Is Matt Elam a bust?

[Guest]

I actually think elam has pretty good play recognition, decent coverage, but horrid tackling. If you saw him play last year, whenever there was a wr/rb screen, elam would dash to the spot, but miss the tackle every time. Hopefully the lost weight will improve his coverage range, but if he doesnt improve his tackling, he's done for.

 

Elam must have impressed the Front Office with his "Hitting" skills. Swooping in making the "big" hit. That isn't gonna work for him in the NFL. He's facing much better athletes than he did while playing on very good teams with Florida.

 

As far as tackling, he's got arms like a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

 

Below is a link to Cleats Elam coming in hard for the tackle:

 

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=100872

 

Eat Greedy

Edited May 19, 2015 by Danny D

[Cillmatic]

With Will Hill and Kendrick as the starters and only 2 years left on Elam's contract I doubt he makes it back as starter. The talent in front of him is too good.

[Inqui]

I thought that was Poes Crows who called him cleats Elam? Man I haven't seen that one used in a while though, brought back some memories to this fan

Yeah, I was about to say I was surprised to not see a picture of Ed Reed in a Jets uniform or an "in this fan's opinion". Could come back to the multiple accounts thing though.

[K-Dog]

He kinda disappeared didnt he?

[KnowNoLimits]

With our newest edition at corner is there any room for Elam... Seriously can't think of a reason to start him let alone play him on the field... Except special teams of course.

[jazz1988]

With our newest edition at corner is there any room for Elam... Seriously can't think of a reason to start him let alone play him on the field... Except special teams of course.

 

Yes there's room for Elam. Elam won't be playing corner this year unless some injuries happen. He will most likely sub in and out with Will Hill along with playing special teams.

Edited May 20, 2015 by jazz1988

[PurpleCity5]

Probably old news but

 

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2015/2015-broken-tackles-defenses

 

Ravens were 6th best at avoiding missed tackles. Matt Elam, despite playing roughly 56% of the snaps (according to my math from PFF), accounted for 11 of our 70 missed tackles according to this article. 

Gosh...Well...That's interest, both good news for our guys...but bad news for Elam. 

[FerrariFan87]

I feel like the Ravens and Ravens Nation might be pleasantly surprised by Elam's play this season. He seems to be extra focused/motivated. Maybe things will turn around?

[jimmypowder]

Fixed.

And I guess you'd like to pay another $1 million against the cap ($1.5 mill to keep Elam, $2.5 mill to release him) just to have Elam off the team. That's just flat out dumb. Plus, who know, maybe he rises to the challenge. Don't write him off yet.

Nope . If he continues to play like one of the worst rated safeties in the NFL and we have a better player at Safety I have no problems

with releasing him even if we eat a million . He is that bad .

[808Blackbirds]

Do the coaches even trust elam on special teams? 

[ravensnick]

Nope . If he continues to play like one of the worst rated safeties in the NFL and we have a better player at Safety I have no problems with releasing him even if we eat a million . He is that bad .

Scary to say, but you can find much worse than Matt Elam playing safety in the NFL. See: Bear's secondary

Edited May 21, 2015 by ravensnick

[FlackAttack]

Scare to say, but you can find much worse than Matt Elam playing safety in the NFL. See: Bear's secondary

you couldnt be more wrong. matt elam is amongst, if not the worst safety in the NFL. you cant find "much worse". sure, there may be bad safety duos, but when it comes down to individual player he is right at the bottom.

[ravensnick]

you couldnt be more wrong. matt elam is amongst, if not the worst safety in the NFL. you cant find "much worse". sure, there may be bad safety duos, but when it comes down to individual player he is right at the bottom.

Try career backups, any secondary in the NFC South, etc. Elam is bad, but at least he has had a moment or two. He's not terrible for a backup as of now. I think he could pull it together. And if not, hey, we got Hill, Lewis, and Brooks. This isn't even to mention the huge learning gap for secondary players and that young secondary players tend to extremely struggle, even high first rounders. Examples: Kenny Vaccaro, Dee Millner, DJ Hayden, Justin Gilbert, etc. 

Edited May 21, 2015 by ravensnick

[berad]

I've seen a number of reporters remark that Elam is playing better, is in good shape, and has confidence.

Of course, this is minicamp. The question of tackling lingers. With the number of 3+ safety sets we've run, the backups are important

[redrum52]

Scary to say, but you can find much worse than Matt Elam playing safety in the NFL. See: Bear's secondary

Lmao. Conty.

[JetLife94]

Even if Matt Elam is "improving" I still wanna see will hill starting. Along with Terrence brooks when he's ready!

[ALSKAN RAVEN FAN]

I will have to see Matt Elam play this pre-season with pads on  before I pass any more judgement as far as the media goes I just dont trust ANYTHING they say even sports media sometimes tries to sell a load of manure to the fans..... Everything the media and coaches are trying to sell right now is Elam is having the best camp ever and he is just tearing up the field. I say whatever when I see it with the pads on and against another jersey color  I will believe it.

Edited June 21, 2015 by ALSKAN RAVEN FAN

[Adreme]

Matt Elam could have the best camp in the history of the NFL and I would not care because his biggest weakness as a pro is his inability to tackle and take the right line to the person he is trying to tackle and those are not things that will get solved in a minicamp.  They will get shown in real practices and in the real games where you get to see how much they have developed.

[Sami84]

meh..apparantly everyones been awesome according to the coaches..just like in every year..

[ravensdan]

meh..apparantly everyones been awesome according to the coaches..just like in every year..

