Elandon Roberts, LB, Houston: The Tape

[FredFromDartmouth]

His highlight reel is much more impressive than this, because you do not see the misses on the highlight reel. I have to say I am not too keen on this guy; he is good at knifing into the backfield, but half the time he misses the tackle. He does not look stout against the run in college; what is he going to do in the pros? He is not that great at shredding blocks (this was Andy Katzenmoyer's problem). He seems to take some plays off.

On the plus side he has some speed and big-play ability.

He is highly demonstrative which may not sit well with BB, but if BB could handle Brandon Spikes, he can handle Roberts.

 

[Ivan]

Lmao.

He led FBS in solo tackles and is considered " a tackling machine." Yes he is undersized but his play is reminiscent of Lavonte David, who Belichick unfortunately passed on. He may not end up being David but trying to claim his strength is his weakness is just lame. The production is clearly there so don't just try to make sh.t up.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

Lmao.

He led FBS in solo tackles and is considered " a tackling machine." Yes he is undersized but his play is reminiscent of Lavonte David, who Belichick unfortunately passed on. He may not end up being David but trying to claim his strength is his weakness is just lame. The production is clearly there so don't just try to make sh.t up.

I am only calling it like I see it, not the way a draft pundit tells me what to think. I don't pretend to be an expert, just a sick guy stuck at home with nothing better to do. Everyone is entitled to their opinion; no need to be rude. Let's see how he does this summer.

 

[manxman2601]

Lmao.

He led FBS in solo tackles and is considered " a tackling machine." Yes he is undersized but his play is reminiscent of Lavonte David, who Belichick unfortunately passed on. He may not end up being David but trying to claim his strength is his weakness is just lame. The production is clearly there so don't just try to make sh.t up.

He also made it to the 6th round. I don't think suggesting he has some flaws is too much beyond the pale.

 

[jah]

From what I heard about him when he was drafted, I expected this to be tape of an undersized kid destroying inferior competition. I don't know much about Memphis besides this is at least in the FBS, but I also saw a lot of missed tackles and being erased by blockers.

 

[Ivan]

He also made it to the 6th round. I don't think suggesting he has some flaws is too much beyond the pale.

I don't think suggesting he has flaws is beyond the pale in any way but I do think suggesting that his greatest strength is his greatest weakness makes little to no sense. He's a tweener who didn't play at the highest level of competition in college and going to the NFL is a big jump for him to make. He'll most likely have to make his mark on special teams to get a spot on the roster. Tackling however is a strength and knocking him for it is like knocking Jonathan Jones for his speed.

 

[Ivan]

I am only calling it like I see it, not the way a draft pundit tells me what to think. I don't pretend to be an expert, just a sick guy stuck at home with nothing better to do. Everyone is entitled to their opinion; no need to be rude. Let's see how he does this summer.

I'm not a draft pundit Fred and it wasn't my, opinion it was a fact that he led all of FBS in solo tackles.

As far as being sick and bored goes I can relate as I have spent the last 4 months recovering from knee and shoulder surgery and I'm bored out of my mind. Hope you feel better.

 

[PatsFan2]

From what I heard about him when he was drafted, I expected this to be tape of an undersized kid destroying inferior competition. I don't know much about Memphis besides this is at least in the FBS, but I also saw a lot of missed tackles and being erased by blockers.

Thats what I saw too how to hell was he even Drafted I hope he has some ST's ability.

 

[IllegalContact]

maybe he wasn't feeling well that day

 

[WaterfallJumper]

He does miss tackles fairly often. I noticed that in the game against Navy, where he had some HUGE plays against Reynolds, but also gambled a few times and came up empty. I'm not terribly worried about it. He'll learn to do his job in the BB defense. What he does bring is speed and versatility to a linebacking corp that is really talented with Collins and Hightower, but also extremely bare after those top players.

