Cam Skattebo enters 2026 as the riskiest top-50 overall pick in Fantasy Football rankings, despite the excitement surrounding his potential. The Arizona State product is sitting with an average draft position of 35th overall on CBS Sports and 39th on FantasyPros. Draft position ranks suggest a breakout candidate, but the preliminary evidence from training camp points toward a different reality. The competition for carries in the city is intense, and that competition is dragging down his projected value.
The crowded backfield in New York
The Giants held a joint practice with the Dolphins recently, and the most impressive running back on the field was not Skattebo or Tyrone Tracy Jr.
Veteran Najee Harris, in just his second practice with the team, showed good power and surprising burst in 11-on-11 drills. He scored a touchdown in a red-zone drill.
Harbaugh noted after practice that it “remains to be seen” just how good the running back room is. This isn’t an exaggeration. The room is crowded.
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Harbaugh leads a completely new coaching group, bringing offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and run game guru Greg Roman.
Skattebo’s hard-running style appeals to them, but they know he cannot and should not do it all. The staff doesn’t have to do it all if Harris makes the team, as he is also physically capable of punishing defenders.
Harris isn’t on Fantasy radars, and neither is Singletary, but they are both cheap bargains compared to Skattebo. Running backs who split reps with three other players usually aren’t good picks in the top 40, top 50, or even top 60.
Skattebo is an exception to that rule only because of what he did before getting hurt.
Fantasy managers are looking at Skattebo’s 2025 performance, specifically how he averaged just over 19 PPR and 15 non-PPR points per game from Week 2 through Week 7 with six total touchdowns. That is elite production.
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So much has changed since that tape was made. Skattebo recovered from a gruesome leg fracture, but the injury could impact how much the Giants lean on him. Harbaugh admitted after the first preseason game that Skattebo wasn’t “100% twitchy and explosive yet.” He looked like he did in the first game against the Dolphins, then didn’t play in the second. Harris also sat out the second game, but Tracy and Singletary played. It is a volatile situation.
Skattebo offers the Giants the best combination of size, power, and hands out of the backfield. No other player is capable of handling carries at the goal line for the franchise.
No other player can line up in the backfield without tipping off the defense. He should be the top Giants running back drafted, but that doesn’t mean he belongs in the early rounds.
The idea of tying another Giants running back to him isn’t as good as it was before camp. It looked like a lock that Tracy would be the primary backup because he was the only other option. Now, there is a logjam.
Most managers are thinking about the 2025 tape when they see Skattebo’s name. They are ignoring the current roster construction.
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If Harris makes the team, he is a physical back who can spell Skattebo. Singletary, Tracy, and Harris are all capable of pitching in. The order in which they will play behind Skattebo remains to be seen, but it is a lot of names. Too many for him to have a real chance to put up big Fantasy points every week unless he routinely finds the end zone.
He might score touchdowns, but I wouldn’t risk a top-50 pick to find out if his volume will support that scoring rate. The new coaching staff has too many tools to ignore. They have a legitimate starter in Harris and a viable handcuff in Singletary. They saw what they needed to see in the joint practices. They saw enough to know they don’t need to force Skattebo into a workload he isn’t ready for physically.
The logical outcome of this roster construction is that Skattebo’s ceiling is strictly tied to his health and the team’s desperation.
If he is not fully explosive, the Giants will rely on the veterans available to them. This creates a tiered usage model where Skattebo is the starter on paper, but the snap counts will likely be managed to protect him. Managers who draft him in the top 50 are essentially gambling on a scenario where the Giants ignore their depth chart, a gamble that rarely pays off in the NFL.
