The departure of Saquon Barkley left a hole at the running back position that the New York Giants will attempt to fill with off-season signee Devin Singletary, rookie draft pick Tyrone Tracy Jr, returning veteran Eric Gray, and others such as Jashaun Corbin, Jacob Saylors, and Dante Miller.
Tracy and Gray will likely compete for the RB2 position, which could factor into a larger role as the season progresses and Singletary's carries add up. Both are capable receiving backs, too.
Tracy, though, seems to be generating the most buzz as a strong potential RB2 for the Giants, so much so that he was named one of Pro Football Network's 2024 fantasy sleepers at running back.
"Rookie RB Tyrone Tracy Jr.’s explosive athleticism, exceptional creativity as a ball carrier, and pass-catching upside have me very intrigued at the end of the fantasy drafts,” wrote list compiler Derek Tate.
“For those unfamiliar with Tracy’s college career path, he’s a converted wide receiver who made the switch heading into his final season at Purdue. This change had excellent results, with Tracy becoming one of the most elusive backs in the country with his short-area quickness, top-shelf lateral agility, and improved play strength after adding more than 10 pounds of muscle entering the last year of his college career.
"Singletary is a quality running back, but he lacks the top-end speed to provide explosive plays in the running game at the same rate Tracy flashed during his limited time as an RB. Additionally, Singletary’s career-high 216 carries in 2023 was coupled with a career-low 4.16 yards per carry. If Tracy can provide a spark to the Giants’ offense early in the season in a complementary role, it’s not that farfetched to suggest his role could expand exponentially throughout the season."
Tracy was an integral part of Purdue's offense last season, finishing with 716 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on 113 carries in nine starts. Although the Giants didn’t work on running plays much during the spring practices, Tracy did get a few first-team reps during installations.
Tracy, who began his college career as a receiver, told reporters during the spring that playing running back was always a goal of his.
“The opportunity was really for receiver. At Iowa, we had some really great running backs. At Purdue, we had great running backs. So I did what the team needed me to do. They needed me to be a receiver, so I went out there and did the best I could at the position,” he said.
Were it not for his conversion to running back, Tracy doesn’t think he would have drawn interest in the NFL draft as a receiver.
“To be honest, no,” he said. “At receiver, I might have been an average speed receiver, average size receiver. At running back, I'm a fast running back; I'm a big running back. I'm a running back who can catch the ball out of the backfield.
“So, yeah, when you look at how God placed every single thing and allowed my situation to align up, switching to running back from receiver was actually the missing piece to the puzzle.”
MICHAEL FRANCE
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