The New York Giants have endured their fair share of misses in the draft, but the 2024 rookie class has shown a lot of promise so far. Especially fifth-round running back Tyrone Tracy Jr., who just so happens to be coming off his best outing of the year.
Against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football, Tracy ran the ball for 145 yards and a touchdown off 20 carries. That effort yielded a yards per carry average of 7.3 YPC — beating his 7.2 YPC performance in Seattle.
On the season, he’s now up to 5.2 yards per carry, which is tied for eighth among all NFL running backs. The best part? Tracy only converted to running back during his final years of college.
“Would you believe me if i said this only my second year at the position?? 👀” Tracy posted on X on October 29, sharing an ESPN clip of his 45-yard touchdown run in Week 8.
Before long, Tracy’s statement blew up with over 26K likes, 1.1K reposts and north of 2.3 million views.
At Purdue, the Boilermakers first started utilizing Tracy as a wide receiver/running back in 2022 after he transferred over from Iowa, but he made the full transition in 2023 — his senior campaign. The 5-foot-11 playmaker was a natural right from the get-go, with 8.1 yards per carry in 2022 and 6.3 YPC over a larger sample size in 2023.
According to Tracy, he considers that to be his first true season as a running back, and he tallied 8 rushing touchdowns and 65.1 yards per game that year for Purdue.
Tyrone Tracy Appears to Have Stolen Giants’ RB Job From Devin Singletary
After Week 6, NorthJersey.com beat reporter Art Stapleton predicted that Tracy would steal the Giants’ lead running back role from Devin Singletary once the latter was healthy enough to return. That prediction finally came to pass in Week 8.
Tracy was given 41 offensive snaps against the Steelers according to Pro Football Focus, while Singletary was limited to just 28 offensive snaps. Third stringer Eric Gray also logged 3 snaps at RB, giving Tracy roughly 57% of the snap share in Pittsburgh.
That should continue in Week 9, assuming Tracy works his way back from a concussion. In fact, considering the concussion took the rookie off the field for the final minutes of the game, his future snap share could actually exceed 57% if this trend progresses.
The Giants signed Singletary to a three-year, $16.5 million contract this spring. They brought him in to be the starter, but this is a young team, and the hope was always that Tracy or Gray would develop into the guy.
If Big Blue wants to fully commit to Tracy in 2024, they could try and trade Singletary ahead of the deadline — which would shed $2.5 million in cap space now and $5 million or greater each of the next two years. Another option is to keep the veteran as a mentor to Tracy and look to cut or trade him next season.
How Does Giants RB Tyrone Tracy Compare Analytically Around the NFL?
Tracy has injected this offense with a burst of energy, but there are still areas where he can improve, analytically speaking.
Per PFF, Tracy’s breakaway run percentage ranks 13th in the NFL. That’s one of his stronger areas at 37.2%.
His “elusive rating” (50.8) is not as good at 36th in the NFL. This PFF Signature stat measures the “success and impact of a runner with the ball independently of the blocking.”
Finally, Tracy averages 3.01 yards after contact, which ranks 30th. These metrics aren’t terrible by any means, but Singletary actually grades out more elusive and better after contact, with 3.17 yards after contact and an elusive rating of 104.4.
The one area Tracy beats Singletary is breakaway run percentage — with his breakaway percentage being 33.2%.
So, while Tracy certainly looks more explosive and efficient than Singletary by the eye test and the results (yards per carry and receiving yards per catch), the analytics tell a slightly different story. Having said that, all that really means is that there is still more room for the 24-year-old to grow as the season goes on.
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Giants RB Tyrone Tracy Sends Viral Message After Breakout Performance