Elijah Chatman


Elijah Chatman is an American professional football defensive end for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He played college football for the SMU Mustangs and was signed by the Giants as an undrafted free agent in.

Early life

Chatman was born on December 5, 2000, and grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana. He is the youngest of four siblings. He started playing football at age six and showed "incredible" strength from a young age; according to The Dallas Morning News, he was able to lift in seventh grade with only "slight difficulty". He attended Evangel Christian Academy in Shreveport where he was a standout lineman, being named the LSWA Class 5A Defensive Player of the Year, first-team all-state and the district most valuable player as a senior.
Chatman also was a top student, compiling a grade-point average of 3.9, and set the school bench press record of and later. A three-star recruit, he was part of the Shreveport Times Top 10 list and committed to play college football for the SMU Mustangs.

College career

At SMU, Chatman mainly played as a defensive lineman, but also saw time at fullback. He appeared in 11 games as a freshman in 2019, recording 11 tackles and a half-sack, being selected American Athletic Conference All-Academic. He started all 10 games in the 2020 season, posting 25 tackles, 7.5 tackles-for-loss, 3.0 sacks and two fumble recoveries. In 2021, he started 11-of-12 games and totaled 40 tackles, 10 TFLs and 2.5 sacks, earning second-team All-AAC hobors.
By the 2022 season, Chatman was able to bench press, was able to do 42 consecutive reps at, back-squat and power clean. Prior to the season, he earned a spot on Bruce Feldman of The Athletic's "freaks" list, highlighting the most athletic college football players. That year, he started 11-of-13 games and recorded 39 tackles, four TFLs and three sacks, being chosen second-team All-AAC and to the Dave Campbell's Texas Football All-Texas second-team. He returned for a final season in 2023 and started 11 games, posting 33 tackles, nine TFLs and 5.5 sacks, being selected first-team All-AAC. He ended his collegiate career with 148 tackles, 34 TFLs and 13.5 sacks. His 60 career games played also placed second in school history.

Professional career

After going unselected in the 2024 NFL draft, Chatman was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent. Chatman was notably among the 53 players to make the Giants initial regular season roster. In week 3 against the Cleveland Browns Chatman recorded his first career sack.
On August 26, 2025, Chatman was waived by the Giants as part of final roster cuts and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on December 27.