"Who's Drew Barkin' At?" Matt Elam

by:Nick Roush05/22/13

@RoushKSR

[caption id="attachment_133855" align="alignnone" width="500"]During this visit during UK's Spring practice I got to see Elam for the first time in person, passing the SEC During this visit to UK's Spring practice I got to see Elam for the first time in person, passing the SEC "look test" with flying colors.[/caption] Defensive Tackle 6’6”, 325 lbs. Elizabethtown, KY (John Hardin) Rivals: No ranking Scout: #28 OT 247: #242 overall, #20 DT, #2 player in KY Choosing between UK and: Alabama, Louisville, Florida, and Tennessee. Twitter: @FballIsLife69 After announcing his commitment to play for the University of Kentucky, Northern Kentucky QB Drew Barker vowed to reach out to his peers to make the best recruiting class in the history of Kentucky football. In the coming weeks I will be breaking down some of the players on Barker's wish list. "Who's Drew Barkin' At?" may be a grammatically awful pun ending in a preposition, but I just can't help myself. Past profiles: Derek Kief , Braxton Berrios   Matt Elam sent this Tweet out less than an hour after Barker committed to Kentucky   After the state's #1 prospect Drew Barker committed to UK, the attention immediately went to the state's #2 prospect Matt Elam. The gargantuan defensive tackle from John Hardin is choosing between some of the best schools in the nation, receiving an early scholarship offer from Alabama. While SEC powerhouses may have established tradition on their side, the in-state SEC school has a few recruiting weapons up their sleeves. Elam told Matt Jones on KSR in April that he has become close friends with UK commits Drew Barker and Mikel Horton, communicating with them on a regular basis about the recruiting process. Elam also got to witness the Spring Game firsthand in April, "I would say I like Kentucky a lot with Stoops coming in. I went to the Spring game and the environment was special. I could tell that he is changing the program already. It's SEC football in my home state, and that sticks out a lot."   Elam is most noted for his size, rarely getting the much deserved praise for his technical skills in the trenches. Even though he easily runs over most of his KY competition, when presented with double and triple teams (which happens more times than not) Elam holds his ground well, before using a variety of finesse moves in pursuit of the play (check out his executed spin move at :30 below).  Interior defensive lineman rarely receive glory for making big tackles. A very good DT bats down passes at the line of scrimmage and clogs up running lanes, allowing for linebackers to make the tackles. Elam does all of the little things it takes to make an impact on the defensive line. D-Line Coach Jimmy Brumbaugh has told Elam that he could be "the nucleus of the line" in the future; getting Elam into a UK sweatshirt permanently ensures consistency in UK's front four for years to come.   Elam will most likely wait to make a decision until the fall, but all early signs indicate that it is currently a two-horse race between UK and Alabama. While Elam waits to decide, you can cheer him on by following him on Twitter and watching some highlights from Elam's sophomore year below (for a full compilation you can click here).   @RoushKSR

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