Elam now CB4 and playing kickoff coverage in the preseason

[Special K]

I wish the Bills could have done this in that draft instead of drafting Elam:

 

 

[BBFL]

I’m seeing it all over the place about trading him but it makes zero sense. 
 

He is a capable boundary corner who has played decent when asked to. That position is something we may have questions still unresolved come mid season and afterward. It’s Tre and who? Dane Jackson. Meh; an exclusive zone DB and McD’s guy. Benford? Small sample size but decent. 
Even with all that, the play after Tre’s return was very sub par for what the salary was/is. That question becomes even bigger if the play carries over and becomes the standard for him. 
 

Might be another thing that they are relying on less purely designated ST’ers and want back up players to fill that void so the roster is kept with more players they believe have value to the team as a whole and not just for ST coverage. 🤷‍♂️

Edited August 27, 2023 by BBFL

[Dr.Sack]

McDermott is to Elam, what Shanahan was to Lance. 
 

Coaches who overruled their GMs and were unwilling to develop a 1st rounder. Also the GMs drafted based on raw talent and ability, whereas the coaches respective philosophical offensive/defensive system means scheme fit, not talent is paramount. 
 

Also two coaches who have been deep in the playoffs but have never won a championship. 

Edited August 27, 2023 by Dr.Sack

[gobills404]

5 hours ago, Luka said:

 

He was 2nd on the team in interceptions with limited snaps. McDermott is going lunch pail over talent. Very Jauron of him.

And he allowed a lower passer rating than Dane and Benford. And he had a much lower missed tackle rate than them. And he was arguably our best defender in the playoffs. But hey at least Dane and Benford are better at playing with huge cushions!!

Edited August 27, 2023 by gobills404

[Alphadawg7]

9 hours ago, Process said:

I don't think a potentially starting CB would be playing kickoff coverage in the second half of the third preseason game. But hey what do I know. 

I didn’t say he’s starting, but doesn’t mean he’s 4th string

[BillsMontreal]

4 hours ago, gobills404 said:

And he allowed a lower passer rating than Dane and Benford. And he had a much lower missed tackle rate than them. And he was arguably our best defender in the playoffs. But hey at least Dane and Benford are better at playing with huge cushions!!

Agree and i'm confused. There's something we dont know i guess.

 

I feel like Bendford and Jackson are the safe options and they choose that. 

 

Elam isnt built for our bend but dont break defense. He's not built for a soft defense. I understant that.

But, i really think they should let him on the field, let him make mistakes, coach him, talk to him. He isnt the safe option but he can make play.

He's the most physical CB we have by far and AFC east will run in our face, we all know that.

 

More he was on the field last year, better he played. 

 

I lost faith in our soft defense. We're too fast for those Justin Field kind of QB but the best seems to score at will against us.

Letting a CB like Elam on the bench with all the attributes he has is for me an exemple of a safe and soft option.

 

But, hey, i'm just a fan.  Like i said, there's something we dont know i guess...

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

14 hours ago, Mr. Wonderful said:

You can never having enough cornerbacks.

Sincerely, 

Dick Jauron

Guess you didn't watch the team last year 

[MikePJ76]

I can't imagine they are cutting elam.  It really doesn't make sense to do that.  

[RichRiderBills]

I think we should still be patient w Elam. I still say this is more a product of how good the whole CB group has played.

 

I warned about many of the UF players they come from system that coddles them , not pushes them.  The current defensive climate of UF is some of the worst I've seen of that. 

 

They are often slow learners in the NFL game or guys that get totally frustrated when the going gets tough. But some adjust and rise to the challenge. It may not happen overnight. Kid is talented and seems to have a good attitude. 

 

Need 4-5 good corners so I'm not trading anyone. 

Edited August 27, 2023 by RichRiderBills

[NoSaint]

You need to be 4 deep and when put into action he’s played better than cb4

 

to have that resource as a cost controlled asset for 3 more years is valuable. And I don’t think he plummets in output. 

8 hours ago, BBFL said:

I’m seeing it all over the place about trading him but it makes zero sense. 
 

He is a capable boundary corner who has played decent when asked to. That position is something we may have questions still unresolved come mid season and afterward. It’s Tre and who? Dane Jackson. Meh; an exclusive zone DB and McD’s guy. Benford? Small sample size but decent. 
Even with all that, the play after Tre’s return was very sub par for what the salary was/is. That question becomes even bigger if the play carries over and becomes the standard for him. 
 

Might be another thing that they are relying on less purely designated ST’ers and want back up players to fill that void so the roster is kept with more players they believe have value to the team as a whole and not just for ST coverage. 🤷‍♂️

Even if the secondary is healthy he will play and with even average injuries he will see a ton of reps 

[Dopey]

17 hours ago, BullBuchanan said:

Why would you trade him? His value has to be what, a max of a 4th round pick? You'd be killing $11M of cap space for a 4th or 5th round pick? He's worth more than that as a 4th DB.

