No, the New York Giants' rushing attack was not very good last season. Losing Saquon Barkley was always going to put a dent in any positive rushing vibes.
The balanced attack head coach Brian Daboll probably would have preferred went right out the window with Barkley. However, fifth-round surprise rookie Tyrone Tracy Jr. did his best to make up for the Saquon-sized hole.
It was an impossible shadow to step out of, but he did his best. The rookie notched 1,123 all-purpose yards and six total touchdowns. Turnovers were a problem for Tracy, but rookie mistakes, you know? To help him and Daboll take the rushing attack to the next level this season, Schoen went heist-mode and stole Cam Skattebo in the fourth round.
Skatt heads to New York coming off of one of the most impressive seasons ever in college football. The 23-year-old wrapped up his final season at Arizona State with 2,316 all-purpose yards and 24 total touchdowns, earning a fifth-place Heisman finish.
You'd think with Tracy's second-year breakout loading and Skattebo's arrival, analysts might be slightly higher on the Giants' running back unit than last season's numbers would indicate. You'd be wrong.
Pro Football Focus' Dalton Wasserman definitely isn't buying the Giants' offensive upgrades... at least not the running game's. In his recent 2025 NFL running back unit rankings, Big Blue ranked 31st, only placing ahead of the Dallas Cowboys. He believes 29 teams have a better RB group than New York, and that is some craaaazy disrespect.
Giants' running backs get zero love in PFF's latest rankings
Wasserman didn’t hold back in his reasoning either. The Giants’ late-season struggles and overall rushing grade carried more weight than any offseason momentum or talent infusion.
"Giants running backs ranked 30th in the NFL in PFF rushing grade last season, yet the team brought its two leading ball carriers back for another season, Wasserman wrote. "Tyrone Tracy Jr. displayed flashes with three 100-yard games, but he slowed down late in the season and eventually earned a mediocre 69.6 PFF rushing grade. Perhaps fourth-round rookie Cam Skattebo can provide a jolt after leading all Power Four running backs with a 93.3 PFF overall grade last season while at Arizona State."
There's disrespect... and then there's blatant disrespect. And unfortunately for the Giants, the blatant kind has been rearing its ugly head more often than fans would like, and this is another one of those instances. Just for argument's sake, the Cleveland Browns have two rookies and Jerome Ford as their group, and they placed 29th. Make it make sense.
Coming off a historically terrible 3-14 2024 campaign, general manager Joe Schoen did his best to improve the roster across the board. He completely rebuilt the quarterback room, revamped the secondary, and addressed depth concerns across both fronts, all while following up a successful '24 draft with an even more intriguing 2025 class.
By all accounts, this team has practically improved everywhere.
That’s why rankings like these feel almost tone-deaf. If the G-Men live up to even half of what this backfield is capable of, PFF’s list is going to look hilariously outdated sooner than later.