When the Ravens selected safety Matt Elam in the first round of the NFL draft and inside linebacker Arthur Brown in the second round two years ago, they envisioned them emerging as top young defensive players.

That plan hasn’t worked out, though, as Elam, a former consensus All-American at Florida, has struggled in his first two NFL seasons and lost his starting job last season. A former All-American and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year at Kansas State, Brown has just 15 tackles in 18 career games. He had zero tackles last season in four games and was rarely on the active roster on gameday.

Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome acknowledged that Elam hasn’t lived up to expectations so far.

“I think it’s readily known that we have not been satisfied with the way he’s played thus far,” Newsome said during a conference call with season-ticket holders “And I don’t think Matt has been satisfied with the way he’s played thus far.”

Elam started 11 of 16 games last season, but finished with just 50 tackles, a half-sack, zero interceptions, five pass deflections and a forced fumble. Elam had a team-high 18 missed tackles.

via Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun