Only Ryan Bates Until Penn State Football

With no active No. 52 on the Penn State roster this season, we are highlighting a recent Nittany Lion and current Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Ryan Bates.

Bates, a native of Warrington, Pennsylvania, was a member of the Nittany Lions 2015 recruiting class, and was a four-star prospect coming out of eastern PA powerhouse Archbishop Wood. Bates wouldn’t see playing time as a true freshman, but would become a starter in 2016 for the Nittany Lions starting all 14 games of their Big Ten Championship winning season. His play in his redshirt freshman year earned him Freshman All-American honors.

After his strong 2016 season, Bates went onto start for the following two years, earning third-team All-Big Ten honors in both the 2017 and 2018 seasons. He then decided to forgo his final year of eligibility, and entered the NFL draft with hopes of being a day three pick. As it turned out though, Bates went undrafted, but he ended up signing as a free agent with his hometown team the Philadelphia Eagles.

Football is just 52 days away!