Cam Skattebo Expected to Get Bigger Giants Role vs Texans

Cam Skattebo could be in line for a bigger role with the Giants in their next game. ESPN's Jordan Raanan says the running back is expected to be more involved when New York faces the Houston Texans, after a Sunday in which Skattebo was barely on the field.

"Expect Skattebo to be more in the mix next week vs Texans," Raanan said of the Cam Skattebo situation.

The update follows a quiet afternoon for the running back. Skattebo did not have a single carry on Sunday and logged just six total snaps in the Giants' loss to the New Orleans Saints. For more on how that game played out, read our full recap of the Giants vs. Saints game.

What Six Snaps Says About Cam Skattebo's Role

A snap count tracks every offensive play a player is on the field for, whether or not he touches the football. It is one of the clearest ways to measure how much a coaching staff is leaning on a player, because it captures the plays where a running back blocks, runs a route or carries out a fake, not just the plays where he gets the ball.

An NFL offense runs dozens of plays in a typical game, so six snaps is a very small slice of the action. Combined with zero carries, it shows Skattebo had a limited role on Sunday. Skattebo addressed his lack of work himself, saying he "got punished" for his fumble against Washington the week before, as we covered in Cam Skattebo on Zero Giants Carries: 'I Got Punished'.

Raanan's report suggests that limited usage may not carry over. It does not spell out exactly how many snaps or touches Skattebo will get, so the clearest takeaway is simply that his role is expected to grow from where it was on Sunday.

How Running Back Rotations Work in the NFL

Most NFL teams use more than one running back over the course of a game and a season. Coaches divide the work based on the game plan, the opponent, the situation on the field and how each back has performed in practice and in recent games. That means a running back's workload can rise or fall from one week to the next, sometimes by a wide margin.

Trust is a big part of that equation. Coaches want backs they can count on to protect the football, pick up blitzes and execute their assignments. When a player loses some of that trust, his role can shrink for a stretch, and the way back usually comes through steady work on the practice field and reliable play when he does get his chances.

What to Watch From Skattebo and the Giants vs the Texans

The Giants' next opponent is the Houston Texans, and that game will offer the first look at whether Raanan's expectation plays out. The simplest things to watch are Skattebo's snap count and the number of carries he gets compared with Sunday, when he had zero carries on six snaps.

Any increase would be a sign that the coaching staff is ready to bring him back into the rotation in a bigger way. How quickly that happens, and how the rest of the Giants backfield is used, will be one of the storylines to follow as New York gets ready for Houston.

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