Matt Elam leads NFL defensive backs in missed tackles

[Corvus]

Not going to make excuses for his tackling because every defensive player should be able to hold their own in that regard.

That said, as others have already mentioned, he is a natural strong safety and this team has followed up using him as a free safety his rookie year with being the team's primary nickel back this year. I think if he could play the position he is best suited at playing he could focus better on his tackling and the mental aspects of being a safety instead of focusing on his technique as a cornerback. Not trying to make excuses because as a first round pick he does need to pick it up regardless of where he is playing. I'm just saying I understand the issues he is having on the field and it's not that easy to just pick up playing another position just like that, a lot of mental pressure there for a second year player.

On a related note, I wonder if Saints fans are discussing Vacarro's struggles the same way. Was he not a first round safety last year too?

[Tenacious Faulker]

LOL! Nasty never pays.

Whatchu talkin about, Willis?  You think getting negs from you and other lemmings who can't count mean a darn thing?  Does any one here know how to count?  2011 was 3 years ago.  He's in his 3rd season with 3 years of accrued stats.  Hence he's a three year player.  Not two.  Not four.  This rocket science.

 

Nasty?  I don't think so.

 

Just remember what comes of lemmings from following one another blindly.  

[mgridda]

Whatchu talkin about, Willis?  You think getting negs from you and other lemmings who can't count mean a darn thing?  Does any one here know how to count?  2011 was 3 years ago.  He's in his 3rd season with 3 years of accrued stats.  Hence he's a three year player.  Not two.  Not four.  This rocket science.

 

Nasty?  I don't think so.

 

Just remember what comes of lemmings from following one another blindly.  

 

Elam was in college in 2011. He declared for the 2013 NFL Draft.  Look at pick #32

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft/rounds/_/year/2013

 

 

I was a big fan of Elam, but I'm not a fan of him as a nickel cornerback. Yes, he allows the run and blitzing to be stopped. But I like having a nickel corner who can cover. If we were a real good team, Lardarius Webb would be our nickel cornerback.

 

We'd have Jimmy Smith and Revis (via trade) or Sherman (via draft) on the other side. The Bengals and Cardinals are successful on defense because they have THREE starting caliber cornerbacks.

 

Matt Elam is good at strong safety. Believe it or not, one of the reasons why we drafted him in college is because he was a great and sure tackler who didn't miss tackles. LOL

 

We won't ever have another Ed Reed. But the problem isn't at the safety position. It's the cornerbacks. We don't have enough, the ones we do have are being asked to do too much and they're not all that talented.

[52520Andrew]

Whatchu talkin about, Willis? You think getting negs from you and other lemmings who can't count mean a darn thing? Does any one here know how to count? 2011 was 3 years ago. He's in his 3rd season with 3 years of accrued stats. Hence he's a three year player. Not two. Not four. This rocket science.

Nasty? I don't think so.

Just remember what comes of lemmings from following one another blindly.

Jimmy Smith played in 2011-2012, 2012-2013, and 2013-2014. This is 2014-2015 so it is his 4th year unless I stepped into a time machine. It also has him listed in his 4th season on NFL.com, ESPN, oh and Baltimoreravens.com. I guess all of those sites are wrong though.

[mgridda]

It's a toss up between Elam and Travis Taylor for biggest draft bust in Ravens history.

Travis Taylor, Kyle Boller, and Mark Clayton are the only draft busts in Ravens history.  

 

 

 

The Gary Baxters, Musa Smiths, Dwan Edwards, Dan Cody (injury), Sergio Kindles (injury) and Anthony Weavers of the world are not draft busts. 

[1/28/01]

Jimmy is a 4th year player and Elam is a 2nd year player. Sheesh.

[Tenacious Faulker]

Elam was in college in 2011. He declared for the 2013 NFL Draft.  Look at pick #32

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft/rounds/_/year/2013

 

 

I was a big fan of Elam, but I'm not a fan of him as a nickel cornerback. Yes, he allows the run and blitzing to be stopped. But I like having a nickel corner who can cover. If we were a real good team, Lardarius Webb would be our nickel cornerback.

 

We'd have Jimmy Smith and Revis (via trade) or Sherman (via draft) on the other side. The Bengals and Cardinals are successful on defense because they have THREE starting caliber cornerbacks.

