Giants’ Tyrone Tracy Jr. answered questions on ‘distinctive’ skillset

Generally, a participant hears what on the surface seems like respectable questions on his possibilities to make it within the NFL, and that participant bristles.

How dare somebody who doesn’t know me consider my price and have the temerity to additionally doubt my means to do it on the subsequent stage?

Tyrone Tracy may have thought all that, however he didn’t.

He took the alternative tact.

He knew what was on the market about him as a potential NFL operating again, and he accepted the critiques as a result of he understood a few of them have been legitimate and wanted to be answered.

“I really feel like my recreation could be very distinctive,’’ Tracy mentioned after his Giants breakthrough. “I can run like a receiver, however then I also can do the within recreation as properly. That type of will get misplaced in translation simply because I’m a receiver coming to operating again.

“The massive query coming into the league was, ‘Can he run inside zone?’ Clearly, I can run the surface stuff, I can do the open area, however they didn’t know if I may do it in between the tackles. I feel, [Sunday], I answered that.”

Tracy’s reply was resounding.

He and Eric Grey have been the substitute Giants operating backs in opposition to the Seahawks, as starter Devin Singletary was out with a strained groin, lacking his first recreation since he was a rookie with the Payments in 2019.

Grey, a second-year participant, obtained the primary name and, on the opening drive, caught three display passes for a complete of fifty yards.

However after Grey fumbled inches away from the objective line and the turnover was returned 102 yards for a landing, head coach Brian Daboll turned his consideration to Tracy.

The rookie delivered.

Tracy, in his first prolonged enjoying time, superior the trigger for the assumption {that a} middle-round operating again can thrive because the showcase runner, so long as the offensive line is holding up its finish of the discount.

Tracy obtained the ball 18 instances and gathered 129 dashing yards for a strong common of seven.2 yards.

He by no means as soon as was stopped for no acquire or unfavorable yards, which is an important trait that’s laborious to search out in a younger again.

Tracy, 24, is previous for a rookie however is pretty new to his place, having spent three years at Iowa as a large receiver and his remaining two faculty years at Purdue as a transformed operating again.

At 5-foot-11 and 210 kilos, Tracy is man-sized, and he saved the chains shifting in Seattle.

He additionally displayed some big-play moxie with a 27-yard scamper within the second quarter and a 25-yard acquire within the third.

He was entrusted to guard the ball down the stretch, and his six fourth-quarter makes an attempt went for five, 7, 5, 4, 4 and a pair of yards.

Nothing fancy however lots robust.

“Simply operating actually laborious,’’ quarterback Daniel Jones mentioned. “He’s a tough man to sort out. Hit the outlet laborious after which making guys miss on the second stage on a few these runs. I assumed he had a extremely good recreation.’’

It’s laborious to consider that Tracy’s breakout can be considered by the teaching workers as a blip on the radar.

Singletary will probably be able to return for Sunday night time’s recreation in opposition to the Bengals at MetLife Stadium.

He’s a favourite of Daboll’s from their shared time collectively in Buffalo.

The operating recreation the primary 4 weeks with Singletary as the first ball service was spotty.

He’s averaging 3.9 yards per try after the bottom recreation was stamped as null and void by the Cowboys in Week 4.

It stands to cause that Tracy, who had solely 12 dashing makes an attempt within the first 4 video games, earned a higher workload shifting ahead.

“I feel for any of these guys that performed and didn’t possibly have as a lot enjoying time, their job is to go on the market and compete and play at a excessive stage,’’ Daboll mentioned on Monday. “And that’s what we count on. So once more, we’ll do what we have to do every week. However yeah, he had a pleasant recreation.’’

Tracy turned the primary Giants rookie to hurry for 100 yards in a recreation since Saquon Barkley did it in December 2018 in opposition to the Cowboys.

Nobody is evaluating these two gamers.

Barkley was the No. 2 general decide in his draft class.

Tracy went proper round the place he was projected to go — fifth spherical, 166th general.

Taking handoffs and operating between the tackles remains to be pretty new for him, and the Giants favored what they noticed in his first prolonged enjoying time.

“A baller,’’ proper sort out Jermaine Eluemunor mentioned. “Tracy is a baller. You all noticed it. Tracy mentioned he was simply going to go on the market and do his factor, and that’s what he did. His endurance within the backfield, the way in which he simply hit the outlet and created one thing out of nothing is ridiculous. As soon as he will get extra snug within the system, sky’s the restrict.”