Son of LA Chargers legend Antonio Gates has major star potential

The son of former LA Chargers All-Pro tight end Antonio Gates is one of the top high school wide receivers in the country.

It was a sad day for the LA Chargers franchise when longtime tight end Antonio Gates officially hung up his cleats for good last year and announced his retirement from the NFL.

Gates provided Chargers fans with tons of great memories and he will always be remembered as one of the best players in team history.

Bolts fans might be hearing his name again in the near future though. But this time, he will be brought up when people are discussing his son Antonio Gates Jr., who is currently being recruited by some of the top college football programs in the country.

Son of LA Chargers legendary tight end making a name for himself on the football field

This year’s NFL Draft featured a number of prospects whose fathers spent time in the NFL including Jaycee Horn (son of Joe Horn), Patrick Surtain II (son of Patrick Surtain), and one of the newest members of the Chargers roster Asante Samuel Jr. (son of Asante Samuel).

The son of Gates appears to be on track to becoming one of the next second-generation players to make it into the league.

Listed at 6-foot-1 and 185 pounds, 247Sports has him rated as the No. 31 wide receiver in the 2022 recruiting class. He hasn’t announced which college he’s going to play for yet, but he currently has offers from more than 20 different schools including Florida, Penn State, Tennessee, Michigan State, and Nebraska.

After watching a few of his highlights, it’s not difficult to understand why Gates is being pursued by some of the top programs in college football today.

Gates is currently living in Dearborn, Michigan so it’s not too surprising that the 247Sports analysts are predicting him to sign with Michigan State.

Whoever he decides to play for, it will be interesting to see if he continues to play as a wide receiver, or he’s asked to put on some extra weight so that he can line up as a tight end like his dad once did.

At the very least, Gates has a ton of potential. Chargers fans should definitely keep a close watch on this kid because, who knows, maybe he’ll end up following in his father’s footsteps one day and end up playing for the Bolts.