There are many people you can blame for the Gators’ atrocious passing defense in 2020.
Blame Todd Grantham for blitzing both cornerbacks on a third-and-long.
Blame Dan Mullen for allowing Grantham to do so.
Blame the front-7 for not being able to generate a consistent pass rush or the linebackers and safeties for looking like they had just discovered the sport of football for the first time.
Or you can blame the coaches for recruiting deficiencies that left the Gators without much depth at cornerback or great top-end talent at safety.
One person who would appear to be immune from that blame, however, is cornerback Kaiir Elam. Elam provided lockdown coverage for most of the season, breaking up 11 passes and intercepting two. The media voted him to the All-SEC Second Team. He did his part, but he couldn’t cover all five eligible receivers at once.
Elam doesn’t look at it that way, though. As one of the defense’s most talented and experienced players, he views it as his responsibility to make sure the defense returns to form in 2021.
“Not good enough,” Elam said of his performance in 2020. “I feel like I left some plays out there on the field. I’m just happy I can play this season, just to get better and just keep elevating my game.”
On a personal level, one of Elam’s main goals this season is to create more impact plays. He has just five interceptions and one fumble recovery in two seasons.
The anticipated schematic shift in the secondary should help in that regard. New cornerbacks coach Jules Montinar has worked with his players on getting up to the line of scrimmage and playing physical press coverage this spring. That would be a welcomed sight after the Gators inexplicably gave receivers a larger cushion than the yardage needed to gain a first down on several occasions last season.
“I feel like that’s what I’m best at, just playing press man,” Elam said. “But, obviously, I would like to make more plays on the ball and force more turnovers, but everything goes back to just my main goal is to help my team win. So, just not allowing my guy to catch a ball, making plays, just doing my job and then leading in the secondary. Really, that’s my only goal this year.”
Strangely, despite being a possible first round draft pick after next season, Tuesday was Elam’s first spring practice in college. He didn’t enroll until the summer prior to his freshman season, and spring practice was canceled last year due to the pandemic. He missed the first eight practices this spring with what he referred to as “a little setback.”
Even so, Elam is the unquestioned leader of the secondary. Other than junior Jaydon Hill, every other scholarship cornerback on the roster is either a freshman or a redshirt freshman. Five-star early enrollee Jason Marshall could start opposite of Elam from day one, while redshirt freshmen Avery Helm, Jahari Rogers and Ethan Pouncey will be key depth pieces.
Elam said he’s trying to show the young group the ropes and supplement the coaching they’re receiving from Montinar and Wesley McGriff.
“I’m just trying to give them all the knowledge I didn’t have when I was a freshman, just getting into that playbook and giving them all the wisdom because the playbook can only tell you so much,” he said. “You get in the game and the bullets start flying, and you have to adjust. So, just making sure they know little things that I didn’t know and things I’m still learning myself, and I’m just teaching them. So, when their assignment is up, they can perform at a high level.”
The early returns are positive.
“I think we’re making a lot of strides just with small things like communicating, everybody being on the same page,” he said. “We’re still young, very young, and everybody’s going to make a mistake here and there, but I feel like each and every week they have definitely just stepped up. So, I hope that just keeps going. Don’t get complacent with it. I like what I’m seeing.”
This is a big year for Elam. If he continues locking down the opponents’ best receivers and adds a few more splash plays to his highlight reel, he’s got a chance to sneak into the top-15 of the draft and possibly contend for the Jim Thorpe Award.
But Elam doesn’t care about those individual accolades anymore. All he wants to do now is help this defense play better in the fall and win more games.
“I just want to help my team win,” he said. “So, not allowing a receiver to catch a ball, leading the younger guys and other corners to keep getting better each and every day, just being a better teammate and a leader to help my team win. My main goal this year is just to win; that’s in every aspect of the game.”