Tyrone Tracy Jr.

The Skinny

Tyrone Tracy Jr. is a 5'11", 209 running back. He was drafted in the 2024 NFL draft by the New York Giants, going in the 5th round with the 166th pick.

Tracy Jr., who will turn 25 during the 2024 season, played wide receiver for the Iowa Hawkeyes from 2019-2021. After the 2021 season, he transferred to the Purdue Boilermakers. During the 2022 season he was still used primarily a WR. In 2023 he transitioned full time to running back.

During his first and only season as a full-time running back he rushed for 716 yards and eight touchdowns on 113. He also recorded 19 receptions for 132 yards.

The Exciting

Tracy averaged 6.34 yards per carry during his sole season as a running back. While this is par for the course of an NFL prospect, rarely are such numbers achieved in a players first year at the position. The upside is extremely high for a guy who has only one year of experience under his belt

Tracy achieved a PFF run grade of 90.5, good for tenth among all draftable running backs in his class. His total offense score was 87.5, good for 11th in his class.

Tracy was drafted into a good situation. The New York Giants have the following running backs under contract: Devin Singletary, Eric Gray, Tyrone Tracy Jr., and Gary Brightwell. Singletary will be the starter out of the gate, having signed a 3 year, $16,500,000 contract, AAV of $5.5M. Tracy will compete for backup snaps against Eric Gray who averaged 2.8 yards on 17 carries in 2023 behind Saquon Barkley.

The situation, despite the signing of Singletary, remains a positive one for Tracy. Singletary was not given "the guy" money - he is currently outearned by 13 running backs. To add to that, this will be Singletary's first year in a Giants uniform which means Tracy should have a similar amount of time to impress the staff. Singletary (27 years old) carried the ball 238 times in 2023 (post season included) and did not eclipse 1000 rushing yards.

Tracy brings a unique skill set because of his receiver background. He is a great athlete and will bring the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield.

The Reality Check

Tracy slid in the draft in relation to where he hoped to go. The Giants used very little draft capital on him and their loyalty to him may largely depend on how hard he works in camp and if he flourishes quickly.

Pass protection is a concern coming out of college, and it may be difficult to keep him on the field because of that. However, it should be noted that he only had one year of experience in college, so it's conceivable that he improves in that regard.

Brian Daboll, the Giants head coach and playcaller, rushed the ball 454 times in 2023, good for 15th in the league. However, the Giants running backs only had 10 rushing touchdowns the entire year, which was 26th in the league. And three of those touchdowns were not by running backs. With an average commitment to the run and a below average ability to rush for a touchdown, Tracy may not have many opportunities to break out and cannot be expected to score many touchdowns in this offense.

Remember, Tracy and Gray are expected to battle for the backup position in camp. Should Tracy lose that battle he will have a large uphill climb to fantasy relevance. Tracy's best path to fantasy relevance is to outperform Gray in camp and be given ample opportunities in the pass game as a receiver to impress the staff, carving out a niche as a receiving back.