New York Giants Offseason: Reviewing the Running Back Position

2017 Depth Chart

Orleans Darkwa – 171 attempts, 751 yards, 4.4 avg, 5 TD (unrestricted free agent)

Wayne Gallman – 111 attempts, 476 yards, 4.3 avg, 0 TD (signed through 2020)

Paul Perkins – 41 attempts, 90 yards, 2.2 avg, 0 TD (signed through 2019)

Shane Vereen – 45 attempts, 164 yards, 44 rec, 253 yards (unrestricted free agent)

2017 Review

Somewhat of an afterthought heading into 2017, Orleans Darkwa finished the year as the New York Giants starting running back.

A career backup, Darkwa started 11 games last season and made them count. In just his second start of the year, Darkwa turned 21 carries into 117 yards against the Denver Broncos, the NFL’s best run defense at the time. In the Giants regular season finale, when most fans had stopped caring, Darkwa ran for a career-high 154 yards on 20 carries against the Washington Redskins.

It was a strong year for Darkwa as he ran behind a below average offensive line. He runs tough and doesn’t go down easy. He’ll enter free agency playing the best football of his career.

For the second year in a row, the Giants had a rookie running back come on strong towards the end of the season, giving them hope moving forward.

Wayne Gallman didn’t suit up until Week 4 but after two games, he had turned 22 carries into 99 yards. Gallman capped off his rookie campaign by going 89 yards on 15 carries in Week 17. All of the games in between were solid but unspectacular. Gallman is another hard runner who also contributed in the passing game.

All in all, 2017 was a very encouraging start to Gallman’s NFL career.

After being the exciting rookie in 2016, Paul Perkins crashed and burned in 2017. Perkins played four games of uninspiring football before injuring his ribs. He returned in Week 9 but strictly on special teams. Perkins would receive just nine carries the rest of the year.

Perkins will look to put 2017 behind him and recapture some of the magic that made fans believe he was the Giants future running back after the 2016 season.

After missing all but five games in 2016, 2017 was a success for Shane Vereen if only because he played in all 16 games. Vereen’s best games came in the first two weeks of the season. He hauled in nine catches for 51 yards in the opener and turned six carries and three catches into 55 total yards in Week 2.

Vereen had a solid Giants debut season in 2015, but he never really became the matchup nightmare fans had hoped when he came over from the New England Patriots. He had a decent 2017 season, but his production did not live up to his contract.