The "hidden gem" of the New York Giants' 2025 NFL draft class has made a bold promise.
Snagging running back Cam Skattebo with the 105th pick in the 2025 NFL draft gave the New York Giants the top “hidden gem” on Day 3, but also a highly productive backfield weapon who has already promised to bring a “contagious” brand of football to Big Blue’s offense.
Skattebo deservedly earned a reputation as a tough-to-bring-down force at Arizona State. He’s going to bring more of the same to the pros, based on comments he made shortly after hearing his name called during Round 4 in Green Bay.
The 23-year-old said “Physicality is definitely contagious. If someone gets ran over, it hypes the other guys up and gets them going. So I’m gonna continue to bring that and hopefully it feeds off onto my teammates,” per NorthJersey.com’s Art Stapleton.
Brute force defines Skattebo’s game, along with exceptional production. He amassed more than “2,300 scrimmage yards and 24 total touchdowns, both marks leading the Big 12” en route to becoming the “No. 1 ranked Day 3 hidden gem” by Next Gen Stats.
RD 4 | PK 105 – Giants: Cam Skattebo RB, Arizona State
The Sun Devils’ do-it-all back earned the second-highest NGS overall draft score (88) among running backs in the 2025 class, trailing only Ashton Jeanty.
A two-year starter after transferring from Sacramento State, Skattebo
Those numbers show Skattebo can beef up the Giants’ running game, but it’s his tenacity and attitude that will likely endear him most to his new team.
Cam Skattebo Has Attitude and Toughness Giants Need
Their ground attack is led by Tyrone Tracy Jr., a natural speedster who was a breakout find in the later rounds of last year’s draft. Skattebo will be the thunder to Tracy’s lightning, somebody’s who’s already merited comparison with a bruiser from the AFC North.
Skattebo’s ability to bounce off would-be tacklers and keep his legs churning helped him become “the first FBS player since Christian McCaffrey to have at least 1,500 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in a single season,” per Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News.
Matching the exploits of a former NFL Offensive Player of the Year shows Skattebo has the pedigree to make it at the next level. So does the appetite for physicality he developed at an early age.
As Dane Brugler of The Athletic revealed, Skattebo is “wired differently and has always been mentally and physically tough (According to his mother, at age 6, he would wear his brother’s pads and run into telephone poles at football fields while the older kids were playing).”
Skattebo is going to add a smash-mouth edge to an offense that became a little too finesse once workhorse Saquon Barkley jumped ship to the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency last year.
Justifying the decision not to pay Barkley has been the challenge for general manager Joe Schoen. Picking up Tracy in the fifth round in 2024 was a positive first step toward proving Schoen’s controversial thesis right, but Skattebo will need to be just as effective.
Giants Can Have Potent 1-2 Punch In the Backfield
Putting Skattebo into the mix can help the Giants form a potentially dynamic one-two punch in the backfield. He and Tracy can ease the pressure on veteran quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston in the short-term, as well as give would-be future QB1 Jaxson Dart a strong platform for success.
That’s the theory anyway. One Schoen needs to come true to prop up his regime and reputation after back-to-back losing seasons.
If he can hit it big and equip the Giants with a young core of stars led by Dart, Skattebo, Tracy and last year’s first-rounder, wide receiver Malik Nabers, Schoen will have done his job right.