 

Matt Elam is good at strong safety. Believe it or not, one of the reasons why we drafted him in college is because he was a great and sure tackler who didn't miss tackles. LOL

 

We won't ever have another Ed Reed. But the problem isn't at the safety position. It's the cornerbacks. We don't have enough, the ones we do have are being asked to do too much and they're not all that talented.

We are of course talking about Jimmy Smith.  This is what originally written prompting my simple correction: 

kennethyamini1989, on 03 Nov 2014 - 10:07 AM, said:

Guess Jimmy Smith was a bust too....hes a 2nd year player surrounded by questionable talent.

Matt Elam is of course a 2nd year player.  No disputing that.  The original point of discussion is Jimmy Smith who of course was drafted pre-Super Bowl.  Maybe BmoreBird22 was also confused about who I was writing?????? 

[Tenacious Faulker]

Jimmy Smith played in 2011-2012, 2012-2013, and 2013-2014. This is 2014-2015 so it is his 4th year unless I stepped into a time machine. It also has him listed in his 4th season on NFL.com, ESPN, oh and Baltimoreravens.com. I guess all of those sites are wrong though.

Yes you are correct.  He is now in his 4th year.  I stand corrected.  It appears I wasn't counting either - as were a few others.

[arnie_uk]

Ha

[gabrielgrissom]

Do people seriously think that tackling technique changes from position to position? It changes slightly between open field tackling and box tackling, but for the most part, tackling is tackling. Seriously? Tackling changes from SS to FS? People believe that?

 

The future has no hope.

Its a shame too because he wasnt that bad of a tackler at florida too.

[1/28/01]

We are of course talking about Jimmy Smith. This is what originally written prompting my simple correction:

kennethyamini1989, on 03 Nov 2014 - 10:07 AM, said:

Matt Elam is of course a 2nd year player. No disputing that. The original point of discussion is Jimmy Smith who of course was drafted pre-Super Bowl. Maybe BmoreBird22 was also confused about who I was writing??????

Actually, using simple reading comprehension, I was able to deduce that kenneth something or other made two separate thoughts. The second part of his statement was reverting back to the player in which this thread is about, Elam. He was NOT stating Jimmy is a second year player. He was stating Elam is. You then (incorrectly) corrected something that didnt need correcting. Yay!

[ravensnick]

He was drafted in 2011.  Do you even follow this team?

If that were true, this would be his fourth year. So he actually in his second, you think he is in his third, but you think he was drafted as such that he would be in his fourth year?

[52520Andrew]

Yes you are correct. He is now in his 4th year. I stand corrected. It appears I wasn't counting either - as were a few others.

Hurray! I was getting confused myself trying to keep up with it all haha

[BmoreBird22]

I've defended Elam for quite a while, and I think he's finally found a role he really excels in: he's a rover. He's fast to diagnose screens, quick to get into the backfield to make tackles from behind, and he blitzes well. It's really great.

The downside is it's a sellout when he's on the field. The other team knows he's likely to be attacking the LoS and can account for him. I've been impressed with his man coverage skills in the small sample size I've seen, but he's just limited. He's too small to keep tight ends contained and he's athletically limited, so you can't have him cover faster players. We all know how his zone coverage skills are.

Sigh, I really had high hopes for Elam this year, but it's looking like he'll be relegated to being a role player

[Wholelottahaloti]

Sigh, I really had high hopes for Elam this year, but it's looking like he'll be relegated to being a role player

 

Yeah, the recent snap count has pretty much revealed where the Raven's are with Matt Elam, they are desperately trying to find tackling and coverage skills.  With Jimmy Smith now out, you can't have a safety back there without coverage skills.

 

It's not like Elam wasn't fast enough at 4.54 for the 40 yard dash at the combine. That was a faster time by hundredths than Ed Reed ran at his combine.  No, it wasn't speed that was the problem, rather it was that Elam simply lacked affinity for the football. He didn't know where it was, had no ability to get to it and never came down with it. That and he can't reliably tackle.

[emcdonald0]

Man my brain hurts after reading this thread. What were we even talking about?

 

Oh ya, Joe Flacco in his 3rd year as a quarterback needs to stop missing so many tackles and up his YPC to call him self elite.