Tag: Elerson Smith

Giants defeat Raiders, 23-16: Instant analysis

Analyzing the New York Giants’ 23-16 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders at MetLife Stadium in Week 9.

The New York Giants hosted the AFC West-leading Las Vegas Raiders at MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon, which was a perfect day for football with temperatures around 50 degrees and hardly any wind.

The Giants were coming off another disappointing loss while Las Vegas was coming off their bye week. It was hardly an uneventful week for the Raiders with the tragic Henry Ruggs situation, and the Giants were uncertain about who would be available this week after some faulty COVID-19 tests.

The line at kickoff had dipped down to Giants +2.5 with an over/under of 46.5 points as per the Tipico Sportsbook app.

The Giants opened the scoring with a crisp seven-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in a Daniel Jones-to-Evan Engram 30-yard hookup for a touchdown that Engram grabbed over Raiders safety Jonathan Abram.

The Raiders stormed right back, marching 72 yards on 10 plays and tied the game when Derek Carr hit Hunter Renfrow for a two-yard score after Renfrow shook James Bradberry on the goal line.

The defenses took over the game and the clubs traded field goals to bring the score to 10-10 with 2:00 remaining in the first half. The Giants have been terrible at the end of the first half all season and they continued that in this game as Las Vegas was able to add another field goal with 0:10 remaining in the half to take a 13-10 lead into the tunnel.

The Raiders lead was short-lived as Giants safety Xavier McKinney picked off Carr on the first possession the second half and took it 41 yards to the house to give the Giants a 17-13 lead.

On the next possession, the Giants defense once again stood tall and forced a field goal. It was their third red zone stop of the game in four tries.

Graham Gano’s 32-yard field goal widened the Giants’ lead with 14:07 remaining. The defense did their thing again on the Raiders’ next drive, stopping them on third-and-6 from the Giants’ 10. Daniel Carlson then hooked the 25-yard field goal attempt wide left to keep the score at 20-16 in favor of New York.

McKinney’s second interception shut the door on Las Vegas’ next possession and sent the Giants on a drive that resulted in a 36-yard field goal to extend the Giants’ lead to 23-16.

The Raiders took control of the football on their own 25 with 3:21 remaining. After driving down to the Giants’ 13 with 0:50 remaining, the defense went work again. Rookie defensive end Quincy Roche stripped Carr of the ball and it was recovered by Leonard Williams on the 23.

The Giants finally win close one. They are 3-3 after starting the year 0-3.

Notes

  • The Giants were shorthanded in the backfield. Saquon Barkley (ankle) and rookie Gary Brightwell (COVID-19) were inactive. Barkley has played in just 20 of the Giants’ last 41 games.
  • Devontae Booker had a career high 99 yards rushing on 21 carries and added 23 yards on three receptions.
  • Sterling Shepard (quad) missed his fourth game of the season. Shepard has now missed 14 games since the beginning of the 2019 season due to various injuries.
  • Fourth-round pick Elerson Smith, an outside linebacker out of Northern Iowa, made his NFL debut. Oshane Ximines was a healthy scratch, perhaps benched after his offsides penalty cost the Giants a chance to win last Monday night in Kansas City.
  • KR/WR Pharoh Cooper and safety J.R. Reed also made their Giants debut in this game.
  • Keion Crossen’s personal foul penalty on Raiders punter A.J. Cole was the 12th special team penalty of the season for the Giants, the most of any team in the NFL this year.
  • The game was broadcast on CBS as the Giants were hosting an AFC team. Kevin Harlan, Trent Green and Melanie Collins (field reporter) called the game.

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Giants place John Ross, Elerson Smith on injured reserve

The New York Giants have placed WR John Ross and ED Elerson Smith on IR, and re-signed WR C.J. Board and LS Casey Kreiter.

The New York Giants continued adjusting their 53-man roster on Wednesday night, placing two players on injured reserve and re-signing two others.

Beginning the season on IR are wide receiver John Ross and rookie edge rusher Elerson Smith. Both players are dealing with hamstring injuries.

Replacing Ross and Smith on the active roster are long snapper Casey Kreiter and wide receiver C.J. Board.

Kreiter was waived as a part of final cuts and Board, in a procedural move, had his contract terminated earlier on Wednesday.

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Giants’ Dave Gettleman, Joe Judge at odds over Elerson Smith’s injury?

