Giants Country

Giants RB Tyrone Tracy Jr. Among League’s Best in Two Special Categories

New York Giants RB Tyrone Tracy, Jr joins some elite rushing company in several areas.

Stephen Lebitsch

Nov 24, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito (15) hands off to running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (29) during the first half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at MetLife Stadium.
Nov 24, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito (15) hands off to running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (29) during the first half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at MetLife Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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New York Giants rookie running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. has been in a bit of a funk amid what has been a pretty promising debut, but he is still finding ways to put himself among special company throughout the league’s backfield party. 

In his first 12 games in the NFL, Tracy has become a surprise player in the Giants offensive game plan beyond what anybody expected of a rookie coming out of the fifth round of the 2024 draft. 

He has gone from being the backup to Devin Singletary, the veteran who was signed to fill the void left when Saquon Barkley left in free agency, to becoming a more heavily used back and pass down playmaker with his dual-threat skillset. 

There have been some ups and some downs for the young man with the positives, which includes three games of at least 103 yards rushing, doing more to impact the potential outcomes of the Giants’ games than the recent negatives. 

Tracy has even flipped the order of the running back position with his production that has now totaled up 125 carries for 619 yards, four touchdowns and a respectable average of 51.6 yards per game that is second on the team and first in the 2024 class.

Still, he has been dealing with obstacles in the turnover department that have also separated him from his fellow rookie rushers. The 25-year-old’s case of the drops has come on three instances in New York’s last three contests including two against the Panthers and Buccaneers that tainted his statlines and  iced opportunities for the Giants to put rare points on the scoreboard.

Putting all of the recent frustrations aside, Tracy should keep his head up and push forward to continue diversifying his year one resume. In fact, he recently added himself to two new distinct groups of running backs by boasting quality numbers in two unique statistical metrics by The 33rd Team.

According to the outlet, the Giants running back, who was also named one of their 14 biggest NFL Draft steals, is among the best position players in yards per touch with at least 120 attempts and 20 catches and the least negative yardage rushes in a minimum of 100 carries.

In the former category, Tracy checks in at fourth with an average touch of 5.3 yards through 13 weeks which trails only former Giant Saquon Barkley, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Bijan Robinson, two of whom have eclipsed 6.0 yards per touch in the same workload. He owns just six negative carries in the same bandwidth which elevates him to first above these same competitors.

This means the Giants have recruited themselves a very young piece that has a proven ability to be reliable so long as he gets past the line of scrimmage and doesn’t cough up the football. He knows how to find the holes in a moving offensive line and if the protection holds up will muster whatever forward progress he can to set the tone on the ground which tends to be in the intermediate range. 

The key is the aforementioned workload which is what made Tracy’s outing against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday so peculiar. The Giants limited his snaps to just 10 reps for the second consecutive week and the lowest since Week 9 against Philadelphia while electing to attack the Cowboys defense with the veteran presence of Singletary who led the team in the run department. 

Tracy finished the 27-20 loss with only nine carries for a dismal 32 yards, one touchdown and an average carry of 36 yards which was also his lowest since the same loss to the Eagles six weeks earlier. The only saving grace to the Giants strange decision was that they found him an additional two times on a pair of catches for 33 yards and a long of 18 yards. 

The Giants missed out on a huge opportunity to cash in with their more productive back given the opponent in front of them. Dallas entered the meeting as the 31st ranked team in run stop win rate and 29th in average yards per carry allowed and they had given up over 100 yards to eight of their opponents this season. 

In his three 100+ yard games, Tracy faced teams with defensive units in the bottom half of the league in those same categories and it allowed him to thrive for an average push between 5.7 and 7.3 yards. He could have done the same damage to the Cowboys’ lackluster run response, but perhaps the Giants were weary of his ability to protect the football and not fumble it to soil their drives. 

On the same token, with numbers like these amongst the sport’s most active running backs, there should be no reason why New York turns away from their novice ball carrier. Tracy has shown in more ways than one that is capable of being a high-impact guy for their offense and he was brought in to develop into a long-term answer for a less premium position at a cheaper rate. 

When there seems to be little sign of life from the passing element, the Giants will have to trust the run to pick up the slack and help put them in favorable positions to compete. They have a weapon that can do that in Tracy who is efficient and largely smart in his work, and they should lean back on his talents as they welcome a New Orleans Saints team that is just as poor as Dallas in the run defense capabilities. 

That is until things change or the defenses learn to stop him more consistently, and then the Giants might just have a daunting offensive problem ahead of them in the final five games and beyond.

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Stephen Lebitsch
STEPHEN LEBITSCH

“Stephen Lebitsch is a graduate of Fordham University, Class of 2021, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communications (with a minor in Sports Journalism) and spent three years as a staff writer for The Fordham Ram. With his education and immense passion for the space, he is looking to transfer his knowledge and talents into a career in the sports media industry. Along with his work for the FanNation network and Giants Country, Stephen’s stops include Minute Media and Talking Points Sports.

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