Cam Skattebo’s hamstring injury may end up handing Greg Desrosiers Jr. his first real NFL stage, and the timing couldn’t be much bigger for the Giants.
Skattebo still hasn’t been cleared for New York’s Week 9 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. He sat out practice on Wednesday and Thursday after hurting his hamstring on his final run of the Giants’ overtime win over the Houston Texans in Week 7, and he still hasn’t fully bounced back after the bye week.
That leaves the Giants paper-thin at running back. If Skattebo can’t go, Desrosiers Jr. and Devin Singletary are the only healthy backs on the active roster. A trade deadline addition could still be coming, but it wouldn’t arrive in time to matter for this game.
For Desrosiers Jr., an undrafted rookie, the opportunity is suddenly right in front of him.
His NFL path didn’t begin with the Giants. The Los Angeles Chargers signed him after April’s draft, and he flashed enough in the preseason to turn some heads, including a 118-yard game. Still, he wound up on the Chargers’ practice squad before New York brought him in as an emergency third option after Tyrone Tracy Jr. was placed on injured reserve.
Now he may be asked to handle meaningful snaps in one of the season’s biggest games.
Singletary will still be the lead back Sunday. He’ll start and should take the bulk of the work, especially in passing situations. “Motor” has been trending up lately and put the finishing touch on a strong outing with a walk-off touchdown against the Texans.
But the Giants have leaned on a committee approach all season, and with the depth chart squeezed, Desrosiers Jr. is likely to get real carries against Philadelphia.
He also brings a different style than the back he may be replacing. Skattebo is the kind of runner who welcomes contact and tries to run through defenders. Desrosiers Jr., who was a kick-return standout at Memphis, is more about burst and acceleration.
That gives him a profile closer to Tracy Jr., and with Tracy Jr. out, the Giants have already lost some of that big-play juice from the backfield.
Desrosiers Jr. sounds ready for the moment. As he told the New York Post, “Hopefully I can come in and make plays and show my explosiveness and give them a reason to keep me here and show ’em why they chose me. I promise this: I’m gonna make it count, I’m gonna make the plays if that does happen.”
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