Tyrone Tracy Jr. answered questions about unique skillset with Giants breakout

Sometimes, a player hears what on the outside sounds like legitimate questions about his chances to make it in the NFL, and that player bristles.How dare someone who does not know me evaluate my worth and have the temerity to also doubt my ability to do it at the next level?Tyrone Tracy could have thought all that, but he did not.

He took the opposite tact.He knew what was out there about him as a prospective NFL running back, and he accepted the critiques because he understood some of them were valid and needed to be answered.“I feel like my game is very unique,’’ Tracy said after his Giants breakthrough.

“I can run like a receiver, but then I can also do the inside game as well.That kind of gets lost in translation just because I’m a receiver coming to running back.“The big question coming into the league was, ‘Can he run inside zone?’ Obviously, I can run the outside stuff, I can do the open space, but they didn’t know if I could do it in between the tackles.

I think, [Sunday], I answered that.”Tracy’s answer was resounding.He and Eric Gray were the substitute Giants running backs against the Seahawks, as starter Devin Singletary was out with a strained groin, missing his first game since he was a rookie with the Bills in 2019.

Gray, a second-year player, got the first call and, on the opening drive, caught three screen passes for a total of 50 yards.But after Gray fumbled inches away from the goal line and the turnover was returned 102 yards for a touchdown, head coach Brian Daboll turned his attention to Tracy.

The rookie delivered.Tracy, in his first extended playing time, advanced the cause for the belief that a middle-round running back can thrive as the showcase runner, as long as the offensive line is holding up its end of the bargain.Tracy got the ball 18 times and accumulated 129 rushing yards for a robust average of 7.2 yards.He never once was stopped for no gain or negative yards, which is an essential trait that is hard to ...