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The 2024 New York Giants roster includes a lot of familiar names for Big Blue fans. The team returns much of their core from the last several seasons, including Daniel Jones, Darius Slayton, Andrew Thomas, and Kayvon Thibodeaux. And even many of the players the team signed, traded for, or drafted this offseason are well-known names such as Brian Burns and Malik Nabers. However, there are a few players on the Giants roster who fans may not be as familiar with but need to get familiar with. This includes hidden gems like Bryce Ford-Wheaton and Tyrone Tracy Jr.
WR Bryce Ford-Wheaton tries to make Giants roster after a knee injury
When you think of a modern-day prototypical NFL WR1, you think of a player who looks like Bryce Ford-Wheaton. The former West Virginia wideout stands 6-foot-4, weighs 220 pounds, and ran a blazing 4.38-second 40-yard dash at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine.
Despite the A.J. Brown and DK Metcalf-esque physical gifts, Ford-Wheaton went undrafted in the 2023 NFL Draft before signing with the G-Men. He was a raw prospect with limited experience and production, but his physical gifts were too much to ignore.
Ford-Wheaton got some run in last year’s preseason, taking the field for 94 snaps in three games and making two catches for 24 yards. Brian Daboll and Mike Kafka lined him up in all different spots, though, which shows the coaches were trying to figure out how to best use the physical phenom.
Unfortunately, Ford-Wheaton tore his ACL in the third and final preseason game, ending his 2024 season before it ever got started.
Ford-Wheaton is now healthy and back to vie for a spot on the 2024 Giants roster among what is now an incredibly deep wide receiver depth chart. In addition to returning vets like Slayton and first-round pick Nabers, the Giants also have Jalin Hyatt, Isaiah Hodgins, Wan'Dale Robinson, Isaiah McKenzie, Allen Robinson II, Gunner Olszewski, Miles Boykin, Dennis Houston, and Ayir Asante.
Even if the Giants keep six wideouts on the 53-man roster, Slayton, Nabers, Hyatt, Hodgins, and Wan’Dale Robinson seem like locks. That leaves just one spot open for the remaining seven candidates. Or, if the Giants surprisingly cut a veteran like Slayton to save some money, it still only leaves two openings.
What gives Bryce Ford-Wheaton a real chance to make the roster as a hidden gem is his combination of size and speed. No other New York WR has that.
Sure, Hodgins and Allen Robinson have good size but they aren’t that fast. And Wan’Dale Robinson, Nabers, and Hyatt can fly, but none are that big. That leaves an opening for Ford-Wheaton and makes him a name to watch in training camp.
RB Tyrone Tracy Jr. could be a fresh-legged phenom
In the 2024 NFL Draft, the Giants made six selections, with their fifth-round pick being one of the most intriguing. That’s when general manager Joe Schoen took Purdue running back Tyrone Tracy Jr.
The 2024 Giants roster is nothing special at running back after losing arguably the most talented back in the NFL when Saquon Barkley walked down I-95 to the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason.
As the Giants do under Schoen and Daboll, they brought in a former Buffalo Bills player to replace Barkley in Devin Singletary, adding the veteran former Houston Texans back to second-year RB Eric Gray. The only other back on the roster is Jashaun Corbin who has three catches and one carry in his career.
So, unlike Bryce Ford-Wheaton, Tracy is pretty much a lock to make the 2024 Giants’ Week 1 roster.
It’s what the back does with that opportunity that will be fascinating to watch.
Tracy is 5-foot-11, 209 pounds, and ran a 4.48-second 40 at the combine. That means he has the size and speed to be a legit NFL running back. Plus, in his senior season with the Boilermakers, he put up solid numbers with 716 yards on 113 carries with eight rushing touchdowns.
What makes Tyrone Tracy Jr. truly interesting, though, is that 2023 was the first season he played running back. Tracy came out of high school as Indiana's Gatorade Player of the Year and went to Iowa as a wide receiver. After a redshirt year and three seasons as a reserve, Tracy transferred to Purdue where he was a hybrid WR/RB for a season before becoming a full-time ball-toter.
This means that Tracy comes into the NFL with significantly less wear and tear than most drafted running backs. That is a big deal coming into a league that chews RBs up and spits them out at an alarming rate.
By contrast, Singletary has 1,602 carries in the last eight years between the NFL and college.
Tracy’s fresh legs might give him the leg up (pun intended) when competing for the starting job.
If Tracy isn’t the starter, though, he can still have a lot of value on the 2024 Giants roster. That’s because he is also an excellent kick returner. In his final season at Purdue, he had 16 returns for 408 yards and even took one back to the house.
With the NFL going to the new XFL-style kickoff, return men could become much more valuable now, and Tracy should have a solid chance to compete for the KR1 job with Isaiah McKenzie and Gunner Olszewski.
No matter what role he fills, though, keep the name Tyrone Tracy Jr. in mind when training camp kicks off in late July.