And every team. The only time you hear something negative is when a coach wants to motivate a particular player.

[BmoreBird22]

And every team. The only time you hear something negative is when a coach wants to motivate a particular player.

I don't think this is necessarily true. Plenty of coaches will call out a player for not playing well or not give comment at all if they aren't, but do keep in mind that looking good in shorts and non contact drills isn't terribly difficult if the players can put themselves in the right place

[beasy2487]

More like a bust in Canton...amiright?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GrimCoconut]

I'll judge him myself this year. I'm holding out hope he proves people wrong. Not going to lie, I've doubted him plenty of times and I'd be thrilled to eat my words.

[ellicottraven]

How do you coach angles of pursuit? That is more instinct and patience I believe. Elam didn't display much of it this past year. As for tackling, it is only relevant if he can pursue the right angle to get the offensive player before a big gain. I believe Elam's problem lies with wanting to make big or splash plays and therefore has a tendency to over pursue and miss the right angle.

 

If he is coached to slow down and fix his pursuit angles then the will get to the player where he can wrap up and tackle. If he just gets a part of the player in pursuit, where is the question of wrapping up? He only wraps onto thin air at that point.

[edreed2o]

I want Elam to prove me and everyone else wrong but it still doesnt look good for him unless Will Hill goes down with an injury. Knock on wood. Hes only gonna get limited reps per game so hes gotta make those count. He's gotta make em count at the line of scrimmage which is dissapointing because usually safeties that are drafted in the first round are pickd because of their coverage skills. I dont see Matt Elam taking away snaps from Will because Will Hill is an all around good safety.

[Ravensfan23]

I want Elam to prove me and everyone else wrong but it still doesnt look good for him unless Will Hill goes down with an injury. Knock on wood. Hes only gonna get limited reps per game so hes gotta make those count. He's gotta make em count at the line of scrimmage which is dissapointing because usually safeties that are drafted in the first round are pickd because of their coverage skills. I dont see Matt Elam taking away snaps from Will because Will Hill is an all around good safety.

 

Elam will play just as much as he did during the back half of last season imo. Pees, even going back to his Pats days, like to run a 3 Safety scheme and with the amount of pass happy offenses in the NFL, the Ravens will be in plenty Dime and other sub packages. 

 

Elam will have plenty of opportunities imo. If Hill continues to cover TEs so well, Pees will give Elam and Brooks deep coverage chances, or in box chances. 

[gabefergy]

Elam will play just as much as he did during the back half of last season imo. Pees, even going back to his Pats days, like to run a 3 Safety scheme and with the amount of pass happy offenses in the NFL, the Ravens will be in plenty Dime and other sub packages.

Elam will have plenty of opportunities imo. If Hill continues to cover TEs so well, Pees will give Elam and Brooks deep coverage chances, or in box chances.

I'm not sure about this. Elam spent a lot of time playing slot CB at the end of yhe season because the depth there was so thin. I don't see him taking snaps away from Arrington barring injury. I'm sure he will see some playing time in certain sub packages but I do think he is headed for a reduced role.

[Ravensfan23]

I'm not sure about this. Elam spent a lot of time playing slot CB at the end of yhe season because the depth there was so thin. I don't see him taking snaps away from Arrington barring injury. I'm sure he will see some playing time in certain sub packages but I do think he is headed for a reduced role.

 

but with him playing slot CB, you have to look at how many times guys like Stewart, Hill and Trawrick or whomever the 3rd Safety was were on the field at the same time. No Elam won't take snaps away from Arrington, but I'd be willing to bet that in most cases where you are running Dime packages with 6 DBs, it'll be Smith, Webb, Arrington, Hill and Lewis, with Elam playing down around the LOS a good bit of the time. 

 

Yes he headed for a reduced role in terms of he won't be asked to play CB, but he won't just be a sub guy like say Trawick or see limited time. Elam will see the field a good amount of time, unless he continues to struggle early. 

[gabefergy]

but with him playing slot CB, you have to look at how many times guys like Stewart, Hill and Trawrick or whomever the 3rd Safety was were on the field at the same time. No Elam won't take snaps away from Arrington, but I'd be willing to bet that in most cases where you are running Dime packages with 6 DBs, it'll be Smith, Webb, Arrington, Hill and Lewis, with Elam playing down around the LOS a good bit of the time.

Yes he headed for a reduced role in terms of he won't be asked to play CB, but he won't just be a sub guy like say Trawick or see limited time. Elam will see the field a good amount of time, unless he continues to struggle early.

I don't think the Ravens play dime very often. By the end of the season it was either Levine or Elam playing SCB because there were no other CBs to play. They might have been on the field together a few times, but not frequently.

I'm not saying there won't be a role for him if he shows improvement, but I doubt he is a regular even in sub packages.

[Ravensfan23]

I don't think the Ravens play dime very often. By the end of the season it was either Levine or Elam playing SCB because there were no other CBs to play. They might have been on the field together a few times, but not frequently.

I'm not saying there won't be a role for him if he shows improvement, but I doubt he is a regular even in sub packages.

 

I think we agree that he'll have a role, it's just a matter of how big. Personally I don't think the Ravens have given up on Elam nearly to the point the fans have and I personally think he'll show his true potential this year. I don't think the coaches see Hill and Lewis as the only starters at safety. I think they view it as they have 4 starting caliber Safeties with Lewis, Brooks, Hill and Elam. I think they all see significant time on defense this year unless they prove not worth with play. Of course Lewis and Hill will see more snaps.