RD 1, Pick 23: CB Kaiir Elam, Florida

[Nelius]

I actually just read that "Tommy Doyle needs competition" as justification for holding on to the 4th round pick...

 

Gonna go wash my eyes and down about 8 more beers. There will be trainwreck, look-at-me takes, regardless of the pick. We filled a huge need. On to tomorrow.

[purple haze]

12 minutes ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

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 

Hill is a Safety though 🤔.  So, what’s your plan B complaint talking point?

[junior]

3 minutes ago, NewEra said:

He tackles like a little kid. Soft.  Coaches will coach him up.  Hopefully he has the mentality that allows him to adapt and adjust 

 

Lacks run-support physicality to be an every-down corner, but he's talented enough to challenge for slot duties right away.

 

Finesse cornerback with relatively slender frame.

 

Big-bodied slot targets will post him up in space and drive him off the line in run game.

 

He's kind of soft, but he can cover. He's not really what our team looks for because we play so much sub packages and he would have to be a better tackler to be on the field that much. He's a fit for what some teams do though. Like I said, he can cover.

 

 

 

 

^^ I sure hope that soft, weak Tre'Davious White kid can toughen up and become a good cornerback!

 

[Simon]

2 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Are you watching highlights?  If not, which game?

 

Just video; highlights and lowlights.

He needs to get better using his hands (and not using his hands at times) and his tackling is sloppy, but I see zero fear in him.

[HappyDays]

7 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Honestly was hoping they traded up for a WR but once just about every first round wide out(and then Penning) were off the board I was hoping they’d trade down at that point…. We will see what else happens but I think these next two rounds need to be offense(and please not a ***** RB).

 

Trade down and take who? You're just complaining to complain. The offensive players taken after us were all IOL - Tyler Smith, Tyler Linderbaum, and Cole Strange. I would have been underwhelmed with any of those picks in the 1st round. I knew when the pick came it was going to be CB or edge rusher. The only offensive player I even considered was Christian Watson. The board didn't work out to where an offensive player would have been a good pick.

[Bruffalo]

1 minute ago, Nelius said:

I actually just read that "Tommy Doyle needs competition" as justification for holding on to the 4th round pick...

 

Gonna go wash my eyes and down about 8 more beers. There will be trainwreck, look-at-me takes, regardless of the pick. We filled a huge need. On to tomorrow.

If Bills fans are this upset, I can't imagine what it must be like to be a Patriots fan when they traded back to take a late 3rd round guard at 29.

[Just Joshin']

2 minutes ago, BillsShredder83 said:

especially when everyone and their mother knew we were very likely going CB

Except all the mock draft "experts" who were projecting RB.

[buffaloboyinATL]

11 minutes ago, RocCityRoller said:

 

You realize that Green Bay let Adams go, KC let Hill go, TENN let AJ Brown go, Seattle let Wilson go etc etc, yet some on this board are apoplectic about Buffalo giving up a 4th 🤣🤣🤣

 

BUF wanted a 6'1" 200 CB with 4.39 speed. He has given up a paltry 45.5% completion %, and a 55 QB rating against.

Both are top 4 stats for all CBs in all of FBS football since 2019.

 

If McDermott and Frazier can make Dane Jackson and Levi Wallace legitimate DBs, what is he going to do with a guy like this?

 

CB was clearly the position of need. Don't be surprised to see another CB and even a S. The secondary has largely been neglected in the draft since White.

 

Yup. My prediction was 2 DB's and 1 WR in the first 3 rounds, in no particular order.  I still believe that will happen. 

[HerdMentality]

I like the pick.

 

Interesting tho that Beane says he was the only 1st round rated pick left on the board when it’s pick #23…? Aren’t there 32 picks?

Did they only rate 20 players as 1st round talents? And based on what year’s class? 2015?

Edited April 29, 2022 by HerdMentality

[Bruffalo]

Just now, buffaloboyinATL said:

Yup. My prediction was 2 DB's and 1 WR in the first 3 rounds, in no particular order.  I still believe that will happen. 

I could totally see that happening, especially with the 4th round pick gone now. 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

12 minutes ago, What a Tuel said:

 

Not according to Beane.

 

10 minutes ago, The Dean said:

 

I could say that about any trade/different pick in ANY draft. This isn't about who we think is "more likely" to be a star. It's about what the Bills FO thinks. And if they think Elam is worth giving up a 4th for, then who am I to argue?  Then I become a second guesser now and/or Captain Hindsight.

