So, is Elam playing this week?

[Gunvald's Husse]

11 hours ago, FilthyBeast said:

 

And people wonder why I question this GM and coaching staff so much....

Absolutely no one wonders why you question them 🙄

[Doc Brown]

10 hours ago, JayBaller10 said:

Does anyone remember the last Bills first round pick that was a healthy scratch?

Shaq Lawson week 1?

[LeGOATski]

37 minutes ago, Gunvald's Husse said:

Absolutely no one wonders why you question them 🙄

I only wonder why people still respond to FilthyBeast. He's a known troll and admitted Dolphins fan. I blocked him over a year ago.

[machine gun kelly]

13 hours ago, Logic said:

I saw on Twitter that the benching of Elam last week was likely due largely to gameplan.

The Bills played 80% zone against the Pats. That is definitely a strength of Rhodes and a weakness of Elam at the moment. That, combined with the fact that Elam doesn't play on special teams, and they wanted all hands on deck there against the dangerous Pats returner Marucs Jones, is likely what led to Elam being inactive.

If he continues to be inactive going forward, I'll start to be concerned. 

That’s an excellent point, and instead of captain overreaction you injected common sense.  How dare you?  Don’t you know this can be at times the chicken little board.

 

Elam’s strength as many know is Man Coverage from his days at UF.  Rhodes has years more experience at zone, and where he lacks in youth and speed, he makes up in intellect.

 

Elam will continue to grow in his zone skills and will eventually develop into a lock down CB.  Just imagine in one to two years where we have Tre and Elam opposite each other.

[CEN-CAL17]

13 hours ago, Victory Formation said:

McD has traditionally seemed to ease rookies in slowly over the course of the year and by the time it’s Playoff time, they’re ready for the postseason. I don’t think Elam is in the doghouse nor do I really feel that way about any rookie on the roster. McD brings the young players along slow.

You say that but Benford, a rookie, started over him day 1….. there’s more to it then “bringing him along slowly”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2022 by CEN-CAL17

[LeGOATski]

15 minutes ago, CEN-CAL17 said:

You say that but Benford, a rookie, started over him day 1….. there’s more to it then “bringing him along slowly”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Didn't Elam then get the start in the next game or soon after? It was all about matchups. They came in with different skill sets.

[Eastport bills]

Just a frustrating scenario with a 1st rd pick that should be contributing with White missing all those games. This is becoming a colossal embarrassment for Beane and his scouting dept. The secondary is the weakest unit on the team and this guy was counted on to at least be a depth contributor but sadly he can’t get a sniff of the field in week 14. Congrats to all those delusional homer fans who suggested Elam was better than Sauce Gardner.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

14 hours ago, Victory Formation said:

McD has traditionally seemed to ease rookies in slowly over the course of the year and by the time it’s Playoff time, they’re ready for the postseason. I don’t think Elam is in the doghouse nor do I really feel that way about any rookie on the roster. McD brings the young players along slow.

Edmunds and White started as rookies. I believe Cody Ford did as well.  Bass won the kicking job as a rookie. 

 

[RunTheBall]

WE ARE DOOMED!!!

 

My god the bellyaching here is getting to epic proportions.

 

Yeah, it would be nice of Elam developed as quickly as White did. We knew he’d take some time to develop zone skills. They picked him because he has a high ceiling and has the drive and intelligence to work to get there (like Josh, like Edmunds, etc).

 

Like the rest of you, I have no idea why McD benched him for a game. I’ll be concerned if he get benched again tomorrow.

 

My GUESS is that it’s a combo of zone heavy scheme, rookie wall management, more rest for the ankle injury, maybe a little kick in the azz that we know McD likes to do from time to time (McKenzie was benched, Cook got benched early, etc).

 

 

[HOUSE]

2 hours ago, LeGOATski said:

I only wonder why people still respond to FilthyBeast. He's a known troll and admitted Dolphins fan. I blocked him over a year ago.

Because he is funny, he truly believes he can get under our skin.

