New York Giants offensive lineman Nick Gates has been in the building for two seasons now. He was an undrafted free agent out of Nebraska in 2018 who spent his rookie season on injured reserve.
When he got to camp this year, Gates was a dark horse to crack the roster, but he did after an impressive summer and has been serving primarily as a sing lineman all season for Big Blue.
Gates is versatile, as illustrated in his ability to play both tackle and guard. In Week 10 against the New York Jets, Gates played all 69 offensive snaps at right tackle in filling in for the injured Mike Remmers.
This past week versus Miami Gates subbed for Kevin Zeitler, the right guard, again starting and playing very snap. His had coach was pleased with his performance.
“He did a nice job, and I’m not surprised by it,” said Pat Shurmur on his Monday conference call. “When he played against the Jets, his man didn’t touch the quarterback, he was productive in the run game, and he played at tackle. He went and played guard this week for (Kevin) Zeitler and had a very, very productive game.
“He’s a good, solid football player. He’s a little bit like (Sam) Beal, he’s here for the second year, but last year was like year zero because he was hurt, and he’s done a good job. He’s a steady performer and he’s got a bright future.”
Every team finds productive players in the UDFA market bu the Giants haven’t been so lucky the past few seasons. The 6-foot-6, 318 -pound Gates was a fine a pickup it appears and his emergence means that there’s one less hole to fill on this Giants’ roster that is full of them.
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