Elam the Next Teller?

[Luka]

My biggest pet peeve with this front office and coaching staff is rearing its ugly head yet again this offseason.

 

We pick Elam with our 1st round pick last year. He is a physically gifted cover corner with great size and ball skills. When given a chance to play late last year, he was excellent against guys like Tyreek Hill and Jamar Chase, two of the best receivers in the league.

 

And he's in a competition for the #2 corner position... with Dane Jackson... 

 

A couple days ago Chris Brown mentioned on One Bills Drive he may lose this competition because of... now get this... his ability to set the edge in the run game... 

 

To me, this kind of thing is exactly why this staff can not get over the hump and win it all. This is a passing league. The defense is in a unique position to have two elite corners on either side of the field, which frees up Poyer and Hyde to make plays, allows Taron Johnson to be more aggressive in run support and gives the defensive line that extra second needed to get to the quarterback.

 

But we're worried about run support? From an outside corner? That's why Benford and Jackson are rotating out there? Who by the way, are typically getting torched in coverage. Dane Jackson is said to always be around the ball... okay but a yard behind the receiver while he's making a big play isn't exactly what I'd be looking for as a coach when evaluating a defensive back.

 

And Elam's strengths and weaknesses coming out of Florida were no mystery, this isn't something that should have come as a shock to McDermott. So why pick him there?

 

He is corner 1 talent level and would most likely be in that spot on a lot of other teams in this league. At some point this staff needs to get out of it's own way or they will waste the career of one of the best quarterbacks to ever step on a football field. 

 

[JoPoy88]

Trading Teller was an isolated mistake. There’s no indication they will do the same with Elam. Which can’t even be known at this point, since we, and the Bills, didn’t know Teller would turn into a pro bowl guard. So even if they did trade Elam (which they won’t) there’s no guarantee he would turn into an excellent corner somewhere else. 

[DJB]

Teller wasn’t a first round pick I’m not seeing the similarities as much.

 

1st round picks get much more rope before they are cut or dealt 

 

Elam is fine

[Slippery Rubber Mats]

Teller wasn't a first round pick

Elam hasn't been traded

Teller plays offense

Elam plays defense

[JAMIEBUF12]

I think I will trust whoever Mcdermott picks to be the number two corner.Since Mcdermott got here the Bills have had a pretty good secondary.

[DCofNC]

If the decision genuinely comes down to run support, we should support running this coaching staff out of town.  
 

My read is Elam isn’t a great practice player and McD can’t let that go.

[BuffaloBillyG]

I think the biggest issues for Jackson last year was being CB1 for a large part of it. He's not that. As a CB2, he's better suited there.

 

Both Elam and Jackson are said to be having very strong camps. This is a good problem to have. It's a long season and they will both likely make starts. As you point out, it's a passing league. So having multiple guys that present different skills is a huge bonus. It really doesn't matter who starts opposite Tre. What matters is what they do with the opportunity.

 

My biggest thing when it comes to the position (or any camp battle for that matter) is that I want one guy to TAKE the position. Make it so the coaches have no choice but to keep him there. Who it is is not my concern. They all wear the same laundry.

[SCBills]

Everything I’ve heard about Elam has been trending up, so I’m not too worried about this. 

[Matt_In_NH]

I would not get too excited about something Chris brown says.   OP is taking CB’s opinion as something the staff is doing.   Best man wins period who cares where he was drafted.  I think that will be Elam in the end and they are just not handing it to him.  Comparing this to teller is silly at best.   
 

Every GM and coach has made moves that tune out different than they expected.  Continually pointing to one move out of hundreds/thiousands as proof of anything is not helpful.   Look at the body of work.  

[mike22nc]

Teller doesn’t really have anything to do with the discussion on Elam.

 

However, the problem that I see is that this coaching staff prioritizes fundamentals over talent. So, since Jackson and Benford had a better handle on the defense and what is expected as a zone corner, they got more opportunities last year.
 

This is all well and good when you are playing mediocre quarterbacks on mediocre offenses. The scheme dictates those games and we win easily. The downside is when we play teams with top-tier talent, we are less able to compete. We’re not prioritizing our most athletically gifted player at CB, which is the position that requires the most athleticism in football.

