Is Matt Elam a bust?

[1/28/01]

He had one against the Colts, possibly the biggest defensive play of the game, and one against the Browns

Yes, the ball does seem to pop out often while he is around...problem is I also see him constantly trying to strip the ball missing tackles or while being carried for additional yards. Form tackle and use your swing arm to try and jar the ball loose, please!!!

[FerrariFan87]

He showed signs of the type of player we thought he could be... if he can get zoned in, I think he can be a good player for us.

[KnowNoLimits]

I wouldn't declare him a bust. He could never cover wide outs, but excels in run defense. Like Pollard, I personally like Pollard better though. Why we use him in one on one matchups makes my head itch. Very frustrating player right now.

[rmw10]

He did at least show signs of knowing what to do yesterday, and that's something I'll take from him.  He's seemed to be clueless for much of the year.  They're baby steps, but at least they're baby steps in the right direction.

[BmoreBird22]

Yes, the ball does seem to pop out often while he is around...problem is I also see him constantly trying to strip the ball missing tackles or while being carried for additional yards. Form tackle and use your swing arm to try and jar the ball loose, please!!!

As I said in my post above, if he could form tackle, he'd be the best strong safety from that class. He's in position to make so many plays, but doesn't tackle well

[The Raven]

He gets one more year to prove otherwise. 

[JoeyFlex5]

as one of elams biggest defenders... im just about ready to draw the line on him and label him a bust. 

 

never know though, he could come alive in the playoffs? he certainly does have a knack for forcing fumbles but it definitely comes at a steep price more often than not. 

 

and by the way, for my money, give me derron smith in the 3rd over any safety in this draft, he is one of the most natural ballhawks ive seen and his football IQ is at an NFL level already, in terms of being smart enough to step in and start on day 1, he is the CJ mosley of safeties and he may make it all the way to the 3rd round.

[Mt. Crushmore]

Has he played well?  No.  Is he a bust?  No.  

 

Yesterday was probably his best performance of the season and he has quietly improved these last few weeks.  From week 7-17 he gave up a passer rating of 78 on 30 pass attempts against him.  In the first 6 weeks, he gave up a passer rating of 103.7 on 17 pass attempts against him.

[Guest]

cleats elam?  He was a hit and miss tackler at florida. the problem with launching at ball carriers in the nfl is that more of them are quicker than in college. the nfl is the best of the best. elam is a glaring weakness, we'll keep him until his rookie contract is done but he won't be resigned.  he's never been and will never be a ball hawk.

If your standard is where he was drafted, then I think you can make a legit case for him being a bust. But if you go back and watch how he played at Florida, I say he's playing the same way. He was physical and aggressive but struggled in man coverage and had a tendency to go for kill shots as opposed to wrapping guys up and making solid tackles. He's the same guy. I think he can be effective if put in position to maximize his strengths. He's an in the box type of guy and plays his best in coverage when he's in zone with receivers in front of him. His tackling and pursuit angles were issues in college and still are, so he has to improve there. He has the physical traits (aside from ideal height) to play in the NFL. I'd argue he was over drafted based on his play in college as opposed to being a bust. The Ravens may have strayed from their BPA philosophy and reached for Elam (think he was 32nd pick in the 1st round) out of need at the position or the depth of safeties in that year's draft.. He was probably a mid-2nd to early 3rd round type of pick based on his play. Of course I'm saying all this in hindsight, but I remember Dan Bryden writing an article pointing out some of these issues when Elam was drafted.

[ravensnick]

Has he played well?  No.  Is he a bust?  No.  

 

Yesterday was probably his best performance of the season and he has quietly improved these last few weeks.  From week 7-17 he gave up a passer rating of 78 on 30 pass attempts against him.  In the first 6 weeks, he gave up a passer rating of 103.7 on 17 pass attempts against him.

We all gave up on Jimmy Smith before. Db is the hardest transition in the NFL and even the "elite" player still struggle (Patrick Peterson gave up 7 or 8 TDs this year as the second highest paid DB in the league).  Usually after Three years, they have it down. 

[ravensnick]

Yeah, he's pretty much an idiot and its clear he'd be asking me if I want fries with that, if not for his football skills.

He did go back to school and got his degree over the summer after his rookie season. His social media paints him very bad, but let's not jump to conclusions. His degree was in anthropology. 

