Why the NY Giants’ 2025 Top-5 Rushing Attack is Deceptive

On the surface, the New York Giants' running game last year was far from being a problem.

Big Blue’s ground game averaged 129.1 yards per game, putting them fifth in the league by season’s end. That showing also marked its highest ranking since the team’s postseason berth in 2022 (148.2 yards per game), when New York finished fourth.

Buried within the stats of both of those seasons are the contributions made to the running game by the quarterbacks.

Last season, the Giants' quarterbacks, led by Jaxson Dart, rushed for 616 of the team’s 2195 yards (28%), second in the league per PFF data.

And in 2022, the quarterbacks, then led by Daniel Jones, accounted for 819 of the 2519 rushing yards (32.5%), the third-highest ground total by quarterbacks league-wide that season.

Going back to last season, the Giants' running backs--Tyrone Tracy Jr, Devin Singletary, and Cam Skattebo--contributed 1,587 rushing yards, that total moving the group down to 15th league wide.

New York Giants running backs Tyrone Tracy Jr. (29) and Devin Singletary (26) return, along with Cam Skattebo (not picture) for a second season as a trio. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

In short, the contribution by the quarterbacks inflated the stats, while also raising questions about whether it is wise to have the quartebacks contribute as heavily to the rushing game as they have of late.

And what does that say of the Giants' running backs? Clearly Giants general manager Joe Schoen and head coach John Harbaugh are happy witht he group since they're running it back with the same trio, a move made possible after Singletary agreed to a pay cut earlier in the season.

“We like our running back room now,” Schoen said before the draft while taking care not to rule anything out.

“Skatt had a really good rookie year; Tyrone Tracy has been a 1,000-yard all-purpose guy the last two years; Devin (Singletary) is back; Turbo (Dante Miller), Eric Gray coming off the injuries. But we like the room the way it's constructed right now.”

It's certainly a good young core, but this offseason, the Giants have made some not-so-subtle changes to how the rushing attack is going to look moving forward--changes that will undoubtely conjure up memories of the "smash mouth" days of Giants fotball.

Going back to their power roots

New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs and fellow running back Derrick Ward (not pictured) both rushed for 1,000+ yards in 2008, making them only one of seven teammates to accomplish that feat. | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

The last time the Giants’ rushing game ranked in the top five in consecutive years without the added contribution of the quarterbacks was in 2007, a Super Bowl-winning campaign when they finished fourth (134.3 yards/game), and 2008, when they ranked first (157.4 yards per game).

In both of those seasons, the Giants not only had an athletic and powerful offensive line that regularly moved defenders out of the way, but they also boasted a burly fullback (Madison Hedgecock) who, in his prime, was a “pancake” specialist.

Under Harbaugh, the Giants seem to be going back to that formula. The Giants, in order to ensure their running game continues to thrive, have tweaked the operation by adding personnel up front.

They retained blocking tight end Chris Manhertz, who, per PFF, had a 69.9 run blocking grade, 13th among 50 tight ends with a minimum of 100 blocking snaps.

They added fullback Patrick Ricard to the backfield, a big bruiser known for serving up Sunday pancakes to unsuspecting defenders trying to stop the runners behind him in their tracks.

New Giants fullback Patrick Ricard is bringing some thunder back to to the Giants rushing attack. | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Ricard, with his 70.4 run-blocking grade, ranked fifth among the 23 running backs and fullbacks with a minimum of 100 run-blocking snaps, and was the second-highest graded fullback, behind Reggie Gilliam of the Bills, on the list in 2025.

And New York added former Miami Hurricane offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa to their projected starting offensive lineup for this coming season.

Mauigoa, a college tackle who right now is the heavy favorite to take over the right guard job previously held by Greg Van Roten the last two seasons, posted a 77.1 run blocking grade last season, tops among the seven 2026 draft-eligible offensive linemen who partook in a minimum of 1,000 snaps.

The offensive line is going to be key

New York Giants offensive lineman Evan Neal will compete at guard this summer, but he may see more snaps on the left side, where he excelled at Alabama. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

There is still more work to be done to help the Giants' running game. The biggest area of need is the interior offensive line, particularly left guard.

In the two seasons that Jon Runyan has been at left guard for the Giants, he’s finished at the bottom in run blocking among Giants offensive linemen who have played a minimum of 100 run blocking snaps in the season.

His PFF grade in 2024, his first season in blue, was 52.3. Last year, he finished with a 49.2 grade, ranking last among Giants offensive linemen with a minimum of 100 run blocking snaps.

Given how the moves the Giants made between free agency–they brought back Evan Neal, Joshua Ezeudu, Jake Kubas, and Aaron Stinnie from last year’s group, and added Lucas Patrick and Daniel Faalele via free agency–it’s obvious that with Mauigoa slated to start at right guard, there is going to be more of a competition at left guard.

The three most likely guys to watch as competition for Runyan at left guard are Neal, Ezeudu, and Stinnie.

Ezuedu saw most of his NFL snaps at left guard during the 2022 campaign, his rookie season, before being moved to tackle, a position where he never really looked comfortable or consistent.

Stinnie has been a career left guard, playing 1,214 snaps there and finishing with PFF run-blocking grades of 58.9 or higher in four of his six pro seasons.

Neal, however, is the one to watch if this competition does indeed develop. Although he only played in 44 snaps at guard last summer before the former coaching staff gave up on him, a move back to the left side, where Neal posted some of his best college tape, makes too much sense not to try.

Neal posted a 70.1 run blocking grade in his first season with the Crimson Tide in 723 snaps at left guard. Two years later, he had an 80.4 grade in 1,071 snaps at left tackle.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

Although the Giants, on paper, have made upgrades to where they no longer have to lean as heavily on designed quarterback runs to move the chains via the ground game, there is still a matter of figuring out if, among the pieces already on the roster, they have enough to finally get to the point they want to be.

Training camp will obviously start to yield answers, but if it turns out that they don’t have the pieces on the roster, rest assured, whatever is missing will be prioritized next year.

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news, and send your mailbag questions to us.

Add us as a preferred source on Google