John Harbaugh made his preference clear in Week 1, and it had less to do with splash plays than with dependability. In a Giants backfield that looked crowded and hard to sort out all offseason, Devin Singletary ended up in the RB2 spot behind Cam Skattebo even though he spent much of the summer on the roster bubble.
When Harbaugh explained why Singletary kept his place, he went straight to trust. "The biblical word is 'faithful.'
You can trust him. You can believe that he's going to be doing the right thing, as best he can to the best of his ability."
That mindset helps explain why Tyrone Tracy Jr. has been slipping. Tracy Jr. brings the kind of burst the Giants’ other backs simply don’t have.
Last year, he ripped off 19 carries of ten or more yards, while Singletary had six. When Tracy Jr. gets the ball, the speed shows up immediately.
But the other side of that equation is hard to ignore. Tracy Jr. has had recurring problems with fumbling and pass protection, and those issues keep costing him.
He fumbled in Big Blue’s first preseason game, then got Jaxson Dart blown up on a protection error in the second. After his Week 1 fumble, it would not be surprising to see him pushed to special teams for the rest of the year.
Singletary doesn’t bring the same juice. Against the Cowboys, he carried six times for 16 yards. He did make an impact as a receiver and found the end zone, but his rushing numbers were modest at best.
Still, the veteran gives the Giants something valuable: steadiness. Since November of 2024, Singletary has only had two carries of 15 or more yards, but he also hasn’t fumbled since 2024, and he’s the best pass-blocking back on New York’s roster. At 29, he may not be the back who changes a game with one cut, but he also isn’t the one most likely to blow it.
That’s the kind of player Harbaugh appears to trust, and it showed against the Cowboys. Singletary was on the field in key spots, and that role should keep him in the mix throughout the season.
In Other News...
Giants Just Sent A Worrying Message About Their Secondary
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Reed arrives as an undrafted rookie out of Oregon who already has five games of NFL experience from his time in Los Angeles before a hamstring injury ended his season. For New York, the transaction is less about adding a long-term name and more about keeping the secondary functional while the boundary spots remain in flux, which is never a comforting place to be this deep into the season. [Read more 🡒]
John Harbaugh Is Already Changing The Giants Coaching Debate
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For Giants fans, the bigger point is not just the result but the feel of it. Harbaughs debut offered the kind of flexibility and creativity the organization clearly wanted when it made its decision, and the early return only sharpens the debate over passing on McCarthy. One game is hardly a verdict, but it was enough to show why this choice could define the franchises direction for a long time. [Read more 🡒]
Abdul Carter May Be Giving The Giants Defense Its Missing Piece
Abdul Carter wasted little time making his presence felt in Week 1, and the Giants could hardly have asked for a cleaner opening statement from their second-year edge rusher. In the win over the Cowboys, Carter posted a 90.3 PFF grade, finished with five total pressures, and helped force the kind of disruption that turns a defensive possession into a takeaway. Among edge defenders that week, only two graded higher, and no one on the Giants defense topped him.
For a unit that has spent plenty of time searching for a true difference-maker up front, that kind of impact matters. Carter already showed strong pressure production as a rookie, and with a fully guaranteed four-year, $45.3 million contract behind him, the expectation is that this is the level the Giants need to see consistently. If Week 1 was any indication, the more interesting question is not whether Carter can help this defense, but how quickly he can become the piece that changes its ceiling. [Read more 🡒]