New York Giants defensive tackle Elijah Chatman is entering his second season in the league. Last year, he played in all 17 games and recorded 21 tackles (11 solo) and one sack. But defense isn’t the only part of his game, as we’ve learned recently.
Chatman can also play fullback.
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After practice on Monday, offensive coordinator Mike Kafka was asked what he saw when he looked at Chatman’s tape that made him think he could play on offense.
“He did it in college,” Kafka said. “We went back into the archives and watched some of the stuff he did in college, and I think for Chat, just his ability to be another dynamic player like he is on defense.
“We brought it up to the staff and (Brian Daboll) and had an idea about maybe introducing him as a fullback and seeing what that looked like, so no better time than the preseason to test it out before the bright lights. We wanted to see what it looked like, and I thought he did a really nice job jumping in there.”
Chatman has had minimal issues translating his game to the offensive side of the ball. Daboll revealed on Sunday that Chatman has been breaking facemasks in practice, which Kafka confirmed.
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“The physicality, you know, you see it on defense, so it was cool to see it translate on the offensive side and him go stick his face in a block, and yeah, he’s broken a couple facemasks over the course of training camp. He’s doing a great job, though. Really cool,” he said.
The 6-foot, 248-pound defensive tackle is more athletic than you might think at first glance, and he is powerful enough to be effective both ways. If he continues to be successful, we might just see it become something he does this season.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Mike Kafka explains how Elijah Chatman playing fullback came to be