It may be insignificant, but Giants GM Dave Gettleman and coach Joe Judge had a little mix-up when it came to Elerson Smith and his injury.

New York Giants fourth-round pick, edge rusher Elerson Smith, has been dealing with a hamstring issue since the early stages of training camp.

That was confirmed on Tuesday when Giants general manager Dave Gettleman told SiriusXM NFL Radio that the injury was sustained during a conditioning run.

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“Elerson pulled a ham on the conditioning run,” Gettleman said.

There appears to be some crossed lines, however. At least in the mind of head coach Joe Judge.

Asked about Smith and his injury on Wednesday, Judge stated emphatically that the rookie did not hurt his hamstring during a conditioning run.

“It was absolutely not a lap or a conditioning test of that nature. That’s not what happened at all,” Judge told reporters. “We’re looking forward to getting Elerson out there as soon as we can. He’s made a lot of progress over the last week and a half with the trainers and medical staff.”

That’s a strange and uncharacteristic mix-up for the Giants and both Gettleman and Judge. The pair often seem to be on the same page and wave length, so it’s noticeable when they share contradictory information.

It’s the grand scheme of things, it’s probably an insignificant error but it’s somewhat glaring because it hasn’t really happened before. And if Gettleman and Judge are getting different information, that’s cause for concern.

In this case, we’ll chalk it up as an incidental happenstance, but it’s something worth keeping an eye on.

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Is Giants rookie Elerson Smith a Jason Taylor clone?

Ourlads scout David Syvertsen views New York Giants rookie Elerson Smith as a potential Jason Taylor clone.

The New York Giants took a huge gamble on Northern Iowa linebacker/edge rusher Emerson Smith when they selected him in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL draft.

The 6-foot-7, 255-pound Smith was a dark horse in the draft due to his lack of reps at the college level. That didn’t scare off the Giants, who saw a load of potential in Smith, who many have given solid grades on.

This is some stunning analysis by Ourlads scout David Syvertsen who, full disclosure, also serves as the draft expert at The Giant Insider, where I also contribute. He called Smith a Jason Taylor clone, which is extremely high praise.

 

For those who may have forgotten, Taylor is a Hall of Famer and six-time Pro Bowler whose frame (6-foot-6, 245 pounds) was similar to that of Smith’s.

Smith has the length and the pass rush gene that teams crave, and the athleticism to become a solid DE/OLB. The comment that Smith has a higher upside than the Giants’ second-round steal, Azeez Ojulari of Georgia, who many experts see as a potential NFL Pro Bowler, is eye-opening.

Smith is seen as a bit of a project whose traits fit that of a 4-3 defensive end more than a 3-4 down lineman. At 6-foot-7, he doesn’t quite fit as a three-down outside linebacker, either.

Smith entered college at just 215 pounds and played very little football in his time at UNI. He redshirted his freshman year and then didn’t play any games the next season as a redshirt freshman. As a redshirt sophomore, Smith made only 19 tackles but 10.5 of those tackles went for a loss and 7.5 of them were sacks.

In his junior campaign, Smith recorded 63 total tackles with 14 sacks, 21.5 tackles for loss and five forced fumbles. He was named first team All-MVFC and also earned first team FCS All-American honors.

“I think there’s a lot of potential,” said Giants director of college scouting Chris Pettit. “The biggest thing with the smaller school guys, we always start at step one, do they dominate that level. They have to dominate that level of competition to get in the conversation.

“And the great thing about Elerson that, again, reference the Senior Bowl again, but we got to see him on the same playing field with guys from Power Five schools and the higher levels and he fit right in. He competed his butt off and looked the part. You got to compare apples-to-apples there. That was a great venue for us. There were times when he had to play a Division I team. He played Iowa State this year, played over 90 plays in that game and competed to the last whistle and it was really impressive to see. But I think there’s big upside there.”

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Giants sign fourth-round pick Elerson Smith

The New York Giants have signed fourth-round pick Elerson Smith to his rookie contract.

The New York Giants took another step toward getting their 2021 NFL draft class under contract on Tuesday, signing fourth-round pick Elerson Smith to a rookie deal.

Smith becomes the fourth of the Giants’ six-player draft class to sign their contract, joining second-round pick, edge rusher Azeez Ojulari, and running back Gary Brightwell and cornerback Rodarius Williams, each of whom were sixth-round picks.

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First-round wide receiver Kadarius Toney and third-round cornerback Aaron Robinson remain unsigned.

