Elijah Chatman, a defensive tackle under 6 feet tall, doesn’t fit the typical NFL profile.
No team drafted him, and he wasn’t signed as a free agent after the draft. Even after a tryout with the Seattle Seahawks, he was not picked up.
A week later, the New York Giants decided to give him a chance, and now it looks likely that the 23-year-old from SMU in Shreveport, Louisiana, will make New York’s 53-man roster.
Recently, Chatman had been practicing with the first-team defense. This past weekend, he went viral for chasing down Houston Texans running back J.J. Taylor after a long run.
Giants radio commentator Carl Banks mentioned that this play might secure Chatman’s spot on the roster.
Chatman said after Tuesday’s practice, “I’ve been running like that my whole life, man. There are a bunch of clips from high school to college to now. It’s not something out of the ordinary for me, but it happened to be filmed and shown by the NFL.”
Assistant general manager Brandon Brown acknowledged that Chatman was unusual in the draft but had many positive traits.
He was athletic, a team captain, ran for 1,600 yards in high school, participated in punt and kickoff coverage, was a top high school wrestler and powerlifter, and is the son of a lumberjack.
Brown said, “You put that all together, and there are a lot of characteristics from an intangible standpoint, plus the metrics, based on our analytics department.”
Chatman believes his size isn’t a disadvantage.
“I don’t see myself as short, even though I am shorter compared to the average defensive lineman,” said Chatman, who claims to be 5-foot-11 but is listed at 6 feet. “I just go out there and give it my all and let God do the rest.”
