What are the Giants going to do with a rookie who just turned 25 in the middle of his first NFL season and has just stepped into a position where he’s expected to play?
Of the six prospects selected by the Giants in the 2024 NFL Draft, Tyrone Tracy is perhaps the most intriguing, but his age, inexperience as a running back, and potential for a big hit make him perhaps the most intriguing. It would be impossible to evaluate, considering whether there is any gender or no gender at all.
“We have a lot of guys that are a little older, but they haven’t matured yet,” Purdue running backs coach Lamar Conard told the Post. “They can’t take the harsh coaching and the criticism that comes with the job. He can do all of those things and then some. Believe it or not, he can do this… He’s still young in his position, so I think his best football is yet to come. From a talent standpoint, he has it.”
Yes, Tracy is old for an NFL rookie, but he’s certainly young for a running back. That means he hasn’t taken any physical hits during his long stay in college.
Tracy is more of an unknown than most players, as he’s more of a novice than an expert in the job the Giants envision him doing.
“We’ve got to do a good job of getting him here and seeing where he is and trying to adapt him to what he can do well,” coach Brian Daboll said.
At running back, veteran Devin Singletary was signed to start in place of Saquon Barkley, who is currently with the Eagles.
Eric Gray, Gary Brightwell and Jashawn Corbin return, but as a group they ran for just 68 yards on limited attempts.
The Giants should have looked for help at this spot earlier in the draft, but you could also argue that they waited until 13 running backs were out of the roster before selecting Tracy with the 166th pick in the fifth round.
Tracy spent four years as a wide receiver at the University of Iowa, which is something of a firefighter in an igloo given the program’s recent aversion to good passing attacks.
He caught 66 passes in that span and then transferred to Purdue.
In 2022, while still a receiver, he had 28 catches and 17 rushing attempts.
Conard has a history with the Tracy family and was hired by Purdue in 2023.
As an assistant at Miami University in Ohio, he recruited and coached two of Tyrone Tracy’s three brothers, Kenny and Javon.
When he arrived at Purdue, Conard’s first conversation with first-year head coach Ryan Walters was about Tracy. “I need Tyrone. He’s a running back,” Conard said.
Walters agreed.
“There was already some trust built up because of my relationship with the Tracy family,” Conard said. “When I met him, he gave me evidence of why I think this will work. He’s a very conscientious kid and we’ve already had an all-hands meeting back in the room. We were in a hurry, and he was like, “I don’t want to mess with those guys.” I told him I would train him to be a kickoff returner and punt returner. He’ll bring the football. And he was like, “All in.” It was surreal. ”
The results were convincing.
At 5-foot-11 and 209 pounds, Tracy has the build of a running back, and his transition to becoming an NFL prospect was smooth.
Tracy led the Big Ten with an average of 6.3 yards per attempt, and his 716 rushing yards were second on the team behind Devin Mocobee’s 811 yards.
With eight trips to the end zone, he became the first Purdue running back to lead the team in touchdowns since 2015.
Perhaps this is just the tip of the iceberg for Tracy.
He was allowed more than 15 rushing attempts only three times, and averaged 131 yards in those three games.
“His best skill is receiver,” Conard said. “He catches the ball fluidly. He runs routes fluidly. You can separate him from the backfield and he’ll teach people how to line up. He has that much IQ. He’s very comfortable in space. At tailback, that’s not the norm. He can run routes like a receiver. His hips are loose.
“And when you slide him into the backfield, he’s just as comfortable in this tight space. A lot of times with receivers, you’re like, ‘I’m going to get smoked here, safety equipment. You can see that it’s about to fall and knock your head off.” They’re coming down and out of bounds. Tyrone wouldn’t do that. He’s kind of a throwback, playing through contact, through contact. ”
Daboll said the Giants will “throw him into the mix” as a running back and kick returner.
Rookie minicamp begins Friday.
“We like to categorize players like, ‘He’s a running back, he’s a receiver, he’s a kick returner,'” Conard said. “He’s just a hell of a football player. He’s a different guy, dude. He’s great.”
