Senior Bowl winners: Players seeing their stock rise from a strong week
By John Blair
2021 Senior Bowl winner: Elerson Smith. DE, Northern Iowa
One of my favorite small-school pass rushers is Northern Iowa’s Elerson Smith, and this week Smith showed why I am so high on him.
During Senior Bowl practice he showed explosion off the line of scrimmage and was able to beat several offensive tackles off the edge. He also added some weight to his 6-foot-6 frame as he went from 245 pounds in 2019 to 262 pounds at the Senior Bowl.
This weight gain should help him be viewed as an every-down defensive end instead of just a situational pass rusher.
More good stuff today from Northern Iowa’s Elerson Smith. He had a good week of practices. pic.twitter.com/8K2rrdagCT
— Dante Collinelli (@DanteCollinelli) January 28, 2021
The reason I was so high on Smith going into this game was partly due to his outstanding production in college.
In 2019 he led the FCS in sacks and was named an FCS All-American. I was also impressed with how easily he was able to beat offensive lineman off the edge which is the main reason he was one of the most feared pass rushers in college football in 2019.
One more positive with Smith is his outstanding length as he comes in at 6-foot-6 and has a very long wingspan.
In the latest mock draft I did for the Dallas Cowboys, I had them taking Smith in the sixth round. However, the Cowboys might be lucky if he is still around that late in the 2021 NFL Draft, as I would not be surprised if we heard his name called late in the fourth round.