Things could not have gone much better for the New York Giants in their regular-season opener.
The Giants secured a 28-20 win at home over the division rival Dallas Cowboys in prime time. Despite the final score being relatively close, New York appeared to be in control of the contest for a majority of the game, as their physical game plan seemed to take a toll on Dallas.
However, as is the case with every team, there are still areas where the team might improve. In New York’s case, one analyst believes the Giants are now in a situation where they can have an addition by subtraction, as he’s calling for the team to move on from running back Tyrone Tracy Jr.
New York Giants Pushed to Move on From Tyrone Tracy
Despite the win, the game was likely the worst-case scenario for New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy. Tracy only had two carries in the game, but his second resulted in a lost fumble, which might have led to him not playing another snap on offense for the rest of the game.
FanSided’s Jason Kandel believes the Giants should move on from Tracy, as he wrote: “Harbaugh would be better off siphoning some of Tracy’s snaps in Harris’ direction.
The 27-year-old was being talked about as a possible trade or cut candidate a few weeks ago, but the Giants opted to keep him around. His biggest selling point this summer was his ability to make defenders miss and catch passes out of the backfield, yet that receiving ability wasn’t even part of the equation Sunday night.
For all of the big plans the G-Men had for the Purdue product, it doesn’t exactly make sense to keep playing him. Both Skatt and Singletary were more productive, and Najee Harris is a better pass-blocker and less fumble-prone, so either make Tracy a healthy inactive or move on.”
FanSided’s Lior Lambert believes the Detroit Lions could be a potential destination for Tracy, as backup Lions running back Isaiah Pacheco is set to miss most of the season following an injury in Week 1. Lambert wrote: “That leaves former UFL star Jacob Saylors and special teamer Sione Vaki to handle backup duties behind superstar tailback Jahmyr Gibbs. Not great, Bob.
Vaki has 13 career touches across two campaigns and one game into Year 3 in Detroit, and Saylors, who was once with the Giants, has two. In other words, neither has proven capable of being Gibbs’ primary understudy, let alone stepping in as a replacement. Recency bias aside, Tracy would instantly be the most established and trustworthy No. 2 option.”
Tyrone Tracy’s Underutilized Skillset
Prior to the season, former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber believed Tracy’s pass-catching was an underutilized ability for the Giants offense, particularly in the screen game.
Barber said, “We have good screen players like Tyrone Tracy is so elusive and slippery and space. Using him in a screen game because he’s got great hands, obviously, I think is one of the underutilized things from the last couple of years with him, and you know that’s going to come back because Matt Nagy has proven he can do that or, as a play designerish, I don’t know if he he didn’t call the plays there, but as a play designer I think he’s got every intangible that you need to make the screen game so important, and I mean Giant fans scream for it all the time, ‘screen now!’ I think we’ll see it and I can’t wait for it.”
While Tracy has had success as a pass-catcher, that role appears to have gone to Devin Singletary, who caught four passes and a touchdown in the season opener.
Giants Pushed to Cut Ties With ‘Underutilized’ Playmaker After Cowboys Win