Tag: Elerson Smith

Giants place Shane Lemieux, two others on IR

The New York Giants have placed three players, including OL Shane Lemieux, on injured reserve to start the regular season.

The New York Giants will place three players on injured reserve to start the 2022 regular season: linebacker Elerson Smith, guard Shane Lemieux and cornerback Rodarius Williams.

All three will miss at least the first four games of the regular season and are designated eligible to return but head coach Brian Daboll has indicated that they could miss more time.

NFL teams have a maximum of eight player they can designate for return this year.

Lemieux, who was playing left guard with he starting unit they summer, has been out for several weeks with a foot injury. Daboll said recently that he wasn’t expecting Lemieux back “anytime soon.”

Williams missed the Giants’ preseason finale versus the Jets with a knee injury and Smith’s injury is unknown at present time.

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Giants training camp: 7 takeaways from Day 12

The New York Giants wrapped up training camp practice No. 12 on Sunday and it was an ugly, injury-riddled affair.

Following a 23-21 victory over the New England Patriots in Week 1 of the preseason, the New York Giants returned to the practice field on Sunday.

Head coach Brian Daboll kicked things off with his daily press conference and went to work breaking down the team’s excessive injuries. He also outlined what’s coming up next week, including the elimination of one padded practice.

Meanwhile, Sunday was the final day of practice opened to the fans until 2023.

Here are seven quick takeaways from training camp practice No. 12.

2022 Giants training camp preview: Linebackers

Wink Martindale will rely heavily on his New York Giants linebackers in 2022.

The New York Giants are entering a new era on defense with incoming coordinator Wink Martindale. The objective is to creatively find ways to get to the quarterback via pressure packages and blitzes.

All three levels of the defense will participate but it will the linebackers that the lead the way this year behind two new unit coaches — John Egorugwu (outside) and Drew Wilkins (inside).

Here’s a quick roundup of the linebackers heading into camp.

7 Giants with the most to gain at training camp

As the official start to training camp looms, here’s a look at the seven New York Giants who stand to gain the most.

New York Giants rookies and select veterans will report for training camp on Tuesday, July 19. The remainder of the team will report on Tuesday, July 26 with the first practice getting underway on Wednesday, July 27.

It may be hard to believe but football season is just around the bend.

With the start of Giants camp now just a week away, here’s a quick look at seven players who stand the most to gain.

Giants’ Elerson Smith ready to take advantage of new opportunities

New York Giants LB Elerson Smith, who has added some muscle this offseason, is excited for new opportunities under Wink Martindale.

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The New York Giants surprised some experts when they selected Northern Iowa outside linebacker Elerson Smith in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL draft.

Smith, a 6-foot-6, 260-pound defensive end/edge rusher, had played just one year of college football and was considered very green. The Giants found that out last summer and Smith found himself on injured reserve for the first two months of the season.

When he began to suit up in November, Smith played only 19 percent of the defensive snaps, making eight total tackles and registering two QB hits.

This year, with Wink Martindale as the defensive coordinator and a year in the NFL under his belt, Smith intends to play a bigger role in the Giants’ defense.

“I’m gonna make sure I take advantage of every opportunity I have in front of me,” Smith told The Post this offseason. “If people remember my name or not right now, that’s not gonna help us win games. I’m going to try to take care of the opportunity I have in front of me.”

Smith is up against several obstacles, however. The Giants’ top pick in this year’s draft, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and last year’s sack leader (Azeez Ojulari) are ahead of him on the depth chart, as well as Oshane Ximines and Quincy Roche.

That is not the only hurdle Smith has. His frame is not prototypical of the position he plays. He is aware and has added about 10 pounds since last season to add bulk. It’s hard to tell, though.

“I’m just tall, stretch it out a little bit so you can’t really tell,” Smith said of his added weight.

Luckily for Smith, Martindale knows how to use his linebackers and play off their strengths. Smith’s height could actually help him in certain situations.

“I always say there’s a good place for a small person,” Martindale said. “It’s behind a big, long person in this league, because you know, it helps everything. It helps your open-field tackling and helps separating off blocks and it helps going up to the 50/50 ball. Length does play a big part of it.”

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Giants still searching for returns from 2021 rookie class

The New York Giants need a lot more from their 2021 rookie class, which is littered with potential, next season.

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Shortly after the 2021 NFL draft had concluded, the New York Giants saw a wave of positive reviews for the job general manager Dave Gettleman had done. Not only had the team compiled additional future draft assets, they maximized a negative situation and appeared to find quality talent.

But the positivity would be short-lived.

Out of the gate, cornerback Aaron Robinson and edge rusher Elerson Smith endured injury issues, while wide receiver Kadarius Toney couldn’t stay on the field for a variety of reasons. Then, early in the season, cornerback Rodarius Williams suffered a torn ACL, ending his promising rookie season.

The theme of the draft class was and remains the same: Tons of potential, but no solid returns.

Nick Shook of NFL.com recently graded each NFC East draft class and although he gave the Giants a solid letter score (B-), he came to the same conclusion.

The Giants’ entire 2021 season can be summarized by Kadarius Toney’s rookie season. The first-rounder struggled to stay on the field due to multiple injuries, but when he was available, he occasionally exploded, as in his 10-catch, 189-yard performance in Week 5. He just wasn’t available enough to make a significant difference for a struggling offense that saw its coordinator fired during the season. Toney could still make this pick look like a home run, but there’s a lot of boom-or-bust potential.

