Towering rookie LB has shot to show what he’s made of

It looked as if Elerson Smith’s rookie season was going to be a washout, but if the Giants, in their final two games of the season, can continue to find out more about their elongated outside linebacker, then his debut year will not have been a total loss.

Smith, a fourth-round draft pick out of Northern Iowa, is supposed to be able to provide what the Giants need: Pass-rush prowess. The expectation was he needed to get bigger than his 245 pounds and add strength to his 6-foot-7 frame. The expectation also was that, coming from a lower level of competition, Smith needed time to acclimate to the NFL game.

The expectations turned into delayed results when Smith missed all of training camp with a severe hamstring issue that landed him on injured reserve. He did not get into his first NFL game until Week 9 and he started off in a special teams role. The past four games, he has played 21, 17, 15 and 13 snaps on defense and did not flash much of anything, until last week’s loss to the Eagles. Late in the first quarter, Smith was in full pass-rush mode on third-and-17 and beat his man on a rush up the middle, getting the first quarterback hit of his NFL career when he forced Jalen Hurts into a throwaway.

That was not an accidental route taken by Smith. He is an edge player, but is lining up inside more often than anticipated.

“I like that early, that rookie year get him some work inside in terms of the pass rush to develop some toughness,’’ defensive coordinator Patrick Graham said.

“I think as he’s gotten more and more reps — and I think there were a few clips from last week where he actually used his length, he’s getting used to using his arms. What happens with these pass rushers coming from college to the pros, they’re so much better than everybody and they don’t understand how important the extension is. I like the fact that he’s developing that toughness inside, developing the understanding that if you don’t use your hand inside it’s going to be really bad.’’

Strange but true: This is the second straight year the Giants will face Andy Dalton in one of their final games. He started at quarterback in the 2020 season finale for the Cowboys (the Giants won 23-19). On Sunday, Dalton will get the start for the Bears in place of Justin Fields, who is listed as questionable with an ankle injury. Bears coach Matt Nagy chose Dalton ahead of Nick Foles, who will be the backup.