The New York Giants called Tyrone in the 5th round, with the 31st pick.
The New York Giants took sage advice from Ms. Erykah Badu and called Tyrone (Tracy Jr.) with the 31st pick of the 5th round (166 overall).
Welcome to the squad, Tyrone Tracy Jr.
: https://t.co/qoKB8IKvna pic.twitter.com/55ISiEqAcU
— New York Giants (@Giants) April 27, 2024
We’re ready for ya @TyroneTracy pic.twitter.com/haZs72mEmH
— New York Giants (@Giants) April 27, 2024
Bio
Tracy, out of Decatur Central High School in Indianapolis, was the 2017 Gatorade Player of the Year in Indiana as a senior, playing running back, wide receiver, defensive back, and kick returner.
He started his career at Iowa. As a redshirt freshman in 2019, it appeared he was on the cusp of breaking out after putting up 36 receptions for 589 yards and 3 touchdowns. When you convert Iowa yardage to standard yardage, that’s close to 1,200 yards and 6 touchdowns.
After 2019, the Hawkeyes lost the part of the playbook that involved the forward pass, significantly stunting his production. It is difficult to catch the ball when the running back has it firmly tucked away on another 3-yard jaunt. Subsequently, he decided to take his talents home to Purdue for the 2022 season.
Unfortunately for Tyrone, fellow Iowa refugee Charlie Jones monopolized most of the receptions in 2022, leaving the rest of the wide receiver group to fight over the scraps. He had a respectable 28 receptions for 198 yards and 17 carries for 138 yards in the Brohm offense, but he continued to look miscast as a wide receiver. Good things happened when he ended up with the ball in his hands, but those occasions were few and far between. It certainly looked like the 5th-year senior was going to be a part of the “going pro in something other than football” cohort.
Luckily for the Boilermakers new head coach Ryan Walters and offensive coordinator Graham Harrell convinced him to come back to Purdue for his 6th season of eligibility. Turns out, holding with Purdue tradition (Mostert mainly), Purdue was playing an explosive running back at wide receiver and then not throwing him the ball. The new staff pitched a move to his high school position of running back and Tracy jumped at the chance.
He went on to put up 716 yards on 113 carries and 19 receptions (better than all but 1 of his 4 seasons in Iowa) for 132 yards. He also returned 16 kickoffs for 408 yards (25.5 avg) and a touchdown. It’s wild to think that without the Covid year none of this would have been possible. It took 5 seasons and 3 different coaches before someone said, “hey, your running back film from high school was dope. Want to try it at the college level?” You’ve got to wonder what his career looks like if he started at running back.
I think the Giants are intrigued by that thought as well.
Playing Style
Tracy is a jack of all trades. He’s perfect for an offense that wants to play fast and move players around on the field. You can put him in the backfield. You can start him in the backfield and flex him out to wide receiver. You can give him a straight handoff, give him the ball on the jet sweep, toss it to him out of the backfield, or have him line up and run receiver routes.
The man is pure hell to cover on a wheel route.
At 6’1”, 210 he’s a bit tall for a running back. That’s further compounded by his upright running style, but he flows like water with the ball in his hands through traffic, expertly navigating run lanes both inside and outside the tackles. It’s easy to peg him as a 3rd down only back, but his ability to use his vision to pick through traffic and his speed to get out the other side gives him more utility than your average 3rd down back.
Throw in his kick return ability and the Giants filled several roles with one 5th-round selection. That’s solid value in a draft that falls apart after the first 60 or so players.
Player Comp
Raheem Mostert
Granted, he doesn’t have Mostert’s world-class speed, but other than that, their college careers were similar. Both players had blazing speed, and subsequently got pushed out to wide receiver. Both made a move to running back in their final season of college football. Mostert had 525 yards on 93 carries as a senior. Tracy had 716 yards on 113 carries as a (super) senior.
Like Raheem, Tracy flashed high running back potential in his one year in the backfield, with the added bonus of having limited running back mileage because of the position change from wide receiver. Tyrone spent 6 years in college football, but he didn’t spend those 6 running into brick walls. He’s an older draft pick, but should have more juice left than a 3-year feature back.
I’m not predicting that he’ll have the same career as Mostert, but the potential to do something similar in the NFL is intriguing.
Overall
The NFL has limited roster spots. Tyrone Tracy Jr. can fill in as a wide receiver, take handoffs, and return kicks. Let’s be real, like Mostert, we have no idea what Tracy’s ceiling is at running back. Maybe he is limited to being a 3rd-down back and kick returner, and that’s fine, but I see more proverbial meat on the bone.
This dude is a football player and has the potential to be a difference-maker as a pro. I’ll bet interested to see how things pan out.
One thing I do know?
None of this happens if he remains at Iowa. If you’re looking for a portal success story, Charlie Jones and Tyrone Tracy Jr. are about as good as it gets.