It's not unreasonable to point out that a 6th rounder has some flaws, but I think it's also worth keeping in mind that he was still the most productive solo tackler in college ball, and he brings some real speed and energy to the position. For a late round pick, that's about all I can ask for. I expect him to end up on the practice squad, and to one day work his way into the special teams rotation. We'll see.

[EDIT: FORMATTING] For reference, here are the current LBs on the Patriots:


91 Jamie Collins
55 Jonathan Freeny
54 Dont'a Hightower
53 Ramon Humber
47 CJ Johnson
59 Rufus Johnson
52 Elandon Roberts
45 Kevin Snyder

 

[patsfaninpa]

From what I heard about him when he was drafted, I expected this to be tape of an undersized kid destroying inferior competition. I don't know much about Memphis besides this is at least in the FBS, but I also saw a lot of missed tackles and being erased by blockers.

The QB for Memphis is Paxton Lynch. Denver's 1st round pick. Memphis did beat Ole Miss last year.

 

[jah]

He does miss tackles fairly often. I noticed that in the game against Navy, where he had some HUGE plays against Reynolds, but also gambled a few times and came up empty. I'm not terribly worried about it. He'll learn to do his job in the BB defense. What he does bring is speed and versatility to a linebacking corp that is really talented with Collins and Hightower, but also extremely bare after those top players.

It's not unreasonable to point out that a 6th rounder has some flaws, but I think it's also worth keeping in mind that he was still the most productive solo tackler in college ball, and he brings some real speed and energy to the position. For a late round pick, that's about all I can ask for. I expect him to end up on the practice squad, and to one day work his way into the special teams rotation. We'll see.

[EDIT: FORMATTING] For reference, here are the current LBs on the Patriots:


91 Jamie Collins
55 Jonathan Freeny
54 Dont'a Hightower
53 Ramon Humber
47 CJ Johnson
59 Rufus Johnson
52 Elandon Roberts
45 Kevin Snyder

I think we shouldn't be counting Rufus Johnson there, unless we want to count other DE/LB types like Ninkovich and Grissom (I know he played a fair amount of DT but he was an OLB his final year at Oklahoma). I know the internet loves to list Johnson as a LB because of the "official roster", but he's only ever lined up on the line for us.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

I think we shouldn't be counting Rufus Johnson there, unless we want to count other DE/LB types like Ninkovich and Grissom (I know he played a fair amount of DT but he was an OLB his final year at Oklahoma). I know the internet loves to list Johnson as a LB because of the "official roster", but he's only ever lined up on the line for us.

I just copied the team roster from Patriots.com. You can take it up with them.

TEAM ROSTER

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

I'm not a draft pundit Fred and it wasn't my, opinion it was a fact that he led all of FBS in solo tackles.

As far as being sick and bored goes I can relate as I have spent the last 4 months recovering from knee and shoulder surgery and I'm bored out of my mind. Hope you feel better.

Thanks Ivan. When I watched the tape I saw good penetration, but then he missed some tackles; this is not all bad because it disrupts the offensive and can create a broken play. I also saw him get stuck to blocks so he is not the next Ted "Cement Head" Johnson (which is not fair since Ted was the best ever at sliding off blocks).

 

[jah]

I just copied the team roster from Patriots.com. You can take it up with them.

TEAM ROSTER

I've gone on my rant about that page too many times...people will just get mad if I do it again.

 

[Dragda]

Some good some bad on this single game sample size. He made the game winning play. He is more a cover LB than a run stuffer. He'll have a tough time making the team unless he's able to make an impact on STs.

 

[Dragda]

I've gone on my rant about that page too many times...people will just get mad if I do it again.

Nobody will ever get mad ever again. You solved the Patsfan.com problem! Please go to Twitter next.

 

[pats_premi]

It seems as if E.Robert has the instincts to locate the ball carrier, but misses a lot of tackles and doesn't shred blocks. May be the Patriots can coach him up. I think CJ Johnson is better at taking on blocks and rushing the passer.