New York Giants Training Camp Preview: RB Tyrone Tracy Jr.

Will Tracy propel himself into the Giants’ No. 2 running back spot with his dynamic skill set?

Nov 25, 2023; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Purdue Boilermakers running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. (3) celebrates after the game at Ross-Ade Stadium. / Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

Outside of Saquon Barkley, who was drafted No. 2 overall in 2018 amid heavy criticism, the New York Giants have struggled with drafting running backs. This offseason, it became a priority for the front office to take one, and they brought in dual-threat ball carrier Tyrone Tracy Jr. to try to reverse the trend. 

In just the last few months, the Giants' running backs room has seen many drastic changes. Barkley and former backup Matt Brieda departed the franchise in free agency, and two more rushers, Gary Brightwell and Deon Jackson, were released following injury designations. That left them with two unproven pieces, Jashaun Gorbin and Eric Gray, who aren’t ready to contribute heavily.

In return, they signed veteran Devin Singletary, who is expected to be the front-runner and opened up a competition for his backup. New York also signed Dante Miller and former UFL star Jacob Saylors to battle for their tastes of the 53-man roster and topped it off with arguably the most intriguing fifth-round draft selection of Purdue’s own Tracy.

Unlike the other players in the position, Tracy comes to the NFL and the Giants with one of the more interesting and versatile backgrounds. He spent his early collegiate years at Iowa, where he appeared in 38 games as a wide receiver and struggled to perform more than modest production as a perimeter pass catcher. 

In 2022, Tracy transferred to Purdue with his former coach from Iowa, and it was suggested that he transition to the running back position, a move that the player credits with saving his career. 

In his first season in the backfield, the 24-year-old led the Big Ten in yards per carry (6.3), scored eight rushing touchdowns, and had his most extensive action in five seasons. 

Tracy remained involved in both sides of the Boilermakers offense through his final season in 2023, but the rushing made for a record campaign and thrust him into the draft spotlight. He now enters his first training camp with the Giants, boasting all the right elements to be an explosive playmaker in their current thinly talented backfield. 

Likened to Tony Pollard in his skillset, Tracy is an incredible athlete with a giddy-up to beat interior defenders around the edge and burst down the sidelines for huge gains. With speed and explosiveness, he is a threat to score on any given play, including the passing game, where he has the verticality and physicality to catch short and medium-range balls, shed tackles at a high rate, and create valuable production for the Giants offense. 

No matter where he is placed on the field, Tracy does many things right and brings that hard-hitting running that the Giants have admired in the best running backs of their recent history. There could be a learning curve against sharper NFL gap defenders early on. 

Still, Tracy is a dual-threat running back candidate who was highly viewed among late-round prospects and could outpace the rest of the position group for the late-down, passing situations co-pilot spot with Singletary if he continues to impress throughout training camp. 

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TYRONE TRACY  JR, RB

Height: 5-11
Weight: 210 lbs.
Exp.: R 
College: Purdue 
How Acquired: D5-24

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2023 in Review

Tracy’s second and final season with Purdue saw his most extensive action since transitioning to the running back position. On the ground, he rushed 113 times for a career-high 716 yards and eight touchdowns and posted an average rush of 6.3 yards that led the Big Ten and marked the second-best single-season rushing average in the Boilermakers' history. 

Not only did he carry the biggest workload of his collegiate tenure, but he did it with a hardnose attitude that shredded opposing defenses for extra yardage. Tracy forced a whopping 46 missed tackles on his 113 carries which was good for 506 yards after contact and an average of 4.44 yards after contact per rush that finished fourth in the entire nation. He also had an explosive run rate of 23.1 percent which topped off at the 97th percentile since 2018. 

Along with his rushing output, Tracy contributed an additional 19 receptions for 132 yards and an average catch of 6.9 yards in Purdue’s aerial game. Most of his work came from the backfield, but he was an occasional contributor to the slot, which goes back to his days as a wide receiver in Iowa. Even there, his physicality showed with steady hands that he only dropped two passes all year and created 129 yards after the catch for the third-best total at the college level. 

Tracy returned 16 kickoffs on special teams for 408 yards (25.5 average) and a touchdown. It seems unlikely the Giants throw him to the wolves if he lands an important role in their backfield in 2024, but that offers him an additional pathway to the active roster should they elect to go there. 

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Contract/Cap Info

Tracy signed a four-year rookie contract with a total value of $4,306,352, including $286,352 of guaranteed money, and will possess a cap charge of $866,588 towards the 2024 season. The rookie rusher’s deal marks the 88th-highest salary among 193 active running backs, per Over the Cap.  

2024 Preview

Tracy does not have the same resume of being a full-time running back—he only carried the pigskin 146 times in five seasons of college football—that his veteran teammate Devin Singletary has built up. That rawness, along with Singletary’s prowess of finding his holes between the tackles better than any other back on the team, will make it hard for the Giants to thrust him into the starting workload. 

That said, Tracy is very experienced in entering the fold at nearly 25 years old and knowing what it takes to make big plays and push the offense further. He carries a ton of physical talent with him that hasn’t been fully depleted like a full-time ball carrier, and he also knows what it means to be a leader in the huddle.

Ever since the rookie minicamp in May, the Giants have been toying with seeing what kind of role the rookie could have in their offensive system. Given his ideal build for the position combined with his toughness, explosiveness, and receiver-type skillset, all signs point to Tracy serving a backup role with an emphasis on zone rushing schemes and split out pass concepts where he could line up next to between two receivers and put his speed and route-running ability to task. 

The rest of the incumbents in the position group have yet to do anything impressive with their limited production, meaning there isn’t much competition for Tracy on paper. As long as he stays healthy, he should be involved in numerous aspects of the Giants offense and add some extra maturity to a young backfield.

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