 

From what I hear the Bills loved him and he was really their only Rd 1 graded player left. If they think that highly of him I'm sold.

Epenesa and Ford were probably loved too and they are busts. 

 

I'm moving on. I've been on record they need to be all in this year. They got a desperately needed CB. Hell if Beane drafted another DB tomorrow I'd be fine with that too. 

[BADOLBILZ]

5 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

One of my pet peeves is someone using "IMO".  Of course it's your opinion.  You're the one who typed it.  That's the only time I'll ever type that again and the acronym should be banned IMHO.

 

If you are a proven successful shot caller you don't need it.

 

If you are historically a brick layer...........with a generationally bad take or two like that on your stat sheet...........it should be required. 

 

imHo......of course.

[Simon]

2 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Trade down and take who? 

 

I probably would have been hunting opportunities to trade down for future picks to help find cheap talent when we start losing guys to the cap the next couple years.

But the Bills have clearly pushed all their chips into the middle of the table and are playing for the big pot right freaking now.

 

[Alphadawg7]

This thread gets funnier by the minute.  Reminds me of the "Wrong Josh" melt downs.  Reminds me of the "Tre White" melt downs.  Reminds me of TSW really...lmao.

 

This pick is a great pick, love it and exactly what we needed.  

 

PS:  Offense Averaged 41.5 points per game in the playoffs.  Defense gave up 42 to send us home including 3 scores in final 3 minutes of the game.  

 

PPS:  Whining about a 4th round pick is even sillier.  We got the guy they wanted, thats all that matters.  And Beane knows more about evaluating football players than this whole forum combined.  

 

Great job Beane, can't wait until tomorrow.  

 

 

[The Dean]

1 minute ago, HerdMentality said:

I like the pick.

 

Interesting that Beane says he was the only 1st round rated pick left on the board when it’s pick #23…? Aren’t there 32 picks?
Did they only rate 20 players as first round talents? And based on what year’s class? 2015?

 

 

Teams assign grades on what round they think the player is worth. Some teams reported only having 15 players with first round grades this year. I can't remember the Bills #, but I think it was 18 or so.  That's just saying there are only that many players truly worthy of a 1st round commitment. 

[junior]

3 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

They def needed depth… given the Bills defensive system didn’t think it needed to be a first rounder at all…. And crossing my fingers for that…. You got to keep up with what the rest of the league is doing and give Allen the help he deserves. 

 

I'm on the same page - I agree JA needs to be surrounded by talented offensive weapons. I'm just not sure the right value was there at #25 or #23 for us. 

 

On offense, Knox is a UFA next year, as is Singletary. On defense, Edmunds is a UFA and Poyer could hold out unless he gets a new contract. There's limited resources to go around, and I don't know how we fill those gaps AND address WR in a meaningful way in the next two off seasons.

[KOKBILLS]

It's cliché as a Bills fan now but...I'm going to go ahead and trust McBeane on this...They needed a CB, and I think McD especially knows what DB's fit in their system. His record is pretty good here... Elam has traits and pedigree...It's a big need area. I think it's fine. My guess would be that we could have had him at #25. But that's a guess...So...GO BILLS...

[The Dean]

3 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

 

Epenesa and Ford were probably loved too and they are busts. 

 

I'm moving on. I've been on record they need to be all in this year. They got a desperately needed CB. Hell if Beane drafted another DB tomorrow I'd be fine with that too. 

 

 

So Captain Hindsight it is!  

[RocCityRoller]

3 minutes ago, HerdMentality said:

I like the pick.

 

Interesting tho that Beane says he was the only 1st round rated pick left on the board when it’s pick #23…? Aren’t there 32 picks?

Did they only rate 20 players as 1st round talents? And based on what year’s class? 2015?

 

Beane was saying Buffalo only 20 players they scouted were valuable enough to draft in the 1st round.

I think the run on OG early messed up their board a bit.

[HappyDays]

2 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Trade down into the 2nd and take Pickens or Watson was my preference after Penning went off the board. Just my opinion. 

 

Absolutely not to Pickens. Major character concerns and coming off an injury year.

 

Watson's hands and small school competition concerns me. The speed is tantalizing. But he'll be facing off against much much better CBs than he's seen up to this point. I don't like receivers that aren't natural pass catchers and it's only going to get harder for him.

 

Nah I'm good taking their one remaining player with a 1st round grade. Von Miller and Kaiir Elam immediately solve the two biggest problems the Bills had in the playoffs last year. Offensive depth will still be there.