Edited December 29, 2014 by ravensnick

[GrimCoconut]

We all gave up on Jimmy Smith before. Db is the hardest transition in the NFL and even the "elite" player still struggle (Patrick Peterson gave up 7 or 8 TDs this year as the second highest paid DB in the league). Usually after Three years, they have it down.

I never once gave up on Jimmy Smith. I know you're speaking in generalities but there is a difference between Jimmy and Matt at this point in their careers. To be fair to Elam, Jimmy didn't have as much exposure and had the benefit of having some excellent coaches in Chuck and Austin and players like Reed and Webb in his prime. Elam never really had that.

I agree it's too early to throw in the towel, I appreciate the defense that secondary players struggle. It's a tough transition made tougher by strict rules favoring the offense. With that said, I just don't think he deserves a pass when he just stares down a WR when he's on the ground untouched. Thankfully that hasn't happened since, but it's those mental lapses that really infuriate me.

Elam has potential but I'm just left wondering whether he's quick enough mentally to realize it.

[1/28/01]

He did go back to school and got his degree over the summer after his rookie season. His social media paints him very bad, but let's not jump to conclusions. His degree was in anthropology.

1 - News to me

2 - Shocking

3 - Congrats (seriously)

4 - Degrees are a piece of paper

[ravensdfan]

Y'all are just mean sheesh!

 

I know it was the Browns, I know Gordon was out, I know it was a QB basically fresh off the street but I thought Elam had a decent game Sunday without making the stupid mistakes.

[balfan23]

I don't think the jury is out on Elam at this point. Many will point to the time required for Jimmy to come around, but I think even more difficult has been the fact that we've been shifting Elam all over the secondary. I would really love to see us put him in a traditional SS position and let him develop there. It seemed that was the plan coming into this season, but the secondary has been a relatively chaotic work in progress all season due to injuries and player limitations. 

 

It just seems like we've got no one who can range the field and cover the receiver that a corner back releases. We still need someone to be that guy. I'm not sure if Brooks will fill that role, but until we can really lock Elam into a spot where he can get some consistency, he'll continue to struggle at times. 

[Ravensuperfan1]

Lets be real here for a first round pick he is a bust.

[Tru11]

next season is makeor break.

 

lil bit early  still.

 

have any safety cover slot receivers and they will struggle.

 

dude was covering hawkins lol

Edited December 30, 2014 by Tru11

[KBoum]

To be fair with Matt, he had a bad year because of the poor CB depth of the team. He had to play Nickleback/Slot CB much of the year which isnt his strength.

 

When he was playing roover SS close to the line of scrimmage he was pretty good. Great instincts but needs to work on his tackling thats for sure.

 

Next year, if the Ravens add a CB or 2, they get Jimmy back so..

 

CBs :

1- Jimmy

2- FA/Draft

3- Webb (slot)

 

No more man to man against quick slot WRs for Elam. I think he would play a lot better in zone and in run support situations.

[Radinho84]

Lets be real here for a first round pick he is a bust.

with the way our secondary was playing this year and all the different personnel trying to adjust to their role I think it is fair to give him another chance next year. I really liked him last Year and he was solid at Nickel some times as well.

 

I think even sherman would struggle within our secondary...

[jimmypowder]

with the way our secondary was playing this year and all the different personnel trying to adjust to their role I think it is fair to give him another chance next year. I really liked him last Year and he was solid at Nickel some times as well.

 

I think even sherman would struggle within our secondary...

I agree

[The Mom Gene]

I was watching Game Rewind last night on my tablet...  And even the analysts were stating after he made a nice tackle... that Elam does soooo well up near the line of scrimmage...  and they also said:  "We see that a lot from new safeties in this league"...

 

We just need to give this guy a chance to grow and learn.  He's a very aggressive player and wants to succeed.  You can see that.

[Radinho84]

I was watching Game Rewind last night on my tablet...  And even the analysts were stating after he made a nice tackle... that Elam does soooo well up near the line of scrimmage...  and they also said:  "We see that a lot from new safeties in this league"...

 

We just need to give this guy a chance to grow and learn.  He's a very aggressive player and wants to succeed.  You can see that.

exactly. he was asked to play basically every spot in the secondary this Year and more. Who would´t struggle doing this? If he would have been able to play to his strengths (near the box SS like Troy P) he would have been much more recognized and not blamed held as much as it was the case this year...

