The Giants did the easy part on Tuesday: they trimmed the backfield. What comes next is the harder job, because cutting Najee Harris does not magically sort out who deserves the carries or make Cam Skattebo the answer by default.
New York released Harris, leaving Skattebo, Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary on the active roster. That means one less body to juggle in a crowded running back room. It does not mean the Giants have identified a dependable lead runner.
Skattebo remains the most interesting name in the group, but his numbers don’t tell the story of a back who has forced the issue. He has 294 yards on 81 carries, which works out to 3.6 per attempt, and he has one rushing touchdown.
Harris, before getting cut, had 99 yards on 31 carries. Dropping the less productive veteran makes sense, but neither stat line says the run game has been fixed.
There’s also the ball-security piece, and that can’t be brushed aside. Skattebo’s official season totals show four fumbles, with one lost.
That is not the same thing as four turnovers, and it shouldn’t be treated that way. But four fumbles is still a real problem that deserves attention.
The bigger issue is what happened against New Orleans. Skattebo had no carries in that game.
For a player who leads the team in rushing, that is a hard outcome to explain away, no matter how the rotation was drawn up. If the Giants want the backfield to mean something, they can’t keep leaving one of their top runners on the sideline.
Against Houston, Skattebo should get a defined early chance, and the test ought to go beyond the box score. Can he hold onto the ball when contact comes?
Will he take the yards that are there? If the offense has a dry spell, can it come back to him without scrapping the whole plan?
Those are the questions that matter more than handing him a token first touch.
Tracy and Singletary are still in the mix, and if one of them performs better, that player should get the work. A cleaner rotation is supposed to reward production, not hand out touches as a formality.
And even with Harris gone, the run game still depends on the line doing its job. A roster move doesn’t erase a missed block or suddenly solve the blocking in front of the backs. Skattebo’s production is part of a larger offensive issue, not a standalone indictment of every run that stalls.
The Giants haven’t announced a feature back, and there’s nothing to suggest any public comment triggered Harris’ release. What changed Tuesday was the personnel. What needs to change Sunday is the structure: give Skattebo a real chance, keep the other backs involved for a reason and stop letting the rotation become the excuse for the offense’s problems.
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