New York Giants 2024 Training Camp Preview: RB Eric Gray
The New York Giants will be looking to replace 288 offensive touches lost from the 2023 season after running back Saquon Barkley signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, and another 72 touches from Matt Breida, whom the Giants declined to re-sign as a free agent.
Second-year running back Eric Gray will be looking to fill at least some of that void in 2024 as the Giants take more of a running back by-committee approach.
Gray will be splitting time with Devin Singletary, who signed with the Giants this off-season after a season-long stint with the Houston Texans; third-year UDFA Jashaun Corbin; and two rookies in Purdue’s Tyrone Tracy Jr and South Carolina’s Dante “Turbo” Miller.
While Singletary is expected to take on most of the workload, he’s never had more than 246 offensive touches in a regular season. Even last season when Singletary saw the most touches of his career, he was less productive on a per-touch basis than any other season.
If Gray develops at the rate that’s expected, it’s possible he challenges not just to be RB2 but to be more of an RB1b.
ERIC GRAY, RB
Height: 5-10
Weight: 211
EXP: 2 Years
School: Oklahoma
How Acquired: D5-23
2023 in Review
Let’s get this out of the way early: Every running back on the Giants roster last year deserves a bit of a Mulligan just given the context of being a player on that offense. The Giants finished with the worst pass-blocking grade and third-worst run-blocking grade in the NFL.
It wasn’t just the offensive line that made playing running back difficult in 2023—losing Daniel Jones early on in the season meant that the Giants were stuck with Tommy DeVito and Tyrod Taylor as the starting quarterbacks for most of the season.
None of the quarterback options were reliable or sustainable for the offense, leaving the Giants to either throw the ball and hope for the best, or run the ball and become somewhat one-dimensional.
In different games, the Giants tried both of those approaches, and neither of them worked.
As a rookie, Gray struggled to find consistent snaps as the clear third back of the rotation behind Barkley and Breida but also dealt with some issues adjusting to the NFL level.
Last year, I mentioned that facing more talented NFL defenses could give Gray issues as a runner due to the fact that he broke out in 2022 in the Big XII, a conference known for lighter boxes and more spread-out offenses.
In his defense, Gray went from facing light boxes in a spread offense to facing 7+ defenders in the box on over 34 percent of snaps with arguably the worst offensive line. As a runner, Gray picked up 68.75 percent of his yards after contact, a number that no team wants their running back to have to produce.
Gray struggled on his very few pass-blocking reps in 2023 and that was expected of him, as he was a poor pass protector in college as well.
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Contract/Cap Info
Given that Gray was drafted just last season, he’s currently on an inexpensive contract that is only worth $976,245 this season. The total value of Gray’s contract is $4,084,980 over four years, with $244,980 guaranteed.
Gray’s guaranteed money is split evenly throughout the duration of his contract, accounting for $61,245 annually. If Gray were to be released then the Giants would owe him that $61,245 still while creating $915,000 in cap space for 2024.
2024 Preview
This season, the Giants are expected to take more of a running back-by-committee approach, and Gray should find himself as the second back in the rotation. If he can improve his pass-blocking skills, then Gray can solidify himself as the primary passing-down back instead of just the second back in a committee.
As a receiver, Gray wasn’t given many opportunities last season as both Barkley and Breida are established talented pass-catchers out of the backfield. But Gray has shown his ability to contribute here dating back to college.
In college, Gray had 101 catches for 844 yards and five touchdowns. Most of his work came on screens and checkdowns but that’s realistically how he would likely be used in the NFL as well.
While Singletary is expected to be the lead back for the Giants, this isn’t a situation where there’s no room to eat into snaps and touches, even possible for Gray to eventually become the lead back.
The offensive line should be significantly improved this year, and the run game may undergo some schematic changes. Improved quarterback play will also help make life easier for all players, including running backs.
All of this opens the door for all backs to compete and earn touches, with vision and creativity as a ball carrier becoming more of a premium as opposed to being able to fight through contact behind a poor offensive line.
BRANDON OLSEN
Brandon Olsen is the founder of Whole Nine Sports, specializing in NFL Draft coverage, and is the host of the Locked On Gators Podcast.