Cam Skattebo benched by Giants in loss to Saints

The overtime fumble at Washington, his 4th of the season, had everyone waiting to see what Harbaugh would do. Sunday morning, the beat had the answer before kickoff.

Jordan Raanan

@JordanRaanan

Expectation is there will be a change to the Giants RB rotation, per sources. Najee Harris is likely to have a larger role with Cam Skattebo downgraded but still part of the mix after the fumbles. All 4 RBs (Harris, Skattebo, Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary) should be active.

All week Harbaugh had dodged it, saying "we'll see" when he was asked straight up about Skattebo. That was a strange spot for a guy who had led the team with 81 rushes for 294 yards through 5 weeks. Najee Harris got the start in New Orleans, and on the first 2 drives the Giants cycled through all 4 backs like a coach running tryouts. The early winner of those tryouts was Tyrone Tracy Jr., who was in the doghouse himself after a Week 1 fumble.

Mike Garafolo

@MikeGarafolo

Tyrone Tracy, buried on the depth chart after a Week 1 fumble, has worked his way back into John Harbaugh’s good graces and into the end zone for the #Giants, who are rotating all four backs today.

That was the high point. By halftime the rotation looked like 4 guys splitting nothing. Harris had 0 yards, Singletary had 5, and Skattebo, the guy who carried this offense for a month, had 6 snaps and not one touch.

Field Yates

@FieldYates

First have snaps and opportunities for the Giants running backs: Najee Harris: 9 snaps, 3 rushes, 0 yards (0.0 average) Tyrone Tracy, Jr.: 9 snaps, 2 rushes, 4 yards, 1 catch, 17 yards, TD Devin Singletary: 9 snaps, 3 rushes, 5 yards Cam Skattebo: 6 snaps, 0 touches

From there the wheels came off. Jameis Winston threw 2 picks, the Saints pulled away, and the Giants were down 24 in the 4th quarter with a run game that barely existed. J.J. McCarthy came in and nearly pulled off something wild, throwing for 243 yards before his last 4th-down ball sailed over Isaiah Likely in the end zone. Skattebo never touched the ball in any of it, the first time that has happened in his career.

After the game Harbaugh went with the line nobody believed: "We didn't bench Cam Skattebo. It was not by design." He said all the backs were rotating equally and nobody grabbed the hot hand. Skattebo didn't really go along with it. "I got punished for what I did, and I understand," he said, and added that he didn't expect zero carries but did expect to play less. Then by Monday morning the snap counts came out, and they don't really fit the not-a-benching story.

Greg Auman

@gregauman

Actual offensive snap counts for Giants RBs on Sunday: Devin Singletary 31 Tyrone Tracy 29 Najee Harris 11 Cam Skattebo 6 Last week: Skattebo 56 Tracy 17 Harris 16

Jori Epstein

@JoriEpstein

John Harbaugh says “we didn’t bench Cam Skattebo” and it “wasn’t by design” that the Giants RB had zero carries today after recent fumbles. t.co/WeiYToCWl4

56 snaps to 6 is a benching, whatever Harbaugh wants to call it. Part of it is fair, because 4 fumbles is a real problem and the Giants are 3-2-1 and in 1st place in the NFC East. But 4 backs combining for nothing against a soft Saints run defense isn't exactly proof that the lesson worked. Raanan says the snap split was a little skewed by comeback mode and expects Skattebo to be more involved against the Texans next week. Keep an eye on whether he gets his carries back, or if Harbaugh keeps up the open tryout another week.