Anthony Rivardo
Giants star running back Cam Skattebo played eight games as a rookie and still finished with 617 scrimmage yards and seven touchdowns before a dislocated right ankle in Week 8 ended his season. He was the most productive back in the Giants’ rotation when he went down, and he is already out of the walking boot and tracking toward a full training camp.
Skattebo told reporters he is not satisfied with that debut and expects 300 carries and more than 2,000 yards across a full 17-game slate.
He spent his rookie year proving he can carry a heavy workload. But that workload is set to increase in year two of his career.
The rookie tape that ended too soon
Skattebo rushed 101 times for 410 yards and five touchdowns and added 24 catches for 207 yards and two scores on 125 total touches. Those are eight-game totals, not a full season, and they came from a back who was leaned on immediately in the passing game as well as on early downs. The receiving role fits a Matt Nagy offense that asks its backs to stay on the field on third down.
Skattebo ranked fourth among NFL running backs in both missed-tackle rate forced and yards after contact per attempt, according to RotoBaller. Contact balance was the entire scouting profile coming out of Arizona State, and it translated against NFL front sevens before the ankle cut the sample short. The efficiency, not just the volume, is what carried the tape.
A fourth-round price for a lead-back role
Skattebo arrived as the 105th overall pick in the 2025 draft on a four-year deal worth $5.271 million with a $1.1 million signing bonus. For a back the team is prepared to hand a feature workload, that is one of the cheapest lead-back contracts in football, and it buys the front office three more controlled seasons at running back while the money goes to the trenches and the secondary.
The gap between his cost and his projected role is the whole appeal. CBS Sports projects Skattebo for 208 carries, 907 rushing yards, and nine touchdowns in 2026, while RotoBaller projects closer to 1,400 total yards and 11 touchdowns if he stays healthy.
| Category | Rushing | Receiving | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attempts / Targets | 101 carries | 24 receptions | 125 touches |
| Yards | 410 | 207 | 617 |
| Touchdowns | 5 | 2 | 7 |
The Nagy offense wants a back like this
John Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy inherit a backfield with a clear No. 1, and that clarity is new for the Giants. Skattebo’s blend of contact balance and receiving reliability fits an offense that wants to control tempo around a second-year Jaxson Dart rather than ask the quarterback to win every game from the pocket. A heavy dose of Skattebo keeps Dart in manageable down-and-distance and gives the play-action game its teeth.
Skattebo is out of the boot and expected to be ready for the opener, per Giants.com, but per-touch efficiency can dip in the months after a dislocation, and a 300-carry projection assumes he holds up over a full season he has never played at this level. The ankle is the one real risk in the math.
Skattebo does not lack for belief, and the rookie production gives the belief a foundation. If the ankle cooperates, the Giants may be paying fourth-round money for a top-15 workload. That is the kind of roster math that wins offseasons.
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