Tyrone Tracy Jr. Enjoys Huge Outing in First NFL Start with New York Giants
It only took five weeks for former Purdue running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. to get his first start with the New York Giants. The NFL rookie made the most of his opportunity, too.
Sunday, Tracy got the start in New York's Week 5 game against the Seattle Seahawks. The former Boilermaker had an outstanding performance, rushing for a game-high 129 yards on 18 carries.
Excellent run here by Tyrone Tracy! So much upside with him, excited to see him get more chances #NYG pic.twitter.com/uuwJe3FZrT
— Alex Wilson (@AlexWilsonESM) October 6, 2024
Thanks to his offensive explosion, the Giants were able to pick up their second win of the season, defeating Seattle 29-20. New York improved to 2-3 with the win.
"We did what we needed to do. I'm just happy we got the win," Tracy said in the postgame interview. "All the stats don't matter if we don't get the dub."
New York selected Tracy in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft out of Purdue. Prior to Sunday's game against Seattle, the rookie running back had just 29 yards on 12 carries.
During his college career — which started at Iowa and ended at Purdue — Tracy bounced around between wide receiver and running back. In 2023, he solidified his role in the backfield with the Boilermakers.
As a senior at Purdue, Tracy rushed for 716 yards and eight touchdowns and was named a third-team All-Big Ten selection. He credited Boilermakers coach Ryan Walters for allowing him to play the running back position in a permanent role in 2023.
"To be honest with you, no," Tracy said in May when asked if he'd be in the league if he was still a receiver. "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 outfield.
"When you look at how God placed every single thing and allowed my situation to kind of align up, switching to running back from receiver was actually the missing piece to the puzzle."
Tracy is still searching for his first touchdown in the NFL. We'll see if he crosses the goal line next week, when the Giants host the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday Night Football (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC).
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