Kaiir Elam Interview By Cover 1, great insight into his development last year and prep for 2023.

[stosh64]

Love this kid, expecting great things this season.  Cover 1 knocking it out of the park.

 

Edited June 22, 2023 by stosh64

[GunnerBill]

Interesting piece on the Athletic at the weekend about Kansas City drafting McDuffie who (wrongly based on my info) lots of people presume the Bills would have taken and then panicked and traded up for Elam. 

 

The Chiefs according to the article had four first round corner grades - Sauce, Stingley, McDuffie and Elam. And they worked out the parameters of the trade up with New England 2 days before the draft at a point when they thought McDuffie might be already out of reach. So while they stop short of saying it one wonders whether in another world Elam might have been their trade up target. It also rather supports Beane's thesis that Elam wasn't dropping much further. If other teams had them graded anything like the Chiefs and Bills he was at that point the only 1st round corner left. 

Edited June 22, 2023 by GunnerBill

[John from Riverside]

The cover one was a very good session with Elam. It goes into the insight of what he was thinking in certain place and just a really good listen.

[colin]

i trust our team to draft, sign, and develop secondary players better than literally anyone else.

[Einstein]

I hope he figures it out. He played significantly better in the playoffs than he did in the regular season.

 

Unlike Gunner I do believe the Bills would have preferred McDuffie. The look on their faces when KC moved up to get him told a story. And the Bills said Elam was their last 1st round grade. So either you believe the Bills had McDuffie as a 2nd round grade (which makes no sense), or the Bills had McDuffie higher than Elam. But it doesn’t matter now.

[Doc]

4 minutes ago, Einstein said:

I hope he figures it out. He played significantly better in the playoffs than he did in the regular season.

 

Unlike Gunner I do believe the Bills would have preferred McDuffie. The look on their faces when KC moved up to get him told a story. And the Bills said Elam was their last 1st round grade. So either you believe the Bills had McDuffie as a 2nd round grade (which makes no sense), or the Bills had McDuffie higher than Elam. But it doesn’t matter now.

 

Where was this video?  As for the rest, they could have had McDuffie as a 1st rounder and after he got selected, Elam would have been the last 1st round graded player left on their board.  And why doesn't it make sense that McDuffie could have been rated a 2nd rounder by them?  Woolen was rated a post-4th rounder by everyone.

[GunnerBill]

27 minutes ago, Einstein said:

I hope he figures it out. He played significantly better in the playoffs than he did in the regular season.

 

Unlike Gunner I do believe the Bills would have preferred McDuffie. The look on their faces when KC moved up to get him told a story. And the Bills said Elam was their last 1st round grade. So either you believe the Bills had McDuffie as a 2nd round grade (which makes no sense), or the Bills had McDuffie higher than Elam. But it doesn’t matter now.

 

No it doesn't. It might mean the Bills had McDuffie as a 1st, but had Elam higher OR it might mean that McDuffie was not on their final board because he doesn't meet their physical profile. 

 

And I repeat someone much closer to the team than I has since confirmed to me that McDuffie wasn't their target. 

[Einstein]

41 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

it might mean that McDuffie was not on their final board because he doesn't meet their physical profile

 

if he didn't meet their physical profile, then there is no reason to meet with him pre-draft, not to mention the reports after the draft that Beane was high on McDuffie.

 

KC also moved up ahead of us for a reason - just like we moved ahead of Dallas because we know they were high on Kincaid, KC may have moved ahead of us because they knew we were high on McDuffie.

 

41 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

And I repeat someone much closer to the team than I has since confirmed to me that McDuffie wasn't their target. 

 

Isn't it amazing how the player any team gets was always "their target all along"? This is a common trope. When a team loses the player they wanted, it always become "oh we wanted option B the entire time".

[Einstein]

1 hour ago, Doc said:

 

Where was this video?

 

I saw it on a tweet once, where there was massive discussion of the Bills wanting McDuffie.

 

It was a video of the Bills board room and it was just announced that the Chiefs moved up (and everyone knew it was to get McDuffie), and Terrance Gray exasperates "they moved ahead of us" and the scout to his left is looking worried, and Beane starts to get on the phone to move up as well.

 

Then you add to the fact that KC moved ahead of us for a reason. They didn't waste a 3rd round pick jumping ahead of us because they thought we were taking Elam.

[GunnerBill]

14 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

if he didn't meet their physical profile, then there is no reason to meet with him pre-draft, not to mention the reports after the draft that Beane was high on McDuffie.

 

KC also moved up ahead of us for a reason - just like we moved ahead of Dallas because we know they were high on Kincaid, KC may have moved ahead of us because they knew we were high on McDuffie.

 

 

Isn't it amazing how the player any team gets was always "their target all along"? This is a common trope. When a team loses the player they wanted, it always become "oh we wanted option B the entire time".

 

Reports from who? I bet my source is better placed to know. 

[JakeFrommStateFarm]

So how did McDuffie do his first season ?  Better than Elam ?

