The Giants added a four-time 1,000-yard rusher to a room that already had two backs splitting first-team reps, and somehow the depth chart got less clear, not more. Najee Harris signed a one-year, $1.215 million deal with no guarantees, per ESPN, fresh off an Achilles tear that ended his three-game stint with the Chargers last season. He got three carries in Thursday's joint practice with Miami and coach John Harbaugh called him a 'downhill runner, physical runner.' That's coach-speak for 'we like him enough to keep him around,' not 'he's taking the job.'
Cam Skattebo is still the name atop the depth chart, and for good reason. He scored 7 touchdowns in 8 games as a rookie before an open ankle fracture ended his year in Week 8. He looked good enough to start the preseason opener against Minnesota, but Harbaugh's own scouting report says he's 'not 100% twitchy and explosive yet.' That's an honest admission from a coach who has zero incentive to hype an injury recovery before it's real. Given how gruesome that fracture reportedly was, along with the ligament damage that came with it, nobody in the building is rushing him back to bell-cow workload before he's ready.
Then there's Tyrone Tracy Jr., who's quietly put together back-to-back 1,000-plus scrimmage-yard seasons and has been running with starting QB Jaxson Dart in practice all camp. His 83.3% pass-block win rate reportedly grades out ahead of his teammates, which matters a ton in obvious passing situations. He also caught heat for a missed block that sent Dart to the medical tent, a reminder that in Harbaugh's building, pass protection isn't optional if you want third-down snaps.
Add in Devin Singletary, Eric Gray and Damon Bankston, and you've got a room Harbaugh has openly said could carry 4 running backs, the same setup he ran in Baltimore. That's not just camp filler talk. Front-office types reportedly worry about Skattebo's durability given his size and running style, so the insurance policy is real and it's layered three deep behind him.
For fantasy purposes, this is exactly the kind of situation that tanks draft-day equity across the board. Skattebo's ADP has been climbing toward the third round, with some boards pushing him as high as pick 35 overall as RB19, but that number was set before the Harris signing fully sank in. Anyone drafting him now is paying a talent premium while betting on both a clean health return and Harbaugh actually feeding him bell-cow touches, neither of which is guaranteed with this many mouths to feed.
Tracy is the sneaky value play here if you believe the passing-down role sticks. Third-down backs in efficient, Dart-led offenses can carve out weekly PPR floors even when the goal-line work goes elsewhere, and his rapport with the rookie quarterback in camp is a real signal, not just a beat-writer narrative. Harris, meanwhile, is a legit late-round dart throw or waiver stash. A four-time 1,000-yard back on a minimum-guarantee deal with career numbers of 4,373 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns doesn't need a big role to pay off in deeper leagues if Skattebo's ankle acts up again.
The betting market angle is worth watching too. Giants team-rushing and RB touchdown props are going to be wildly inefficient early in the season simply because Vegas books, like fantasy managers, don't have a clean read on this rotation yet. That volatility can be an edge for anyone paying close attention to snap counts in Weeks 1 and 2, before the market corrects. Until then, treat every back in this room as touchdown-dependent and workload-fragile, and don't be shocked if the pecking order looks completely different by Halloween.