Ain't happening 

[Arkady Renko]

1 hour ago, Eastport bills said:

Just a frustrating scenario with a 1st rd pick that should be contributing with White missing all those games. This is becoming a colossal embarrassment for Beane and his scouting dept. The secondary is the weakest unit on the team and this guy was counted on to at least be a depth contributor but sadly he can’t get a sniff of the field in week 14. Congrats to all those delusional homer fans who suggested Elam was better than Sauce Gardner.

I forget, was Sauce Gardner on the board when we picked Elam?

[Dopey]

15 hours ago, Logic said:

I saw on Twitter that the benching of Elam last week was likely due largely to gameplan.

The Bills played 80% zone against the Pats. That is definitely a strength of Rhodes and a weakness of Elam at the moment. That, combined with the fact that Elam doesn't play on special teams, and they wanted all hands on deck there against the dangerous Pats returner Marucs Jones, is likely what led to Elam being inactive.

If he continues to be inactive going forward, I'll start to be concerned. 

Come on man, you’re not making it easy for the McDermott pitchfork gang here. What will they complain about next? 

[Dopey]

2 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:

That’s an excellent point, and instead of captain overreaction you injected common sense.  How dare you?  Don’t you know this can be at times the chicken little board.

 

Elam’s strength as many know is Man Coverage from his days at UF.  Rhodes has years more experience at zone, and where he lacks in youth and speed, he makes up in intellect.

 

Elam will continue to grow in his zone skills and will eventually develop into a lock down CB.  Just imagine in one to two years where we have Tre and Elam opposite each other.

He’s a bust already to some on this board. It’s really weird how rookies aren’t allowed to develop here. Annoying, actually. 

[cwater10]

15 hours ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Too slow and sometimes unnecessary.  Stop coddling some of these guys and let them fly. The days of holding clipboards are over. Sink or swim.

Just a hunch, but I don't think it's coddling at all.  McDermott is firm in his culture of nobody being handed a job regardless of draft status or how they arrived on the roster.  In the immortal words of The Smiths;  "You just haven't earned it yet baby".

[artmalibu]

He might play due to injuries at other positions.  We know Phillips is out and not sure about Milano.  He might dress due to the numbers game...  

 

And if he does dress he might play in man coverage situations.  

 

The good news is that we have a corner of his ability that might not be active on game day...

[27yankees]

Do we really believe that the team will be 100% accurate with their reports? Ike had the German Army in WWII mesmerized with Patton that they didn't see the end run. They weren't totally prepared to handled D-Day. Never show your hand, especially when going for an inside straight. Never let the enemy see your medical reports. 

 

[Eastport bills]

2 hours ago, Arkady Renko said:

I forget, was Sauce Gardner on the board when we picked Elam?

No he went before but that didn’t stop some of the over exuberant fans from comparing them. 

[HOUSE]

Elam is not playing because Buffalo has veteran player options.

It's not that hard to figure out

[TC in St. Louis]

My guess, which qualifies my comment, is that they wanted to get Rhodes some serious game time, and thought Elam could use another week of rest on his injury.  I foresee Tre on one side, and Elam on the other as the future of this pass defense.  Having Benford, Dane, and Xavier coming off the bench makes this one of the top secondaries in the league.  

 

Don't forget that Tre White sat for a few weeks after being declared healthy.  

 

P.S.  We won the game, so that counts for something.

[JerseyBills]

Crazy because the week prior he gave up either 0 or 1 rec on 14 coverage snaps as he was eased back in lineup and overall is allowing 1 of the lowest QB ratings when rargeted. 

No clue what's going on 

3 minutes ago, TC in St. Louis said:

My guess, which qualifies my comment, is that they wanted to get Rhodes some serious game time, and thought Elam could use another week of rest on his injury.  I foresee Tre on one side, and Elam on the other as the future of this pass defense.  Having Benford, Dane, and Xavier coming off the bench makes this one of the top secondaries in the league.  

 

Don't forget that Tre White sat for a few weeks after being declared healthy.  

 

P.S.  We won the game, so that counts for something.

Ya but Elam played vs Detroit..