The New York Giants pulled off one of the more shocking upsets of this young NFL season last Thursday, humbling the defending-champion Eagles in a 34-17 beatdown. And a big part of that performance came thanks to emerging rookie running back and aspiring crash test dummy Cam Skattebo.
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It was New York’s second upset win in three weeks, bringing their season record up to 2-4. They’re not exactly knocking on the door of the playoff picture, but it’s the first time in a few years that there’s a genuinely good feeling around the team.
Rookie QB Jaxson Dart has been a lot of fun, and that high-pedigree defensive front is starting to pay dividends. But Skattebo’s relentless energy might be one of the biggest driving factors behind Big Blue’s success.
Skattebo had his best game as a pro against the Birds, toting the rock 19 times for 98 yards and one-two-THREE trips to pay dirt. After the game, Skattebo took off his shirt and posed with Dart at midfield in one of the funniest (and if these Giants turn into anything, iconic) photos of the 2025 NFL campaign so far.
Even other current players like Travis Kelce and former rival players like Jason Kelce can’t deny it’s a lot of fun on the blue side of New York right now.
“That picture’s f*cking iconic! These dudes just love some ball, man. And they love each other,” Travis said with a laugh (via New Heights).
“That’s what it comes down to. When this whole thing first started happening, I was kindof being a hater. Like yeah, we’ll see where this energy is going. But I gotta hand it to them man,” Jason chimed in.
Jason Kelce, who was the same type of rile-em-up energetic presence when he played for the Eagles, said that Skattebo was a “f*cking reincarnation of a human dog if I’ve ever seen one.”
The elder Kelce went on to explain how Skattebo’s energy is a positive for the Giants because it not only gets the young RB going, but the rest of his team is following in his jacked-up footsteps as well.
“You can’t deny how the whole team has responded to this energy… This is the type of energy that guys that love f*cking playing ball, they’re excited to do dumb sh*t. ‘Coach, I just ran f*cking straight as hard as I could, and didn’t stop moving my feet.’ That’s a f*cking mentality that a lot of the NFL’s missing right now. I hope they lost every game as an Eagles fan but I also kind of love watching it.”
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After finishing his senior year at Arizona State with a performance that should have made him the second-best RB on most draft boards, Skattebo fell all the way to the fourth round, where he was snapped up by the Giants. He originally split time with New York’s 2024 fourth-rounder, Tyrone Tracy.
However, Skattebo slowly started taking over before claiming the entire backfield for himself when Tracy went down with an injury. Since Week 4, his 236 rushing yards rank 10th in the NFL. Over this recent three-week span, he’s also second in attempts, with 59, his three rushing TDs rank third, and his 17 first downs are second.
Skattebo and company face a tough test to keep it rolling in Week 7, however. They come up against the Broncos’ No. 2 defense in the league. And they have to face them in the thin air of Denver, Colorado.
