Giants Believe They Don't Need a Star Running Back — Here's Why

No marquee addition, no problem — Tyrone Tracy Jr. and the Giants' running backs say Greg Roman's new scheme and a "team" mentality are all they need to be a premier group.

New York Giants running backs Devin Singletary and Tyrone Tracy Jr. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy, Jr. undoubtedly heard the offseason chatter about the Big Blue running backs room and how a big-name player was the missing ingredient necessary to take the unit to the next level.

Head coach John Harbaugh apparently felt differently, publicly stating as far back as late March that the running backs on the roster—holdovers Tracy, Cam Skattebo, Devin Singletary, Eric Gray, and Dante Miller, plus undrafted free agent Damon Bankston—had what it takes to fulfill his vision for the ground game.

Tracy naturally agrees.

“I think we can be a premier running back group,” he said after Monday’s practice.

“When you're talking about there's running back rooms around the NFL, I think that you have a group of people in our room—like, we all can go in there and execute.”

New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Giants’ new-look offense is going to lean a lot more heavily into its running backs, which will hopefully mean fewer designed runs by quarterback Jaxson Dart.

At the center of the new run game design is senior offensive assistant Greg Roman, whose schemes, according to Tracy, are different from what the Giants ran in the past.  

“He's very detailed. He knows exactly what he's talking about. If he says it's going to be this way versus a certain look, I promise you, you go out there, and that look is going to end up exactly what he says.”

Tracy explained that Roman’s schemes are set up to be easier for the running backs and blockers to learn.

“There's really no gray area, and it's not just one way to run the ball. He's calling the same run, but out of different formations, different motions, different pullers,” Tracy explained.

“There's a whole bunch of different stuff going on, but again, he's making it very simple and easy for us to learn.”

It also makes for a unit that, according to right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, will be a force.

“We’re not going to shy away from contact on any level,” Eluemunor said. 

“We’re going to be a team that wears you out, and by the fourth quarter you probably don’t want to be in the game because we’re just going to keep going and keep going and keep going, taking those body shots. And then, when the fourth quarter comes, go for that knockout punch. That’s the type of team that we want to be.”

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