Elam: ‘I want to be the greatest’
GAINESVILLE— UF sophomore cornerback Kaiir Elam has the physical tools, the pedigree and plenty of competition.
Elam also has some lofty goals at a school that continues to produce big-time players at his position.
“I want to be the greatest,” he said.
Elam is certainly in a position to become the next-best in a long line of Gators cornerbacks who made their mark.
The 6-foot-2, 187-pound Elam ended the 2019 season on the SEC All-Freshman team, culminating with an interception near the goal line to preserve the Gators’ Orange Bowl win against Virginia.
It well could be the jumpingoff point to a decorated career that ultimately deserves mention with the likes of Joe Haden, Vernon Hargreaves III, Jalen Tabor, Quincy Wilson, CJ Henderson and teammate Marco Wilson.
Elam, the nephew of former Gators All-America safety Matt Elam, is well familiar with the history of excellence at defensive back.
“Those guys are a big inspiration to me,” Kaiir Elam said. “I’ll watch their highlights and see how they play and the swagger they play with. I try to model my game after them, but I can’t really compare myself to those guys.
“I don’t want toset a limit for myself.”
Elam arrived last season as a top-50 recruit, but he faced a logjam at cornerback, where Henderson and Wilson lined up. When Trey Dean struggled transitioning to the STAR position, Wilson moved inside to play it, giving Elam his chance.
“When it was my turn to play, I tried to maximize my opportunities,” he said.
Elam is blessed with prototypical size and better speed than advertised — he claimed Wednesday to run a sub-4.4-second 40-yard dash. But during his first full season
as a starter, Elam is in no hurry to stand out either.
“My biggest goal every day is just to get better, keep elevating my game, keep learning and continue to be coachable,” he said. “Then everything else will probably pay off on its own.”
Miller time
Middle linebacker David Reese’s departure was easier to miss than some from the 2019 Gators, a squad that produced seven draft picks who are all on current NFL rosters.
But the void created by Reese could be the hardest to fill.
Enter redshirt junior Ventrell Miller.
“Ventrell Miller’s been just great,” linebackers coach Christian Robinson said. “I’ve talked to anybody and everybody that will listen that he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do and had a great attitude.”
Reese’s leadership and production (team-high 94 stops) were the backbone of the nation’s ninth-ranked defense, but Miller offers a significant upgrade in athletic ability, especially after dropping15 pounds.
“He’s running and keeping up with Kyle Pitts in practice,” Robinson raved. “That’s what I tell him every day: You’re playing against one of the best tight ends in all of college football, one of the best I’ve been around. You really get to test your ability when you go up against the best.
“That’s something to me that builds confidence.”
Reese gave the Gators confidence in the middle of the defense as a three-year starter who finished his career with 322 tackles. Lined up alongside Reese much of last season, Miller was second on the team with 55 stops.
Robinson fully expects Miller to step in and set the same kind of standard Reese did.
That much was clear when Robinson was asked about highly touted freshman linebacker Derek Wingo, the 2019 Gatorade Player of the Year in Florida and a player many expected to have an immediate impact.
“I think he’ll be a guy one day that I’ll end up talking up like Ventrell,” Robinson said.