I think the no redshirt was part of the recruiting pitch, Elam needed as redshirt more than almost any kid because of several things. The most obvious was his conditioning, he needed a year to get in some kind of playing shape. Not only was he at least 60 lbs overweight, he wasn't very flexible, still an issue with him and generally not very athletic. Then there is his fundamentals and techniques, they were at middle school level, not that isn't Matt's fault, his coaches in the past played him because he was just bigger than everyone else, he is trying to catch up on those.
He seems like a really nice kid, maybe too nice of a kid to be playing DT/NG, but the coaches did him no favor by playing him as a true frosh if he had hopes of making it to the NFL. He has some work to do if that is his goal, I hope he gets that degree,