Meet the NY Giants’ 2025 NFL Draft class, player-by-player
Who did the Giants pick in the 2025 NFL Draft? Meet each player from the class, starting with top picks Abdul Carter and Jaxson Dart.
EAST RUTHERFORD – Physicality has always been Cam Skattebo’s calling card.
It’s the common thread in his game from the streets of his northern California hometown where he would don his other brother’s helmet and shoulder pads as a kid and prove his toughness by running into telephone poles, to Sacramento State and then Arizona State.
Now the star running back is signed and ready to deliver as a promising rookie for the New York Giants, who selected Skattebo with the 105th pick of the fourth round in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Skattebo’s four-year contract is worth $5.3 million, including a $1.1 million signing bonus, an individual with knowledge of the financial details told NorthJersey.com and The Record. He was the final signee of the widely praised draft class headlined by linebacker Abdul Carter and quarterback Jaxson Dart.
“I don’t know if I have ever seen a more aggressive runner who just seeks out contact and who can absorb contact,” NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah said of Skattebo. “Gosh, more than anything, he reminds me of a Plinko chip from ‘The Price is Right,’ bouncing off everything and everybody.”
Skattebo’s presence has been undeniable at every stop in his football journey, and what he brings to the Big Apple fits the profile of a Giant in every sense of the word.
Asked how he would describe his playing style, Skattebo said: “Physical, downhill, get-to-the-end-zone back. I love to score touchdowns. That’s what I do.”
The 5-foot-9 1/2, 219-pounder insists he has always played this way, joking that he barreled over a defender once or twice on the youth football fields of Rio Linda, California, at the age of 6.
Once he got to college, Skattebo simply broke tackles or ran through defenders. Scouts have said he plays more like a linebacker than a running back. He does not shy away from contact, and was an icon in his hometown even before, as a junior, he rushed for 3,550 yards and 42 touchdowns in a single season.
Skattebo was viewed as an ideal complement to Tyrone Tracy, who finished his rookie campaign last year as the Giants’ lead back. His value as a receiver has been overlooked throughout the pre-draft evaluation process, and the more opportunities Skattebo gets this summer, he will go after an immediate role in the backfield with Tracy and veteran Devin Singletary.
So how does Skattebo go from the teenager who was told he was too small and too slow to play for USC, UCLA and others when the coaches came through Garceau’s office on recruiting visits to the best player on the field in the Big 12 Championship Game who wound up flexing his muscles and holding a title belt presented to him by WWE stars Jey Uso and Sami Zayn?
“I’ve been disrespected my whole life. I’ve always been the underdog,” Skattebo said. “Nobody respects the fact that I’m the best running back in the country. And I’m going to stand on that. I’m going to keep proving people wrong.”
The numbers don’t lie with Scattebo, screaming out what makes him rare at any level.
Like how 1,202 of his 1,712 rushing yards came after contact last season, or how he forced 103 missed tackles, second most in the nation. Scattebo had 45 runs of 10 or more yards and 21 runs of 15 or more yards with 21 touchdowns rushing and three touchdowns receiving.
“He’s tough as nails,” Giants coach Brian Daboll said of Scattebo, who gives off Ahmad Bradshaw vibes. “You can use him a variety of ways. Pass game, he can catch, he can run routes, he can throw the ball … and he’s got very good vision and quick feet. He’s a 220-pound back who runs with power and toughness.”
Skattebo promises to keep treating defenders like those telephone poles he used to bounce off – not only by proving himself to those who still doubt whether he can, but to anyone on the field that tries to stop him.
