While he can stuff a stat sheet, his style made him one of the Giants’ favorite players in the draft.
“He’s tough as nails,” coach Brian Daboll said. “You can use him a variety of ways. Pass game, he can catch, he can run routes, he can throw the ball, as you’ve seen on one of those, and he’s got very good vision and quick feet. He’s a 220-pound back who runs with power, toughness and has the type of personality that I think (general manager) Joe (Schoen) did a great job of along with the scouts of bringing in guys that have a lot of toughness.”
As for where it came from, Skattebo credits a “hard background” and an older brother who “picked” on him.
“He set me up for success,” Cam said about Leo Skattebo, who played football at Bowling Green. “And my dad also being hard on me as a kid, understanding where I could take this football stuff in life, he preached on me every day about it. It’s now coming to light.”
Skattebo kicked off Day 3 of the draft for the Giants, who then rounded out their seven-player class with Purdue offensive lineman Marcus Mbow, Nebraska tight end Thomas Fidone II, and Oklahoma State cornerback Korie Black. Make no mistake, though; there are still plenty of edges.
“Physicality is definitely contagious,” Skattebo said. “If someone gets ran over, it hypes the other guys up and it gets them going. I’m going to continue to bring that and hopefully it feeds off on to my teammates.”
It shouldn’t be hard to spread.
“Toughness all the way through the draft was something that we have talked about, both mental and physical,” Daboll said. “I think Skattebo has got both. Not to mention the other guys.”