Sorry I don't follow the chiefs that closely.

[GunnerBill]

3 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

I saw it on a tweet once, where there was massive discussion of the Bills wanting McDuffie.

 

It was a video of the Bills board room and it was just announced that the Chiefs moved up (and everyone knew it was to get McDuffie), and Terrance Gray exasperates "they moved ahead of us" and the scout to his left is looking worried, and Beane starts to get on the phone to move up as well.

 

Then you add to the fact that KC moved ahead of us for a reason. They didn't waste a 3rd round pick jumping ahead of us because they thought we were taking Elam.

 

They had done the deal to move up in principle two days before the draft when they potentially thought McDuffie was gone. I think had McDuffie gone at say #16 the Chiefs may well have gone to #21 anyway and taken Elam. The article is pretty clear it was about being in position to get one of their 4 first round corner grades. They were slightly surprised McDuffie was there. It wasn't an impulsive "McDuffie is there, let's jump the Bills"

5 minutes ago, JakeFrommStateFarm said:

So how did McDuffie do his first season ?  Better than Elam ?

Sorry I don't follow the chiefs that closely.

 

Yea more consistent certainly, although not without his own struggles - the Superbowl being one. He was always more pro-ready than Elam though. 

[Don Otreply]

All these opinions on the Elam pick presented as facts… 

 

Note that certain posters find / create a negative view of management and the pick, same old same old. 

 

I expect Kaiir (jack) Elam to have a very productive upcoming season and career with Buffalo, but maybe that’s just me, 

[Einstein]

6 minutes ago, JakeFrommStateFarm said:

So how did McDuffie do his first season ?  Better than Elam ?

Sorry I don't follow the chiefs that closely.

 

Yes, McDuffie was significantly better than Elam in their rookie season. Doesnt mean he will always be better. But "so far" he is.

 

10 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Reports from who? I bet my source is better placed to know. 

 

I think it was Billswire (it's been a year).

[eball]

@GunnerBill -- why even bother arguing with @Einstein?  He has already told us he's the smartest person in the room.  Multiple times.

 

[Einstein]

5 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

They had done the deal to move up in principle two days before the draft when they potentially thought McDuffie was gone. I think had McDuffie gone at say #16 the Chiefs may well have gone to #21 anyway and taken Elam. The article is pretty clear it was about being in position to get one of their 4 first round corner grades. They were slightly surprised McDuffie was there. It wasn't an impulsive "McDuffie is there, let's jump the Bills"

 

It was the day before the draft. And they were talking to the Patriots because the Patriots were right above us in the draft order. That was the entire point of talking to NE and working that trade before the draft. They didn't pick the Patriots out of thin air.

 

They wanted McDuffie the entire time and they knew they had to get in front of us to guarantee getting him. "Veach had his eye on him right from the beginning” Andy Reid said and the Chiefs GM said they moved up to get ahead of teams that needed a CB. Who needed a CB ahead of them? The Bills. “Knowing some of the team needs that were directly in front of us (were looking for a CB)" - Veach.

 

It's all circumstantial evidence, but the evidence is strong.

 

[SCBills]

14 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

Yes, McDuffie was significantly better than Elam in their rookie season. Doesnt mean he will always be better. But "so far" he is.

 

 

I think it was Billswire (it's been a year).

“significantly better”…

 

I think most people would say both were solid in their rookie years.

 

The biggest difference is narrative.  
 

McDuffie got more of a leash and is entrenched in his starting spot.  

 

Elam, despite making plays in his time on the field, still hasn’t locked down a spot and always had a longer ways to go given his lack of experience playing zone. 

[GunnerBill]

10 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

It was the day before the draft. And they were talking to the Patriots because the Patriots were right above us in the draft order. That was the entire point of talking to NE and working that trade before the draft. They didn't pick the Patriots out of thin air.

 

They wanted McDuffie the entire time and they knew they had to get in front of us to guarantee getting him. "Veach had his eye on him right from the beginning” Andy Reid said and the Chiefs GM said they moved up to get ahead of teams that needed a CB. Who needed a CB ahead of them? The Bills. “Knowing some of the team needs that were directly in front of us (were looking for a CB)" - Veach.

 

It's all circumstantial evidence, but the evidence is strong.

 

 

No, it only fits perfectly if that is already the answer in your head. The article also says they were surprised he was there and that they were determined to secure one of their guys. 

[Logic]

We've heard directly that Elam was, at times, not performing well in practice last year. That's what seems have led to his not winning the starting job outright throughout his rookie season.

With that said, as the season went on, he played pretty well when the games actually counted. Beane said as much, too, I believe.

The question is, can he clean up the practice stuff? Can he be dependable and in the right place often enough in a practice setting to earn the trust of the coaching staff, so that he can seize that CB2 spot and not let it go?

I anticipate the Benford/Elam/Jackson battle going right down to the wire this preseason, but in terms of draft capital invested...it sure would be nice if Elam won the job.

[Dr.Sack]

Great interview. Much better than talking heads.