Forgotten RB shines in Giants' first preseason game

After losing first-team reps to rookies Dante Miller and Tyrone Tracy in camp, second-year running back Eric Gray showed why he’s still in the running to be the New York Giants' No. 2 running back on Thursday.

Gray wasn’t the team’s leading rusher, but he made the most of his four carries with 52 yards (48 on one carry) while scoring the only two touchdowns of the game. More importantly, on a night that saw first-round pick Malik Nabers go without a single target, Gray finished as the team’s leading receiver with four catches for 46 yards.

Before joining the Giants as a fifth-round pick in 2023, the former Sooner rushed for 1,364 yards and 11 touchdowns in his final year at Oklahoma and had 33 catches in his last two seasons with the team.

Coming into the draft, nfldraftbuzz.com described Gray as a “bowling-ball runner between the tackles, capable of thrashing through tacklers with a rare blend of balance, agility and instincts.” At the same time, Pro Football Network’s Ian Cummings called Gray a “high-end receiving threat with body control, coordination, and stellar RAC ability.”

That said, Gray ran the ball 17 times as a rookie, playing mostly on special teams, while former Giant Saquon Barkley carried the load with 247 carries. But with Devin Singletary taking over for Barkley as the team’s lead back, Gray, Miller and Tracy all have an opportunity to become the team’s No. 2 back.

Miller, who also saw two targets, led all running backs with 12 carries for 63 yards against the Lions, while Tracy, a former wide receiver and the team’s fifth-round pick in 2024, averaged 5.2 yards per carry with a long run of 12 yards in the first quarter.

In other words, New York’s backfield is a work in progress, but as long as Gray holds his own against Miller and Tracy in practice, he should see plenty of work when the team travels to face the Houston Texans on Aug. 17.