Giants Country

New York Giants RB Devin Singletary: The Good, the Great and the Ugly

Coach Gene Clemons breaks down New York Giants running back Devin Singletary's film.

Gene Clemons

Devin Singletary
Devin Singletary / Patrick Smith/GettyImages
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When Saquon Barkley decided to move on from the New York Giants to the division rival Philadelphia Eagles, Giants general manager Joe Schoen wasted no time bringing in a replacement in the form of Devin Singletary.

Singletary began his career with the Buffalo Bills, where he was scouted by Schoen and coached by Brian Daboll, his offensive coordinator. Last year, Singletary was with the Houston Texans, where he helped that young squad ascend to a playoff-caliber team. 

Even though he and Barkley have been the main backs for their respective teams, Singletary has much less worn tread on his tires based on his usage over his time in the league, which has helped him stay healthy. 

He started the season as the backup but assumed the starting role in Week 9 and finished his best professional season. 

The best way to describe his running style is "workman-like." He now brings that blue-collar style to the Big Apple in a jersey number that all fans will recognize: No. 26. 

Let's look at the good, the great, and the ugly of Singletary's game. 

The Good: Quality Inside Running

Singletary is a really good inside runner. His ability to make one or two cuts and explode vertically makes him good. He can read the blockers in front of him and make quality cuts in traffic. He runs well behind his pads and can run through arm tackles. 

Some of these runs may not seem impressive, but the results usually mean that Singletary does not lose yards when the defenders are closing unblocked. 

On plays where other backs would not process quickly, Singletary makes the reads faster and takes advantage of defenders out of position. This ability was displayed throughout Houston’s game against Cincinnati last season. 

The Great: He's a Consistent Doubles Hitter

Running backs gain yards at many different levels, so let's use a baseball analogy to illustrate. Singletary is a great doubles hitter. He routinely gets chunks of yards beyond the average. 

His sudden one-cut ability, low center of gravity, and tough running style leave defenders reaching for arm tackles, which he is able to run through. Singletary’s ability to break off chunk runs helps to keep the offense on schedule or bail it out if it gets off schedule. 

The ability to gain beyond average yards on runs makes him ideal for four-minute drills where the team needs to ice the game. In the game against the Bengals, Singletary produced a good amount of these runs. 

The Ugly: Not a Home Run Hitter.

In baseball, you rarely see someone who hits a lot of doubles and also hit many home runs. Singletary has excellent burst and acceleration. Those are reasons that Singletary breaks off a lot of above-average runs. 

However, he does not possess the long speed to consistently take runs to the house from far away. In the game against the Bengals, he had 11 rushes of five or more yards. Four rushes were between 11 and 14 yards, while one was a 22-yard gain. That would be ten doubles and a triple, but no home runs. 

His longest run in 2023 was only 24 yards. He has not had a rush over 35 yards in the past two seasons and has not produced a run over 50 yards since his second season in 2020.

Coach’s Counsel

Moving on from a dynamic runner like Barkley would never be easy. However, Singletary was a nice pickup. He should provide consistent performance behind what is sure to be an improved or hopefully healthier offensive line. 

This team needs to add a home run-hitting element in the draft to compete with what the new #26 brings to the table. That player would likely be the heir apparent as this team goes through this transition. Singletary could be a 1,000-yard rusher in New York, depending on his usage. 

Photo by Patrick Smith/GettyImages

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Gene Clemons
GENE CLEMONS

Gene "Coach" Clemons has been involved with the game of football for 30 years as a player, coach, evaluator, and journalist.  Clemons has spent time writing for the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, Bridgton News, Urbana Daily Citizen, Macon Telegraph and footballgameplan.com.  He has a YouTube channel called "Coach Gene Clemons" where you can find his popular "X&O The Joes" series as well as other football related content.