Giants Ready to Serve a Healthy Dose of “Pancakes” This Fall

The last time the New York Giants had the league’s best rushing attack was in 2008, when they averaged 157.4 yards per carry.

That season, they also happened to have a pure fullback on the roster, Madison Hedecock, who helped the Giants produce two 1,000-yard running backs in Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw.

Since then, the Giants’ rushing attack has landed in the top five league wide only two other times, in 2022 when it averaged 148.2 yards per game (fourth) thanks to Saquon Barkley and quarterback Daniel Jones, and again last year when they averaged 129.1 yards per game (fifth), an average that was boosted by the rushing contributions of quarterback Jaxson Dart.

While taking advantage of Dart’s mobility will still be in the plans moving forward, the Giants are looking to bring back a pure power rushing game that puts the bulk of the onus on the running backs.

And right there, leading the way for that goal will be 6-foot-3, 300-pound fullback Patrick Ricard, who joined the Giants from the Ravens, becoming the first pure fullback the Giants have had on the roster since Henry Hynoski’s final season in 2014.

Ricard, nicknamed “Pancake Pat” for his tendency to deliver crushing lead blocks that flatten defensive linemen, prides himself in the physical part of his game.

Ricard, who played defensive line throughout college before converting to the offensive side of the ball three years into his NFL career, credits that early foundation as a key to his success as an NFL lead blocker.

“I think it translated really well, on top of also understanding how defenses work, how a defensive line, how a front plays, how their gaps sound, how they blitz, how they pass rush, and I think I was able to take all those things that I learned from playing defense and use it in my game on offense,” he said Thursday during an introductory video call with reporters.

As a fullback, the number of times Ricard actually gets to carry the rock is rarer than solar eclipses. But that’s just fine with him.

“It does not bother me if I don't get the ball at all. Sometimes I'd rather have these other guys get the balls because they're just, to be honest, they're better,” he said.

“They're more explosive. They can run a lot faster than me. I'm 300 pounds, so, I'd rather have the ball in their hands and me blocking for them.”

Bringing Power Back

The thought of “Pancake Pat” serving up a heaping of bone-crunching blocks with Skattebo, who is another human bowling ball, charging right behind him, has Giants fans excited.

Ricard shares in that excitement as well.

“I loved watching him last year, and I was just thinking to myself, ‘Man, that guy has a lot of fun,’” he said of Skattebo.

“I've had a couple of conversations with him. He was recruiting me to come here. I'm close with (tackle) Jermaine Eluemunor. Jermaine was FaceTiming me, and right in the background, there's Skatt saying ‘What's up?” to me. So, I'm excited to work with him and get to know him more.”

Ricard grinned when asked what the “Pat and Skatt” attack might look like once they start working together.

“It's going to look like a lot of yards and a lot of touchdowns,” he said. “It's going to be just physicality all over the place. It's going to just be exactly what the people want to see.”

And “Pat & Skatt” is just one facet of an offense that has Ricard champing at the bit to get started working for an offense that he predicts no opposing defense is going to look forward to facing.

“You're going to see the passion on the field. You're going to see guys playing incredibly hard for one another,” he said.

“You're going to see a defense that's not going to want to come to MetLife Stadium to play us.”

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