Wayne Gallman faces fight to maintain New York Giants’ roster spot

Can Wayne Gallman, whose role has dwindled year over year, maintain his job in the New York Giants’ backfield? Let’s take a closer look.

The basics

Height: 6-foot
Weight: 210
Age: 25
Position: Running back
Experience: 3
Contract: Year 4 of four-year, $2.819 million rookie contract | UFA: 2021

How he got here

Gallman got off to a promising beginning with the Giants in 2017. Drafted in the fourth round, he split time with Rashad Jennings and finished the season with 476 yards on 111 carries (4.3 yards per carry) with 34 receptions.

Then, two things happened which seem to have derailed Gallman’s progress.

The Giants hired Pat Shurmur to replace the deposed Ben McAdoo as head coach. And they drafted Saquon Barkley No. 2 overall.

With Barkley on the roster, no other back was going to see an overwhelming number of touches. Gallman, though, seemed to fall out of favor with Shurmur and his coaching staff. He carried the ball only 51 times in 2018 and just 29 last season, with Buck Allen taking over as the No. 2 back toward the end of 2019.

2020 outlook

Barkley is, of course, still going to get the lion’s share of the running back work in 2020. Veteran Dion Lewis has replaced Allen as the primary backup. Gallman is left fighting with Jon Hilliman and undrafted free agent Javon Leake for the No. 3 role.

Will new coach Joe Judge find Gallman useful? Or, like Shurmur, will he be unimpressed by Gallman’s OK at everything, not great at anything skillset?

We don’t know, especially since we haven’t seen a single practice as of yet. All we know for sure is that Gallman enters the season fighting for his job.