Can Giants’ OT Nate Wozniak be more than a practice squad player?

After a collegiate career at Minnesota in which he caught just 28 passes, Nate Wozniak was judged perhaps too big and too lumbering to be an NFL tight end. Converted to offensive tackle, for the past two seasons Wozniak has gone from team to team trying to establish a career as an edge blocker.

His latest stop is with the New York Giants. Can he find a home as anything more than a practice squad player? Let’s take a closer look.

The basics

Height: 6-foot-10
Weight: 280
Age: 25
Position: Offensive tackle
Experience: 2
Contract: Year 1 of two-year, $1.391 million deal | Guaranteed: $1,000

How he got here

A collegiate tight end at Minnesota, Wozniak was converted to offensive tackle in 2018 after signing with the New Orleans Saints as an underafted free agent. He spent that season on the Saints’ practice squad. In 2019, he spent time on the practice squads of the Saints, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, and the Giants.

The Giants were his last stop, and he signed a reserve/futures contract for the 2020 season.

2020 outlook

Considering the number of teams who have taken a look at Wozniak over the past couple of seasons, you have to think there might be something there. Then again, all of those teams have looked, never played him, found him wanting, and moved on.

It will be an uphill battle for Wozniak to become anything more than a practice squad, keep around in case of emergency, player for the Giants.

Nate Solder, Andrew Thomas, Cameron Fleming, Matt Peart, and Eric Smith are all pure tackles who would be in front of him. Shane Lemieux and Nick Gates are ahead of him on the depth chart as potential multi-positional reserves. Undrafted free agent Kyle Murphy might be, as well.