy had like 40 carries one game for 200, 300 yards. He’s been around the game a long time. He has the stats to back it up, and he’s very knowledgeable.
“So, Coach Ro, I mean, you can’t really say enough about him. He’s a good coach. Great coach with a lot of knowledge.”
Tracy explained a little more about the run scheme.
“There’s really no gray area, and it’s not just one way to run the ball,” Tracy said. “He’s calling the same run, but out of different formations, different motions, different pullers. There’s a whole bunch of different stuff going on, but again, he’s making it very simple and easy for us to learn.”
Tracy said offensive coordinator Matt Nagy wants the offense to “look complicated to the defense, but simple to us as an offense.”
“We want to be explosive,” Tracy said. “We want to move the ball down the field, and I think the way we’re doing that is being simple but also making the defense think a little bit.”
Tracy, even if he doesn’t get much attention, will be a big part of it.
