The New York Giants selected Elerson Smith in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL draft, pairing him with Azeez Ojulari, who had been taken in Round 2, as their newest edge rushers.To get more New York Giants with cheap price, you can visit giantsnfl.com official website.

But the 6-foot-6, 260-pound Elerson looked like an entirely different person just a few short years ago. He arrived on the Northern Iowa campus at just 190 pounds and originally lined up at tight end.That was, of course, until former NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Bryce Paup, got his hands on Smith.

Paup, who took over defensive line coaching duties in 2018, began working with Smith immediately and eventually saw a “transformation.” But that didn’t come without many trials and tribulations.

“The first time I had him run a stunt where the defensive end loops back in underneath the defensive tackle, he stopped,” Paup recalled on Big Blue Kickoff Live. “It was just like a calf seeing a new fence or a deer in the headlights. I was just like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is going to take a while.’ But he just didn’t know what he didn’t know. He was very raw.

“In high school (Smith was a first-team all-state selection as a tight end and second-team at defensive end at Minneapolis South), they just let him go, come off the edge, and he just beat most people with speed. He was so long and quick that a lot of high school kids couldn’t even stay with him. The transformation has been pretty spectacular.”

Smith packed on 70 pounds over the course of a few years and went from “bean pole” tight end to freakishly athletic defensive end.

How freakishly athletic? Since 1987, only 39 defensive ends have logged a higher relative athletic score (RAS) than Smith, who was in the top percentile of almost every single metric and measurable this offseason.

But it was the mental part of the game that developed more slowly for Smith. He struggled with his film commitments and was eventually limited to just two snaps in a game against North Dakota State in 2018 after admitting he had not watched any tape.