The Giants nailed the selection of Azeez Ojulari, who led the team in sacks with eight and figures to be a key part of this defense for years to come. Aaron Robinson played nearly a quarter of New York’s defensive snaps and might fill a bigger role in 2022, with James Bradberry potentially headed elsewhere due to cap constraints. Elerson Smith’s season was shortened by injury, but he did force a fumble in his limited action.

Gary Brightwell spent most of his season on special teams, getting just two touches in 13 games. Rodarius Williams’ season ended due to a torn ACL suffered in Week 5. Raymond Johnson played a rotational role as an undrafted signee and will have to fight to stick with the Giants in 2022.

Of the group, Toney is obviously the most important. The Giants desperately need a game-changing playmaker to emerge and he certainly has the athletic talent, but can he stay on the field?

And for the reasons Shook alluded to, Williams and Robinson may also become extremely important pieces for the Giants in 2022.

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2021 NFL draft: Where do Giants stand in a recent re-grade?

In a 2021 NFL draft re-grade, the New York Giants see their stock drop after an inconsistent season by their rookies.

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Dave Gettleman retired as the New York Giants’ general manager after the 2021 season. In his four years at the helm, the Giants won just 19 of 65 games.

We won’t take a deep dive into Gettleman’s four drafts while in office. Instead, let’s concentrate on last year’s class.

Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox rates Gettleman’s’ final draft as a C+. I would personally give this effort an incomplete.

The Giants traded down from No. 11 to No. 20 with the Chicago Bears, collecting another 2022 first-round pick which has tuned into No. 7 overall.

With No. 20, Gettleman reached for Florida wide receiver Kadarius Toney, who just couldn’t stay on the field due to a myriad of issues.

Toney had multiple stints on the reserve/COVID-19 list, and he was ejected in Week 5 for throwing a punch at Cowboys defensive back Damontae Kazee.

Toney had one great game (10 catches, 189 yards), but failed to have much of an overall impact. He finished the year with 39 catches 420 yards and no touchdowns. He provided a passer rating of just 82.5 when targeted.

Second-round pick Azzez Ojulari, a pass-rushing linebacker out of Georgia, set a new Giants rookie record for sacks with eight, had 27 QB pressures and was the only one of the six players Gettleman selected that played in all 17 games this season.

The other four players did not make much of an impact either because of injury or lack of opportunity.

Cornerback Aaron Robinson saw only limited action, as did Elerson Smith and Rodarius Williams. Gary Brightwell got only 12 offensive snaps, despite starting running back Saquon Barkley being injured and ineffective for most of the season.

The jury is still out on this class, of course, and it may end up being Gettleman’s best, especially if the new GM can score big with the No. 7 pick the Giants got from Chicago.

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2021 NFL draft: Grading the Giants’ rookie class after one season

The 2021 regular season has come to a close, so we look back at and grade each of the New York Giants’ draft picks.

The New York Giants 2021 draft class played the final games of their rookie season on Sunday in the Giants’  22-7  loss to the Washington Football Team.

Here’s some early grades for the six-player group, five of whom lost significant time to injuries.

Giants place Elerson Smith on injured reserve

The New York Giants have placed rookie edge rusher Elerson Smith on injured reserve and made several other transactions.

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The New York Giants already lead the league in games missed due to injury and in Week 18, they will pad that total.

On Wednesday, the Giants announced that rookie edge rusher Elerson Smith had been placed on injured reserve with a neck injury. That officially ends his season after just eight games.

Smith, a fourth-round pick last April, recorded eight tackles, one forced fumble and two QB hits in a very limited role.

Meanwhile, the Giants activated offensive tackle Korey Cunningham, defensive linemen Dexter Lawrence and Danny Shelton, and wide receiver Darius Slayton from the Reserve/COVID-19 list. They also restored linebacker Omari Cobb and defensive back Ka’dar Hollman to the practice squad from the COVID-19 list.

Finally, defensive tackle Woodrow Hamilton has been placed on the practice squad/COVID-19 list.

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Logan Ryan, James Bradberry were highest-graded Giants in Week 16

Logan Ryan and James Bradberry were the highest-graded New York Giants in Week 16, and Devontae Booker graded out well, too.

The New York Giants were completely dismantled by the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 16. The final score of 34-10 does not properly explain just how poorly the Giants played across the board.

But, as usual, there were at least a few needles in the haystack; a few players who performed at a higher level than their teammates.

Safety Logan Ryan was one of those players, earning a team-high grade of 80.5 courtesy of Pro Football Focus. He was followed closely by cornerbacks James Bradberry (75.1) and Jarren Williams (74.4).

Other notable defensive grades include linebacker Lorenzo Carter (66.5), defensive lineman Leonard Williams (60.8) and linebacker Jaylon Smith (52.8).

The lowest-graded Giants on defense were defensive lineman Raymond Johnson III (26.7) and linebacker Benardrick McKinney (25.2).

On the other side of the football, running back Devontae Booker led the way with a grade of 70.4. Behind Booker were wide receiver Kadarius Toney (69.0), right guard Will Hernandez (66.3) and left tackle Andrew Thomas (66.0).

Other notable offensive grades include running back Saquon Barkley (58.8), tight end Evan Engram (58.2) and wide receiver Kenny Golladay (55.8).

The lowest-graded Giants on offense were quarterbacks Mike Glennon (40.0) and Jake Fromm (34.2).

Rookie linebacker Elerson Smith earned the team’s highest special teams grade (91.1).

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