3. OL Nick Gates
If you’re a follower of @GMENHQ or our site expert Charles Vitolo on Twitter, then this name isn’t new to you.
Nick Gates was a three-year starter at Nebraska and was considered by many to be a mid-round draft pick before a poor 40 time and questions about his athleticism led to him going undrafted.
After not playing much for most of the season, an injury to right tackle Mike Remmers led to Gates’ first career start vs the New York Jets, where he allowed just two pressures on 54 pass plays, according to PFF.
The following month vs the Miami Dolphins, Gates would get his second start at right guard for the injured Kevin Zeitler and post an 82.1 overall grade according to PFF. He didn’t allow a single pressure and took care of business in the run game as you can see below:
Total wipeout block by Nick Gates. His play yesterday was promising development https://t.co/vCJbCyP3zP
— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) December 16, 2019
After the struggles of last season’s offensive line, there is an immediate need for both a left and right tackle as well as a center going into 2020. It’s hard to imagine the Giants passing on a left tackle in the first two rounds, so the emergence of Gates at possibly right tackle or guard would be a huge diamond in the rough find for a unit that has shown little to be excited about in recent years.
Hitting on guys like Gates is how you build your offensive line moving forward. He won’t fix the mess himself, but him taking a step forward in 2020 would be huge for Daniel Jones and this offense next year.