RD 1, Pick 23: CB Kaiir Elam, Florida

[Ethan in Cleveland]

23 minutes ago, The Dean said:

 

I question the move down for a 4th. But why do you say he "threw it away?  You KNOW 100% there is no team that was looking to draft ahead of the Bills with CB needs?  I'm guessing if teams were making calls, Beane knew it. 

 

So instead of saying "he threw it away", you might instead say "he used it to procure the one guy left on whom they had a first round grade". It may not have been necessary, but you can't know that.

Or you could say he gave away a fourth round pick for a player that is no more likely to be star as the next 5 CBs to be drafted. 

 

At the end of the day, he filled a huge need.  

[Mr. WEO]

5 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

 

 

But has he matriculated on it yet??

[Simon]

1 minute ago, purple haze said:

The analysis I’ve heard is that he’s not great at tackling due to issues with technique; not that he’s not willing to do it. 

 

Yeah, I haven't seen a a single analyst describe him as soft or unwilling.

Just that he's tackling technique has improved but still needs some work.

[Bruffalo]

1 minute ago, BillsVet said:

The trade for Diggs doesn't mean they get a pass on drafting WR for 2 years.  In fact, they've used 1 pick from rounds 1-3 on a WR from 2017-21.  Likely to change tomorrow, Buffalo has used UFA liberally at WR and OL.  Need to draft and develop play-makers on offense.  Davis isn't a lock at this point with his 6 career regular/postseason games with more than 80 yards receiving. 

I mostly agree, I was just arguing with the other poster who said the Bills were doing the same thing to Allen that Green Bay has done historically to Rodgers.  Just pointing out that the Bills have used premium assets to help out Allen.  I'm all for drafting weapons in rounds 2-3, I just don't see how it wouldn't be a big reach to have done that at pick 23, where just about all of the 1st round WR talent was already spoken for.

[HappyDays]

11 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Yea… Allen and the Bills would be unstoppable if he has what Burrows now has around him though. 

 

Right. We should have drafted Ja'Marr Chase tonight. What can't-miss offensive player do you think they should have taken at 25?

[Warcodered]

 

[NewEra]

1 hour ago, Logic said:

Whether you agree with Beane or not, he just said in his interview that Elam was the last player on the Bills' board with a 1st round grade. They did not have a 1st round grade on Booth or Gordon.

That’s fine.  It is what it is.  Bad trade up and trade in my book.  
 

they like traits.  They got traits.  Now teach him to tackle and not be a little *****

[78thealltimegreat]

12 minutes ago, Bruffalo said:

Ah yeah, the great Can Newton.

 

You know they went to a superbowl right? You could do a lot worse than that run of years Carolina had when he was at his peak. That's really not the insult you're trying to make it out to be. Allen has a much better throwing motion too so the window is just going to be open longer. 

 

Full disclosure, I wanted a WR too, but I don't want them to reach for one.  There was no WR left on that board that had a 1st round consensus.  It's just a fact.  The IOL was gone. Going RB is just bad business. CB2 is a logical and good place for them to invest in, and now we have a cost controlled asset opposite White for the next five years.

 

I really don't understand your logic here. Who was on the board that was the obvious pick over Elam, or even CB?

It’s pretty obvious Devin Lloyd should be a Buffalo bill now. Elam was a reach at 23 and a waste of an asset to trade up for him 

[Roundybout]

13 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Yea… Allen and the Bills would be unstoppable if he has what Burrows now has around him though. 

 

I bet my left nut if we took a receiver you'd complain we have no depth at defensive back and "Mahomes is gonna shred us in 13 seconds again"

[Governor]

1 hour ago, Since1981 said:

There must have been some inside ball or intelligence supporting the tiny move up.

Nah. He probably tried to move up a few times and couldn’t so he played it safe so he could come home with a CB. It is what it is.

 

If the player turns out to be great, no one will remember the weird flailing around that occurred.

 

No more trade ups tho.

[Mr. WEO]

6 minutes ago, Bruffalo said:

I'm dumb. Fixed, thank you.

 

Cam Newton won 3 playoffs games in his Carolina career, lost 4.  

 

Can Newton never lost a game

[Norcalbillsfan]

9 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

The roster is stacked.  A 4th rounder was more likely to make the PS than the 53.  And start?  LOL!

Unless the pick is a punter lol. But I agree with you, filled a huge need with a pick that would most likely be a project or special teams ace.

[Simon]

Just now, NewEra said:

Now teach him to tackle and not be a little *****

 

He may need to improve the muscle memory on his technique, but there is no little ***** in this kid.

[Doc]

1 minute ago, NewEra said:

That’s fine.  It is what it is.  Bad trade up and trade in my book.  
 

they like traits.  They got traits.  Now teach him to tackle and not be a little *****

Sure they like traits.  He also allowed the 2nd lowest QB rating the past 3 seasons. 

[CorkScrewHill]

1 hour ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

The cowboys had zero interest in corner we burned a pick for a guy they could have had at 25 anyway just dumb 

It doesn’t matter if Dallas had or didn’t have interest in him .. it matters if anyone did since the 1st round was on fire with trades. The move up to get Josh in 2018 was not about the teams ahead of us but rather the teams that might be tempted to jump us (e.g Arizona)

[NoHuddleKelly12]

I’ll defer to our FO/McD on this one—apparently the 2020 tape on him shows why he got drafted and not the 2021 version playing through injury…per the Cover 1 live chat tonight on YouTube. They weren’t ecstatic but took a wait and see approach given the Bills’ proven ability to mold DB clay.

[What a Tuel]

5 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Or you could say he gave away a fourth round pick for a player that is no more likely to be star as the next 5 CBs to be drafted. 

 

At the end of the day, he filled a huge need.  

 

Not according to Beane.

[Doc]

1 minute ago, Norcalbillsfan said:

Unless the pick is a punter lol. But I agree with you, filled a huge need with a pick that would most likely be a project or special teams ace.

 

Oh no, they gave away Araiza!

[78thealltimegreat]

17 minutes ago, jkeerie said:

Um...think this through.  There is a tiny flaw in your logic.

What the Cowboys took the Tulsa offensive tackle when if they wanted corner could have taken Dax Hill whose every bit as good as Elam 

[Simon]

I predict the biggest issue he is going to have in his first season is that he's going to draw a lot of flags.