Elerson Smith signs rookie contract with Giants

Fourth-round pick Elerson Smith on Tuesday became the fourth New York Giants rookie to sign his first NFL contract. Smith joins second-round pick Azeez Ojulari and sixth-round picks Gary Brightwell and Rodarius Williams as draft picks who have signed their deals.

For the Giants, that leaves only first-round pick Kadarius Toney and third-round pick Aaron Robinson unsigned.

An edge rusher out of Northern Iowa, the Giants are hoping that the 6-foot-6, 252-pound 22-year-old develops into an impact edge rusher.

After the draft, Giants GM Dave Gettleman said that Smith ‘definitely” has the toolset to develop into a quality NFL pass rusher.

Giants Director of College Scouting Chris Pettit referenced Smith’s potential after the draft.

““ think there’s a lot of potential. 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,” Pettit said. “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.”

Via @Giants