Tyrone Tracy Jr. has been sidelined since he suffered a shoulder injury in the New York Giants’ Week 3 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs. However, the second-year running back returned to practice on a limited basis on Friday, October 3.
While the return to practice was a positive step in the right direction, will Tracy play in Week 6 when the Giants face the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday Night Football?
Will Tyrone Tracy Jr. Play in Week 6?
Yes, Tracy will play in Week 6. He has managed to practice and enters this game without an injury designation, so it doesn’t seem that he’ll be limited in any way.
The fact that Tracy is able to play even with the Giants being on a short week is a great sign. New York will need all the help they can get when they face the defending champion Eagles.
Now, the question is: how will the Giants split the workload between Tracy and rookie running back Cam Skattebo? Through five games and two starts in his NFL career, the Arizona State product has carried the ball 63 times for 240 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 3.8 yards per carry. He has also added 18 receptions for 143 yards through the air.
Based on PFSN’s RB Impact (RBi) metric, Skattebo is the 33rd-ranked player at his position in the league with a score of 72.0 and a grade of C-. Tracy isn’t eligible for the RBi ranking due to a lack of snaps.
Given how effective Skattebo was during Tracy’s absence, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he remains the starter, with Tracy mixing in. In 20 games as a pro, Tracy has also proven himself to be an effective player. The former fifth-round pick has carried the ball 214 times for 907 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 4.2 yards per carry thus far in his NFL career. He’s also added 46 receptions for 338 yards and a touchdown as a receiver.
The former college wide receiver converted to running back in his final year at Purdue and has made that transition seamlessly. While he was off to a slow start this season, Tracy’s return will give a boost to Jaxson Dart and a struggling Giants team that sits at 1-4.
Tracy’s Fantasy Outlook
They tell young kids that you can’t lose your job due to injury, and in amateur athletics, I’m all here for that messaging. This isn’t that.
Tracy is back after being labeled as doubtful last week, but the role he left behind likely isn’t his to have any more. I’m keeping Tracy rostered if for no other reason than Skattebo runs like a maniac and that carries injury potential of its own, but with this franchise giving the keys to Dart, the youth movement is underway.
While Tracy isn’t old (even by running back standards), he’s more than two years older than Skattebo, and that matters.
Tracy is a good player, but at 3.1 yards per carry this year, it’s not as if what he’s doing can’t be replicated. As for Skattebo, he runs as hard as anyone, has holes open up thanks to a versatile QB, and has soft hands (18 catches on 22 targets this season).
I understand that this offensive environment isn’t as friendly as most, but it’s a concentrated unit that is prioritizing getting their young pieces valuable reps.
This is a difficult matchup and while efficiency could be an issue, I’m not worried about the bottom line. Skattebo is a script-proof back and that’s going to land him safely inside of my top 20 every single week moving forward.