 

If Elam looked like a bust when given an opportunity, I would understand. But, he has looked the part so far to me. I fully expect Elam to be the CB2 this season. If he’s not, it is an error IMO.

[Bills!Win!]

I look at it as we traded Teller for Poyer

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

Never mind.  Wrong type of 'teller'. 😕

[Doc]

4 minutes ago, Bills!Win! said:

I look at it as we traded Teller for Poyer

 

Huh?  Poyer was signed in 2017 and Teller was traded in 2019.

[oldmanfan]

Only Bills fans complain about having three corners with ability vying for a job in a passing league.  I love that we have 4 corners, including Tre, that can perform.

[uticaclub]

22 minutes ago, Bills!Win! said:

I look at it as we traded Teller for Poyer

Both were on the same team at the same time

[NoSaint]

36 minutes ago, DCofNC said:

If the decision genuinely comes down to run support, we should support running this coaching staff out of town.  
 

My read is Elam isn’t a great practice player and McD can’t let that go.

there’s also a reality that it could be messaging to light a fire in camp, not a real demotion consideration but who knows 

[Bills!Win!]

25 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

Huh?  Poyer was signed in 2017 and Teller was traded in 2019.

 

8 minutes ago, uticaclub said:

Both were on the same team at the same time

we still ended up with Poyer and they ended up with teller 

[PBF81]

7 hours ago, mike22nc said:

Teller doesn’t really have anything to do with the discussion on Elam.

 

However, the problem that I see is that this coaching staff prioritizes fundamentals over talent. So, since Jackson and Benford had a better handle on the defense and what is expected as a zone corner, they got more opportunities last year.
 

This is all well and good when you are playing mediocre quarterbacks on mediocre offenses. The scheme dictates those games and we win easily. The downside is when we play teams with top-tier talent, we are less able to compete. We’re not prioritizing our most athletically gifted player at CB, which is the position that requires the most athleticism in football.

 

If Elam looked like a bust when given an opportunity, I would understand. But, he has looked the part so far to me. I fully expect Elam to be the CB2 this season. If he’s not, it is an error IMO.

 

Yours is an interesting comment and stands to reason.  There have often been disconnects between what this team says it wants to do, with how it drafts or signs free-agents.  Elam may be one of them.  Edmunds was, expect him to perform better in Chicago in a traditional 4-3, not the 2 LB alignment that we play.  

 

Here's there thing there, we played a 3 LB alignment while Lorax was here for three seasons, but then switched to a 2 LB alignment and went the next three seasons like that.  Why?  

 

McD apologists will tell you that it's a planned thing, but that doesn't make sense, because they continued to try 3, but simply didn't have the talent for three starting LBs.  So they went with two.  Which begs questions.  If the 2 LB thing was his innovation, them why not 2 LBs all all along.  Why did they continue to try 3, and presumably had it worked and they had found that third starter, then they wouldn't have gone to 2.  That's demonstrative of reaction, not proaction.  

 

Coincidence that once Lorax retired and all we had was depth level talent to replace him, is when McD changed it?  

 

They emphasize style and scheme, but seem to draft around it at times in their to picks, which could very well be why we have underachieving high draft picks. 

 

Same with this season generally speaking, the official narrative is "attacking D," but what does that really mean practically.  All D's are attacking to one extent or another.  By definition that's role of a D generally speaking. 

 

It's time for the season, the games begin shortly.  This season will be a revealing one as things currently on the fence appear to be set to fall one way or the other.  McD is a polarizing coach in some ways, and this season is going to be a definitive one in that way as well.  Fans and media are going to become less patient with divisional much less wild-card round playoff losses as well.  

 

It's also camp right now, everything's unicorns and lollipops.  

 

Sit tight, enjoy the season, don't forget to lurk in the gameday threads, laughter is good for the soul.  😁      

 

Several things are going to shake out this season, for better or for worse, ... hopefully for the better.  

 

 

Edited August 6, 2023 by PBF81

[Paul Costa]

Silly premise 😝

[RyanC883]

57 minutes ago, DCofNC said:

If the decision genuinely comes down to run support, we should support running this coaching staff out of town.  
 

My read is Elam isn’t a great practice player and McD can’t let that go.

 

That’s what I’ve heard, and McD needs to let that go.  Game performance is what matters. (if Elam is slacking that is different) 

Edited August 6, 2023 by RyanC883