Whether or not the Giants make a mega-trade to land Jonathan Taylor or Derrick Henry or are able to pull off a somewhat smaller deal, it sure looks as if the Giants need help at running back, as soon as possible.
Starter Cam Skattebo on Wednesday did not practice, again working on the side with a rehab trainer as he deals with the hamstring injury he went down with on his 42-yard run down the stretch of the Week 7 overtime victory in Houston. It seems unlikely Skattebo will be able to play Sunday against the Eagles in Philadelphia.
The Giants (4-2-1) are in first place in the NFC East. The Eagles (2-6) are in last place and riding a six-game losing streak.
The Giants’ running back picture is bleak. Tyrone Tracy is currently on injured reserve with a strained hamstring and he will miss the next four games. That leaves Devin Singletary as the only NFL running back on the roster with any experience. Singletary was a healthy scratch in three consecutive games earlier this season before the eight-year veteran finished off the 27-21 victory over the Texans with a 30-yard touchdown run in OT.
The only other running back on the roster is Greg Derosiers, signed Oct. 27 off the Chargers’ practice squad.
Derosiers, 25, played at three colleges (Louisville, UMass, Memphis) and was not drafted. The Chargers signed him to their practice squad and, when Tracy was put on IR, the Giants signed Derosiers to their active roster. He has never appeared in an NFL game.
The Giants two weeks ago signed to their practice squad Eric Gray, a running back they selected in the fifth round of the 2023 draft. Gray, 27, had 31 rushing attempts and 79 yards in 34 games the past three seasons. Gray had been on the Browns practice squad earlier this season.
The other running back on the practice squad is Phil Mafah.
Mafah, 24, was a 2025 seven round draft pick of the Cowboys out of Clemson, where he played 50 games and ran for 2,887 yards and 28 touchdowns in four seasons. A bruiser at 6-foot-1 and 232 pounds, Mafah as a rookie spent time on injured reserve with a shoulder He got into one game for the Cowboys — against the Giants in Week 18 — and ran five times for 18 yards. After he was waived in late August, the Giants in mid-September signed him to their practice squad.
When he picked up Derosiers, general manager Joe Schoen said he is a player “who we like.” As for Mafah, Schoen said “I’m excited to see what Greg can do.”