Typical overreaction by some here. We’re going to need every one of our dbs to contribute this year. Losing him and having an injury pop up to another cb will definitely hurt us. 

[JerseyBills]

17 hours ago, Big Blitz said:

If someone calls Beane and asks about Elam this should be the response 

 

 

We have CB depth.  Keep it.  I still like his pedigree and skill set - can’t let that Benford is awesome sway us. 
 

I agree about his skills and pedigree but I said this last year, what good is having 2 starting quality CBs on the bench. I get the point about depth but I'd take a 3rd if possible. We still have Dane.   That'd give us 3 3rd rounders next year. 

 

They developed Levi into a starter as an UDFA and now Benford and Dane as day 3 picks. Make Austin your 4th CB and if needed,  draft another. His skillset just doesn't seem to fit our scheme

[FireChans]

9 hours ago, gobills404 said:

And he allowed a lower passer rating than Dane and Benford. And he had a much lower missed tackle rate than them. And he was arguably our best defender in the playoffs. But hey at least Dane and Benford are better at playing with huge cushions!!

What? Elam allowed a 96.3 passer rating. Dane and Benford were in the low 80s. 
 

Allowing a higher passer rating isn’t better lmao

[buffaloboyinATL]

8 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

I didn’t say he’s starting, but doesn’t mean he’s 4th string

Exactly. I think we will see a lot more rotation in the secondary this season. Not quite as much as the DL, but definitely more than usual.  

[gobills404]

36 minutes ago, FireChans said:

What? Elam allowed a 96.3 passer rating. Dane and Benford were in the low 80s. 
 

Allowing a higher passer rating isn’t better lmao

The podcast I heard it on said they included the playoffs. IIRC Elam’s passer rating allowed drops down to ~80. Dane was ~85 including playoffs and Benford was ~90 during the regular season since he missed the playoffs.

Edited August 27, 2023 by gobills404

[FireChans]

29 minutes ago, gobills404 said:

The podcast I heard it on said they included the playoffs. IIRC Elam’s passer rating allowed drops down to ~80. Dane was ~85 including playoffs and Benford was ~90 during the regular season since he missed the playoffs.

Idk their source because they are wrong about almost all of what you said. Or you’re misremembering

[gobills404]

1 minute ago, FireChans said:

Idk their source because they are wrong about almost all of what you said. Or you’re misremembering

Idk your source either cause profootballreference, who has that 96.3 for Elam you brought up, also backs up what I said about the missed tackles.

[FireChans]

15 minutes ago, gobills404 said:

Idk your source either cause profootballreference, who has that 96.3 for Elam you brought up, also backs up what I said about the missed tackles.

Yeah I use PFR. Which contradicts that Benford stat of 90 in the regular season too, he was lower than that. I think your podcasters are wrong here.

[Billl]

12 hours ago, DCofNC said:

It is true.  If you have a team that’s supposedly that good, anywhere you add a better player, makes the team better.  Passing on Creed Humphrey because you “need” pass rush, makes the team weaker. Drafting a project DB because you need a CB2, when you also have holes all over the OL etc, makes the team weaker.   They took guys looking at the future, just the opposite of what you are trying to say, they had to develop all these players at positions of need, instead of letting the draft come to them. 
 

There isn’t going to be an “aggressive rebuild”, there’s no money for it.  The consistent whiffs on finding any difference makers is killing this team.  Yes, they are ok, but they can’t get over the hump because Beane has drafted exactly zero difference makers outside of Allen. 

They didn’t fail because they went after positions of need.  The failure was picking bad players.  They needed interior line help in 2021, and they had already taken Rousseau in the first round when they took Basham.  Taking Creed would have been drafting for need, but they passed on him for another DE.  

 

The aggressive rebuild I’m referring to is going to be them moving pieces to build assets for the future.  That’s when they’ll need to focus on BPA.  2024 is likely to be a reset season.

[T master]

19 hours ago, Process said:

What's your play here?

 

Hang onto him and hope he develops?

 

Trade him while he still has some value? If he's not playing, his value will only go down the further we get from when he was drafted. 

 

I would say trade him, but we don't have a lot of depth. Who is CB4 then, Austin? If a bad team offered a 3rd, I'd probably take it. 

 

I didn't follow him in college, but him not being a fit for our defense is not a surprise, right? We knew that already going into the draft? That's the frustrating part. 

 

As far as athletic ability he is the best of all the candidates so to just get rid of him this early in his career would be kind of foolish especially seeing as last year against the dolphins he ran with Tyreek Hill and kept him in check for most of the game . 

 

Plus this being pre season they may just be giving some reps to other players to see them before final cut downs . 

 

I believe he will be a asset this year with a little bench/ST's motivation he could grab the CB2 position by the end of the season !