Smith, who stands at an impressive 6-foot-6 and weighs 262 pounds, was named first-team All-MVFC in 2019 after recording 63 tackles (21.5 for a loss), 14.0 sacks, five forced fumbles, four passes defended, and two blocked kicks.

However, Smith wasn’t able to follow that up in 2020 after opting out due to COVID-19 (the league moved games to the spring) and to prepare for the draft.

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Elerson Smith didn’t expect the Giants to draft him

Elerson Smith admits that he did not expect the New York Giants to draft him after they took Azeez Ojulari in Round 2.

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After the New York Giants selected Georgia edge rusher Azeez Ojulari in the second round of the 2021 NFL draft, Elerson Smith essentially crossed the team off his mental list of potential destinations.

In Smith’s mind, the Giants had accomplished their goal of adding a pass rusher and that meant it was down to 31 other teams.

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“Honestly, when I saw they took Azeez I was like, ‘they already got [their] defensive end.’ So I kind of took them off my list in my head,” Smith told KSTP Sports. “But I like the idea of coming in with another pass rusher — someone who can motivate me. We can motivate each other and get after it.”

When the call did come for Smith, he recognized the New Jersey area code but because the television networks were so far behind in their pick coverage, he had no idea the Giants were even on the clock.

“I saw New Jersey and it was weird because they called me 10-15 minutes before they even showed it on the TV screen. I didn’t even know the Giants had a pick coming up,” Smith said. “I was extremely shocked, excited and relieved. It was a great moment.”

As excited as Smith was at the time, the Northern Iowa product is already looking ahead and planning to maximize his opportunities.

“I’m going to make sure I work hard and contribute on special teams,” Smith said. “Obviously, just do my best and show what I can do in practices.”

Smith added that he doesn’t care if he has his hand down or if he’s standing up, his goal is just to get to the quarterback. He also believes he’ll benefit from playing in Patrick Graham’s defensive, which will provide him some additional space in which to work.

2021 NFL Draft report card: How did the Giants fare?

Giants Wire breaks down the New York Giants’ 2021 NFL draft class, their trade haul and offers up individual and cumulative grades.

What a three-day span it was for the New York Giants, who broke some long-standing trends and were extremely creative in their approach.

They were dealt a bad hand in Round 1 when the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles conspired against them (tongue-in-cheek), but they didn’t panic and made the entire situation work in their favor. They also did a great job maneuvering in Round 2.

They continued to move around for the remainder of the draft, compiling future assets and attacking draft positions in order to land the players they coveted.

Giants Wire breaks down Big Blue’s entire 2021 NFL draft and offers up some grades:

Introducing the New York Giants’ 2021 draft class

A quick look and short breakdown of the New York Giants’ entire 2021 NFL draft class.

The New York Giants made six picks during the 2021 NFL draft. The class started with Florida wide receiver Kadarius Toney in the first round and finished with Oklahoma State cornerback Rodarius Williams in the sixth round.

Introducing the full Giants’ draft class for 2021:

2021 NFL draft: EDGE prospects in each round for Colts

EDGE is the biggest need for the Colts.

The Indianapolis Colts will be entering the 2021 NFL draft looking to add to their biggest need, which most would say comes on the edge of the defensive line.

While finding a left tackle will be a priority as well, the Colts are staring at a potential problem with their pass rush from the edge. As it stands, the starters at defensive end include Kemoko Turay, Ben Banogu and Al-Quadin Muhammad. Turay and Banogu have plenty of upside but if they don’t make significant strides, the pass rush will continue to be inconsistent.

The draft doesn’t offer many blue-chip edge rushers, although there are some prospects who should intrigue the Colts. They could look to address the room in the first round or decide to wait and address other needs. We also took a look at wide receiver prospects in each round for Indy.

Here is an edge rusher prospect in every round for the Colts:

10 small-school prospects for the Eagles to consider in the 2021 NFL Draft

10 small-school prospects for the Eagles to consider in the 2021 NFL Draft

The Eagles are no strangers to targeting small school players in the NFL draft and the results have mostly been positive.

The Eagles used the 2016 Senior Bowl to analyze Carson Wentz and Howie Roseman used the No. 2 pick on the former North Dakota State star.

Dallas Goedert, Todd Herreman, Jeremiah Trotter, and Brian Westbrook also make the list.

There have been plenty of small-school gems drafted over the years and with the Eagles in need of some retooling, here are 10 sleeper prospects who could interest the Birds.