Fantasy Football Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft: Cam Skattebo (Pick 2.05)

Dynasty fantasy football managers thought they found a diamond in the rough with New York Giants rookie running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. last season.

A fifth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Tracy had 400 more yards than veteran running back Devin Singletary last season. Tracy's 4.4 yards per rush average didn't jump off the stat sheet, but Singletary posted just 3.9 yards per carry.

After Tracy became the Giants starting running back in Week 5, he averaged 4.5 yards per rush with 1,053 yards from scrimmage and six total touchdowns.

A deeper dive into Tracy's production tells a slightly different story. He struggled with consistency week to week. Sometimes, that was due to a lack of touches, but in other cases, like the final two weeks of the season, Tracy simply didn't showcase much efficiency.

After Christmas last season, the 25-year-old averaged 3.5 yards per carry with no touchdowns.

Tracy's late-season struggles weren't enough for the team to target a running back early in the 2025 NFL Draft or sign one in free agency. But the Giants found a college standout at running back still on the board in the fourth round.

Could the Giants have found a diamond in the rough for their backfield on Day 3 of the draft two years in a row? It might be worth the risk for fantasy managers to find out.

With the No. 17 overall selection of our PPR rookie dynasty mock draft, and the fifth selection of the second round, we project Giants running back Cam Skattebo coming off the board.

Pick 2.05: RB Cam Skattebo, New York Giants

For dynasty fantasy managers who don't pay very close attention to the college game, Skattebo is probably just "that Arizona State running back who dominated Texas on New Year's Day."

Skattebo didn't leave anything in the tank during his final college football game, which was a playoff matchup for the Sun Devils. Skattebo ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns on a whopping 30 carries. He also caught eight passes for another 99 yards in the Peach Bowl.

His 242 yards from scrimmage were four times the output of any other Arizona State player in the game. Texas' Matthew Golden, who I projected to be the final first-round selection of this mock draft, was second in the game behind Skattebo with 149 yards from scrimmage.

But Skattebo was a lot more than a one-hit wonder last season. He led the Big 12 with 293 rushes and 1,711 rushing yards in 2024. His 338 touches led the conference too while he averaged 5.8 yards per carry.

Standing under 5-foot-10 and 219 pounds, there's significant questions about how Skattebo will hold up at the next level. But his incredible performance in the Peach Bowl against one of the top defenses in college football put that to rest enough for him to be a fourth-round pick.

NFL.com's Lance Zierlein compared Skattebo to Pittsburgh Steelers' Jaylen Warren, who went undrafted a few years ago.

"He reads his blocks quickly and is more elusive in the early stages of the run than he’s probably given credit for," Zierlein wrote. "He lacks top-end speed and will have to contend with bigger, better tacklers on the next level.

"Skattebo’s effectiveness as a receiver out of the backfield should add to his draft value. His physicality and edge should bode well for him as a complementary back with three-down value who is capable of helping an offense wear down the defense."

The perfect situation for Skattebo is probably the one in which he landed, where he doesn't have to be the lead back and can share the load. While he's an incredible workhouse, he still might not have the frame to do it in the NFL.

The Giants aren't an ideal offense from a scoring perspective, but with Tracy and Singletary returning for 2025, Skattebo wcan share responsibilities.

And if he follows Warren's path, he will be very fantasy relevant. Warren averaged 4.8 yards per rush during his first three seasons as the Steelers RB2.

Be careful not to overdraft Skattebo off his New Year's Day performance alone. But the historic game proved he has the capacity to excel at the next level.