[rmw10]

I was watching Game Rewind last night on my tablet...  And even the analysts were stating after he made a nice tackle... that Elam does soooo well up near the line of scrimmage...  and they also said:  "We see that a lot from new safeties in this league"...

 

We just need to give this guy a chance to grow and learn.  He's a very aggressive player and wants to succeed.  You can see that.

 

He'll never become a quality player unless he learns to tackle.  You can see his instincts and overall play is much better closer to the LOS, but most of those abilities are wasted when he whiffs on some jump shoulder tackle.  The analysts are right.  He has the ability.  He just has one skill that keeps dragging him down and unfortunately for him, it's one of the most fundamental skills that you need to be a success.

[ravensnick]

1 - News to me

2 - Shocking

3 - Congrats (seriously)

4 - Degrees are a piece of paper

True, but anthropology isn't a joke of a degree like lets says general studies would be.

Edited December 30, 2014 by ravensnick

[ravensnick]

I never once gave up on Jimmy Smith. I know you're speaking in generalities but there is a difference between Jimmy and Matt at this point in their careers. To be fair to Elam, Jimmy didn't have as much exposure and had the benefit of having some excellent coaches in Chuck and Austin and players like Reed and Webb in his prime. Elam never really had that.

I agree it's too early to throw in the towel, I appreciate the defense that secondary players struggle. It's a tough transition made tougher by strict rules favoring the offense. With that said, I just don't think he deserves a pass when he just stares down a WR when he's on the ground untouched. Thankfully that hasn't happened since, but it's those mental lapses that really infuriate me.

Elam has potential but I'm just left wondering whether he's quick enough mentally to realize it.

I didn't give up on Jimmy either. But look at all the safeties in his class. Vaccaro is struggling worse than he is, Reid isn't doing a ton better. Even Jags fans aren't happy with Cyprien.

Edited December 30, 2014 by ravensnick

[izvoodoo]

I didn't give up on Jimmy either. But look at all the safeties in his class. Vaccaro is struggling worse than he is, Reid isn't doing a ton better. Even Jags fans aren't happy with Cyprien.

Reid and Vaccaro played really well his rookie year though.  Elam played sort of ok.  

[ravensnick]

Reid and Vaccaro played really well his rookie year though.  Elam played sort of ok.  

And Vaccaro has been maybe the worst safety in the league this year. I say that as a guy who watch him played 3 years at Texas and wants to see him succeed.

Edited December 30, 2014 by ravensnick

[GrimCoconut]

I didn't give up on Jimmy either. But look at all the safeties in his class. Vaccaro is struggling worse than he is, Reid isn't doing a ton better. Even Jags fans aren't happy with Cyprien.

And perhaps the mistake we made was we selected a safety that wasn't BPA. I think there were better options available at that pick. I also think we could've traded up to take a quality player within ten picks of our own.

I'm Arthur Brown fan but he's done nothing for us. I would've rather we traded up for Hopkins, Trufant, Rhodes, Jones who were all taken within those ten picks before our own. I would've been happy with Woods or Allen with our first round pick. I was also a fan of Mathieu, Armstead, Sio Moore and Alonso.

I know I have the benefit of hindsight but I expect Ozzie to have better foresight than me and those were all guys I really liked. Make no mistake, I was happy to get both Elam and Brown, but to be frank, neither have been great picks so far.

[rmw10]

And perhaps the mistake we made was we selected a safety that wasn't BPA. I think there were better options available at that pick. I also think we could've traded up to take a quality player within ten picks of our own.

I'm Arthur Brown fan but he's done nothing for us. I would've rather we traded up for Hopkins, Trufant, Rhodes, Jones who were all taken within those ten picks before our own. I would've been happy with Woods or Allen with our first round pick. I was also a fan of Mathieu, Armstead, Sio Moore and Alonso.

I know I have the benefit of hindsight but I expect Ozzie to have better foresight than me and those were all guys I really liked. Make no mistake, I was happy to get both Elam and Brown, but to be frank, neither have been great picks so far.

 

Still convinced in my mind that Hopkins is the guy we wanted.

[uhhhh]

Still convinced in my mind that Hopkins is the guy we wanted.

 

I thought they wanted Ogletree