Giants Still Struggling to Replace Saquon Barkley, Despite Best Efforts

The New York Giants, and general manager Joe Schoen have done real work attempting to replace Saquon Barkley, who departed last spring to sign with the NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles before walking off the podium in New Orleans as a Super Bowl champion and NFL Offensive Player of The Year.

It couldn’t have sat well with owner John Mara, or the Giants, having watched Barkley come 100 yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record as a driving force behind Philadelphia winning its second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history and in the past six seasons.

Barkley, originally chosen by the Giants with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, spent six largely injury-riddled seasons with New York, rushing for 5,211 yards with 48 touchdowns before exploding for 2,005 yards and 13 scores last season, his first behind the Eagles’ elite offensive line.

Despite adding Tyrone Tracy and Cam Skattebo during the past two NFL Drafts, it is an open question whether the Giants have enough firepower to lean on the ground game as a focal point in 2025.

Pro Football Focus Bearish on Giants’ Running Backs

Justin K. Aller | GettyThe New York Giants are betting second-year running back Tyrone Tracy can be a focal point of the offense in 2025.

As the 2025 season approaches, Pro Football Focus analyst Dalton Wasserman ranked every running back situation in the NFL, with only the Dallas Cowboys listed as a worse situation than the Giants’ No. 31 ranking.

“Giants running backs ranked 30th in the NFL in PFF rushing grade last season,” Wasserman writes for PFF. “Yet the team brought its two leading ball carriers back for another season. Tyrone Tracy Jr. displayed flashes with three 100-yard games, but he slowed down late in the season and eventually earned a mediocre 69.6 PFF rushing grade.

“Devin Singletary was a bit less efficient and generated just 10 explosive runs out of 113 carries. Perhaps fourth-round rookie Cam Skattebo can provide a jolt after leading all Power Four running backs with a 93.3 PFF overall grade last season while at Arizona State.”

The Giants have struck an optimistic tone when it comes to expectations for Skattebo, as a rookie, after he rushed for a career-high 1,711 yards with 21 touchdowns, while averaging 5.8 yards per carry for the Sun Devils, and Tracy aims to build on an 839-yard rookie campaign this fall.

If New York’s offense is going to achieve the kind of balance necessary to compete, not to mention maximize the deep shots downfield by quarterback Russell Wilson and Malik Nabers in the vertical passing game, the Giants’ backs are going to need to make significant strides from their subpar showing last season.

Tyrone Tracy Envisions Explosive Giants Duo

Adam Hunger | GettyRookie running back Cam Skattebo could play a major role in the New York Giants’ running game, this upcoming season.

The flashes Tracy showed as a rookie, while averaging 4.4 yards per carry and scoring five touchdowns, should have the Giants optimistic that he can be a driving force of the offense in his second season.

Tracy, 25, looks to build on his flashy rookie season but will likely share the workload with Skattebo, as the Giants lean into a young backfield duo that New York hopes has plenty of upside to offer and can ultimately dictate to opposing defenses.

“Obviously I’ve got my speed and elusiveness,” Tracy told reporters, of how he envisions the Giants’ running game taking shape. But, Skattebo, he’s got a little bit of everything. I watched his film, obviously, I’ve seen him play. I think we’ve all seen him play. That boy has got some power to him. I think that’s one of his strengths – is his strength, really.

“His power, the way he runs the ball. He runs angry, he runs hard, he runs physical, some of the things that Dabs loves. But again, I think that we’re two different backs, but I think we complement each other really well.”

Time will tell if the blossoming chemistry between Tracy and Skattebo on the practice fields in June will lead to an explosive ground game in September and beyond, but the Giants are hoping that this upcoming season is a foundation for years to come in a revamped backfield.