Giants’ rookie RB Tyrone Tracy Jr. has opportunity to make an impact

Hopes are high that New York Giants rookie running back Tyrone Tracy Jr., a fifth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, can help overcome the defection of Saquon Barkley to the Philadelphia Eagles.

NFL Draft Scout even opined that Tracy could have the best rookie season of any of the 20 running backs selected in the draft. NDS said:

Devin Singletary is on his third team in three years (Bills 2022, Texans 2023), and Eric Gray’s 2023 totals of three fumbles and 60 total yards on 23 touches is not RB2 material either. Based on team needs and the quickest route to a starting role, Tyrone Tracy Jr. appears more and more like the rookie running back who will be at the head of the class as we enter the 2024 season.

Let’s discuss Tracy’s chances of doing that as we continue player-by-player profiles of the Giants’ 90-man roster.

The skinny

Height: 5-foot-11
Weight: 210
Age: 24
Position: Running back
Experience: Rookie
Contract: Four years, $4,306,352 | 2024 cap hit: $866,588 | Guaranteed at signing: $286,352

Career to date

Tracy’s story has been well-documented here and in other publications. He was a middling receiver for four seasons at Iowa who was unlikely to be drafted, then converted to running back in his final collegiate season at Purdue. Tracy carried the ball 113 times for 716 yards (6.3 yards per carry) with eight touchdowns. He caught 19 passes. He earned an invitation to the East-West Shrine Game and to the NFL Scouting Combine.

At the Combine, Giants’ running backs coach Joel Thomas was among coaches on the field in Indianapolis working out backs. Tracy got Thomas’s attention. The Giants ended up selecting Tracy in the draft to help fill out their backfield.

2024 outlook

Devin Singletary is the Giants’ lead back. After that, everything is on the table. Eric Gray, a 2023 fifth-round pick, had 17 carries for 48 yards as a rookie. Jashaun Corbin has one NFL carry and three receptions. No other running back on the roster has carried the ball in an NFL game.

Tracy has a golden opportunity to earn playing time. NFL Draft Scout even went so far as to predict Tracy would be the NFL’s most productive rookie running back in 2024:

Based on team needs and the quickest route to a starting role, Tyrone Tracy Jr. appears more and more like the rookie running back who will be at the head of the class as we enter the 2024 season.

Purdue running back coach Lamar Conard, who convinced Tracy to switch positions, believes the rookie will continue to get better.

Conard believes there is a “high probability” Tracy will outplay his status as the 166th pick in the draft.

Tracy is old for an NFL rookie. He will turn 25 in November. As a running back, though, he has taken only one full season of hits.

“The more reps he gets the better he will get,” Conard said.