Who will play right tackle for the New York Giants in 2016? Marshall Newhouse? Bobby Hart? Byron Stingily? Emmett Cleary? Someone who isn't on the roster yet? Wait. What? Emmett Cleary? Where did that come from?
Well, Cleary was on the team's practice squad a year ago and on the active roster for the final few games although he never played. He's still on the 90-man roster, so let's talk about him briefly as we profile the 90 players the Giants will bring to training camp.
2015 Season in Review
Cleary spent most of last season on the Giants practice squad. He was activated in mid-November and spent the final six weeks on the 53-man roster. Cleary, though, never appeared in a game.
2016 Season Outlook
Cleary, 26, would seem like a long shot to make the roster at this point. He has bounced around since entering the league as an undrafted free agent, having been with the Indianapolis Colts, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Oakland Raiders and Cincinnati Bengals before joining the Giants. Despite all of those stops, he has never appeared in a regular-season NFL game.
Cleary would seem to be an afterthought, a training camp body. After three seasons and zero games the harsh reality of the NFL is that he has most likely gone from project to just a guy who helps fill out the preseason roster, a guy who will get bypassed for a younger player thought to have some upside.