Elam seems like the kind of guy who could really excel with good talent around him, sort of like Brandon Moore. As evidenced by the talent around Brandon Moore this year, that goes to shit when someone like that doesn't have anyone good around them.
Nice comparison. With the emergence of a starter opposite Revis, I think Elam could flourish into a starter in a best-case scenario. Hank Poteat was a very solid player for the secondary in 07', but with an upgrade at that spot Elam would look a lot better.
Why? Elam played pretty well for us, and if he played with more discipline he looks like he could be a beast.
Where do you get that impression from? Did he show exceptional athletic ability? No, he looked average at best in terms of speed and poor in terms of hip movement/rotation Did he show good instincts? No, he bit on play fake after play fake, misread running plays, and consistently took poor angles to the ball carrier Did he show good ball skills? No, he often seemed lost when the ball was in the air, not reacting until the ball was almost to, or in the WR's hands. Did he show a good head for the game/discipline? No, he seemed out of control even at times. Looking like a less-naturally talented version of Justin Miller The ONLY thing he showed that was positive was his aggression and hustle. Those are not exceptional/rare qualities in an NFL DB.
Why don't we just get a talented safety that doesn't need "good talent around him" to be a successful NFL player? Basically what you just said is: If everyone else in our secondary is talented, Elam will look like he's doing his job when the other ACTUALLY TALENTED players are the reason for the defense's success. The guy is a back-up...at best. I don't get how you people can't see that?
Actually he did show good athletic ability, run stuffing ability, and he allowed Rhodes to do his thing. He was a also one of the better tacklers on our D. Of course he can be upgraded, but I don't think he was bad at all...and like guys like BT and Moore (like edge said) he seems like a guy who would play very well with some discipline and talent around him. You're not going to find an elite guy at every position, and this draft and FA class doesn't seem to have a ton of good safeties...so honestly I don't think I'd mind/care if they stick with Elam.
i'm sure he wasn't brought in to steal information from the patriots only to be released by training camp at all...
This draft actually has great safeties -- there just isn't a Roy Williams or a Sean Taylor of the bunch. Kenny Phillips, DaJuan Morgan, Craig Steltz, Reggie Smith, Marcus Griffin, Tom Zbikowski, Jonathan Hefney (Bob Sanders clone), and Tyrell Johnson are all excellent safety prospects...
Going back to my example from another post earlier about the Patriots... a LOT of Patriots players look better than they really are because of the talent around them. Just look at their secondary... they always succeed, and they're always in upheaval. The only reason this works is because their front 7 is devastating. This is part of the reason I'm so against an Asante Samuel signing, I think he's overrated and a product of the system AND the team. Just look at a lot of the other highly productive role players who got dumped by the Patriots and then suddenly dropped off the radar. Need an example? You don't need to look further then our own roster at Matt Chatham. But he's not a starter you say? Fine. What has Joe Andruzzi done since he left? Willie McGinest? Hell, even Adam Vinatieri. They've done squat. I don't expect Samuel to be much better. And the whole point of that tirade pointing out how wonderful the Patriots are (ugh I hate them, I'm so glad the Giants dropped those pansies in the Super Bowl) is that you DON'T need an elite superstar at every single position. Often times teams are more successful when their less than great players are utilized in a way which allows them to overachieve. I think Abram Elam can be one of those "overachievers", along with a select few others. He is a guy who probably costs less against the cap then a bag of doritos, but you can tell he brings the pain each and every play. He is a bit out of control sometimes, but that can be coached up. If Mangini can't coach up players like that, guys who are valuable assets to the team because of their cap figure, well... then we're going nowhere anyway. We can't win with a team of all superstars... just look at the Deadskins.
Well if we can land any of these guys later in the draft, say 5th or 6th round... then we've got someone legitimate to compete with Elam, and that's never a bad thing. I think Elam will be fine though.
Eh...Phillips and Smith are the most exciting in that group...but I wouldn't say they're "great." I forgot I also like Eric Smith.
Andruzzi got leukaemia and hasn't played, McGinest is now very old and Vinatieri has won a Super Bowl since leaving the Pats. Hardly shining examples to back up your point. FWIW, Elam has impressed me more than Atari Bigby ever did, and look where he is now.
It's good to see we are looking to be competitive with the Dolphins next year. I would hate to see them get to far ahead of us in year three of our rebuild.
People need to relax. This is a nothing signing. If he makes the roster it's to replace Coleman on the depth chart. Most likely he is just an experienced player you give a flier too for training camp. Not that big of a deal, either way. I agree the other posters, who cares?
Hiring Hawkins for me is another Pats brain drain. Whether he plays or not is a seven months from now decision and I'm sure the competitive situation between the other safeties will take care of that. What Hawkins represents is a bright and seasoned practitioner of the Pat's situational defense. He was around for both of the games with the Jets and the film tendencies the Pats picked up and took advantage of will be a gold mine for the Jets secondary to improve their own techniques with, and for the Jets offense to revise their telltale tendencies. Safeties especially are in a good position to see and read the whole defense. Hawkins if nothing else will give us a "mental recording" of all the Pats' current situational defensive strategies and schemes. Also, his experience will be a good teacher for the rest of the safeties, whether he can still "do it" or not. Not a bad investment in my book.
