Sometimes, an unheralded NFL player just needs to be in the right place at the right time to get — and capitalize on — an opportunity.
For New York Giants center Bryan Hudson this might be that right-place, right-time opportunity.
After going undrafted in 2024, Hudson bounced from the Detroit Lions to the New England Patriots to the Giants. He sat on the Giants’ practice for half of the 2024 season and all of 2025, playing in two games for a grand total of just three offensive snaps in 2025.
Hudson,
25, looked ticketed for a return to the Giants’ practice squad this season, but as the summer wore on he surpasses Lucas Patrick and earned a roster spot at the Giants’ backup center.
“It’s definitely been quite the journey, from right out of college, from my first two years, but, it all happens for a reason,” Hudson said during a quiet moment at his locker on Wednesday. “And, you know, I’m very grateful that, the good Lord has put me on the path that he has, that everything that has happened and will happen happens for a reason, even though maybe at the time it may not be what I would like or what I thought would happen for like my first two years in the NFL.
“But, I’m just thankful for the perspective that the Lord has given me about just being able to stay the course and trust him and just be able to be ready to take advantage of every rep that I get and be able to be ready whenever my number is called for the team.”
Hudson got his first chance to start in Week 4 against the Arizona Cardinals, with the Giants using John Michael Schmitz’s absence from practice for a couple of days due to the birth of a child as an opening to get him on the field.
He did not waste it.
Hudson did not surrender a sack or pressure against the Cardinals, and his 73.8 Pro Football Focus grade was sixth-best among centers. His 82.7 Pro Football and Sports Network Impact score was best among Giants’ offensive linemen and 17th among 167 offensive linemen graded in Week 4.
“I felt really good,” Hudson said. “Very thankful for the opportunity and just to be able to step up in the role that my team needs me in for the week. I’m just really thankful for that.
“It felt really good to be out there. It was a lot of fun to be out there playing with those guys. A lot of stuff to clean up as a unit and personally, but I feel like it was a good, solid start.”
Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy agreed.
“Just came in and just did really, really well in the run game and in the pass game,” Nagy said. “It’s something that we knew and saw going back to training camp. He’s always done a great job with us, so we were not surprised the way he played. We just got to keep that going. We needed that.”
Head coach John Harbaugh has been non-committal about whether Hudson would start Sunday against the Washington Commanders, or if Schmitz would return to that role. Based on what we’re hearing and seeing from Giants practice this week, though, Hudson could be in line to start again.
In an odd twist, Patrick is now the starting center for Washington.
“He one-thousand percent helped me a ton on and off the field, really,” Hudson said of Patrick. “I think, especially with him being early in his career in a similar position as I am and have been, he was able to give me really, really good perspective and really, really good advice and guidance about just how to go about things, how to take steps towards making a team, and just getting better at the center position from his experience. He was a tremendous help to me.”
Hudson smiled when I told him that Giants fans really don’t know him, following that by asking what he would like to tell them about the kind of player he is.
“Just the kind of player that I’ve always tried to be is, for one, especially being at the center position, just well-prepared, a guy that’s smart and able to communicate and get everybody on the same page consistently, just kind of stay pretty level-headed in all situations, not get too high or too low at that position I think is important, so I feel like I am that,” he said. “And at the end of the day, just a physical football player.
“At the offensive line position, that’s one of the key things and something that I think we all bring to the table, everybody in this room, and me personally, just somebody that’s smart, physical, and going to be consistent all the time.”
If he can be that, and consistently play the way he did in Week 4 against the Cardinals, Giants fans will be very happy to have him.
