The New York Giants have showed a number of flaws on their way to an 0-4 start this season, not the least of which being an inability to run the football. The team ranks 31st in rushing yards with just 237 (13 individual players have more rushing yards than the Giants have as a team) and 30th in yards per carry with a pathetic 3.2 mark. Entering Week 4, no Giants running back had notched more than nine carries in a game during the 2017 NFL season, but a relative explosion from rookie Wayne Gallman (11 carries for 42 yards, two receptions for eight yards and a touchdown) made it seem as if the team might have found their new lead runner.

According to Ralph Vacciano of SNY, however, head coach Ben McAdoo wasn't too quick to talk up the rookie as the new featured runner.

McAdoo: 'If somebody gets hot, we'll ride him'

While some coaches believe that leaning on one running back and letting him get into a rhythm is the best approach to running the ball, plenty of backfields have also had success employing multiple runners and riding the hot hand—it seems that this is the approach McAdoo will take with the Giants backfield.

"Every player has a role," McAdoo said, via Vacchiano. "They play their role going into the game. If somebody gets hot, we'll ride him."

It seems like production will trump raw talent, seniority, and draft pedigree as the Giants try to right their backfield woes.

They have a number of different running backs who will likely be tried as the coaching staff does its best to find a hot hand. Let's take a look at who they are ahead of the Giants Week 5 matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers:

Wayne Gallman

A fourth-round pick of the 2017 NFL Draft, Wayne Gallman appears to have a strong chance at leading the Giants backfield from here on out—after all, in just his first regular-season NFL game, he notched a team-high 11 carries.

Gallman averaged just 3.8 yards per carry in his NFL debut, but he gained yards on nine of his 11 carries and was never stopped for negative yardage—the same can't be said for starter Paul Perkins, who lost yards on three of his nine carries.

Gallman was an extremely productive runner at Clemson in college, racking up 3,416 yards (5.1 per carry) and 34 touchdowns over three seasons with the Tigers.

He added 66 receptions for 486 yards and a couple of scores through the air. At 6-foot and 215 pounds, Gallman has an NFL body, and NFL.com draft specialist Lance Zierlein has said that Gallman is "physical enough to bang out tough yardage." These are great traits to have behind a Giants offensive line that struggles to create lanes for its runners.

Orleans Darkwa

25-year-old Orleans Darkwa has been somewhat of an overachiever as a former undrafted free agent out of Tulane. He's a big body (6-foot, 215 pounds) who is willing to get physical and grind out yards, though he doesn't have much in the way of measurable athleticism. That being said, the fourth-year pro leads the Giants' weak stable of running backs in yards per carry this season with a 4.1 mark, and he has become somewhat of a fan favorite due to his hard running style and hustle.

Though he missed Week 4 with a back injury, Darkwa got in a limited practice on Wednesday and could return for Week 5—if he does, he'll have an opportunity to use his big body and high motor to carve out some yards and earn a solid workload.

Shane Vereen

The preferred option on passing downs, Shane Vereen leads the Giants in both passing-down snaps (66) and targets (17). He has just 12 carries for 47 yards on the season, blending him in with the rest of the Giants runners with a mark of 3.9 yards per carry, but he has hauled in 15 of his targets for 107 yards in the passing game. A 2011 second-round pick out of California, Vereen is perhaps best known for his days with the New England Patriots—he led Patriots running backs in receiving yards in both 2013 and 2014, and he even led the team in rushing in 2014.

Though he's been somewhat of a disappointment since signing a three-year, $12.35 million deal in 2015, Vereen has still managed to generate 4.2 yards per carry over his Giants tenure while catching 72.6 percent of his targets for 8.2 yards per reception. The 28-year-old certainly still has some passing-game chops, and while he is unlikely to be leaned on as a runner, there is a strong chance he continues to lead the backfield on passing downs.

Paul Perkins

The Paul Perkins experiment is over. He just isn't good. Though he has more than twice as many carries (32) as anyone else on the team, he is averaging an atrocious 1.9 yards per tote. Per Pro Football Focus, Perkins is the Giants' worst-graded running back in rushing, receiving, and pass-blocking, giving the Giants essentially no reason to put him on the field.

Perkins was forced from Sunday's game with a rib injury after repeatedly getting stuffed for yet another week, and though he returned to a limited practice on Wednesday, it's difficult to imagine the Giants giving him an early shot at getting a hot hand going, even if he is active.
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