BIOGRAPHY
Ryan Bates was born February 14, 1997, in Warminster, Pennsylvania. He is an offensive tackle in the National Football League.
Bates was a three-year letterman and a senior team captain at Archbishop Wood High School. His team won back-to-back PIAA Class AAA state titles in 2013 and 2014 with a combined record of 28-2. Bates was the 2014 Pennsylvania Football News Lineman of the Year and first-team All-Philadelphia Catholic League in 2013 and 2014. Bates played in the Under Armour All-American Game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. He rated four-star prospect by 247Sports, ESPN, Rivals and Scout. Bates ranked 13th-best offensive tackle in the nation and 129th overall prospect by ESPN. He was rated among top five prospects in Pennsylvania by 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals.
Bates chose to attend Penn State University. In 2016, he started all 14 games and was selected as a Freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of America and USA Today. He was named honorable-mention for Campus Insiders Freshman All-America and named to the ESPN.com Big Ten All-Bowl Team. He was also named to BTN.com's and ESPN.com's All-Big Ten Freshman Team and the Pro Football Focus Big Ten Team of the Week following his performance vs. Iowa (11/5). For the 2017 season, Bates appeared in 10 games with eight starts, all at left tackle. He earned third-team All-Big Ten honors from the coaches and media voters and garnered third-team All-Big Ten from Phil Steele. In 2018, he made 12 starts, including nine at left tackle and three at right tackle. Bates was one of 22 players to have earned their degree entering the 2019 Citrus Bowl. He earned third-team All-Big Ten honors by the league's coaches and media, was selected to Pro Football Focus National and Big Ten Teams of the Week following the Pittsburgh (9/8) game and was among the candidates on the preseason watch list for the Outland Trophy, given to the top interior lineman.
Bates signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent on May 10, 2019. On August 9, 2019, Bates was traded to the Buffalo Bills for linebacker Eli Harold.
On April 4, 2022, the Bills signed Bates to a four-year $17 million contract.
