If you've never heard of Tyrone Tracy Jr., I'm not shocked. There wasn't a whole lot to talk about when it came to his college career. He was an okay wide receiver at Iowa, which is in an offense not really known for its passing attack anyway. He knew at that time he was not going to make his dream of making it to the NFL level if he didn't make a change. So, he transferred to Purdue and became a running back instead.
Now, his first year at Purdue didn't do a whole lot, but last season he ended up becoming the starting running back and ran for 749 yards on 113 attempts, good for 6.3 yards per attempt. He added eight rushing touchdowns to go with it. When you take a look at the depth chart in New York right now, Tyrone Tracy Jr. is really the only one that offers the impact on the ground and in the passing game.
A couple of years back, there was a guy out of NC State that was applauded for his ability to make plays in the passing game as a running back because he used to be a former wide receiver. His name is Nyheim Hines. Tyrone Tracy Jr. is a bigger, stronger version of Nyheim Hines. Tracy understands the playbook when it comes to what he's doing in the passing game, his route trees, how he executes that, and his ability to be more explosive on the ground than what Devin Singletary may be. This is going to offer him the opportunity to see more and more touches as the season goes on. In OTAs, Tyrone Tracy Jr. was already getting reps with the first-team offense. It's clear that the New York Giants see him as a potential fit in this offense.
Now, here's another name that you probably don't recognize: Joel Thomas. Thomas is currently the running back coach for the New York Giants. Oddly enough, Joel Thomas was the running back coach for the New Orleans Saints the year they drafted Alvin Kamara, another guy that didn't have the most illustrious college career. Now, obviously, Kamara's was much better than what we saw from Tyrone Tracy, but Kamara was a guy that wasn't even getting first-string touches at Tennessee for a majority of his career. Remember Jalen Hurd, the running back turned wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers? He was actually the starter over Alvin Kamara during his time at Tennessee.
Anyway, Alvin Kamara came into the New Orleans Saints with a pedigree that they thought they could mold into an all-around back that could make an impact in the passing game and on the ground. That same running back coach is now helping Tyrone Tracy potentially follow the same exact steps. Am I saying Tyrone Tracy is going to be an RB1 this season? Absolutely not. But Devin Singletary, last season, for as much volume as he got, was not very efficient, and that was with a better team. The New York Giants might find themselves playing from behind more times than not. They don't really have a ton of established pass catchers right now. Tyrone Tracy has the ability to find targets and attempts on the ground right away.
There aren't a whole lot of times you see me get super excited about a running back that was drafted as late as what Tyrone Tracy Jr. was, but this year I am absolutely in love with Tyrone Tracy Jr. and I think he could end up being one of the steals of fantasy drafts all year long.
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