Elam's issues

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

19 minutes ago, JoeF said:

Stole a copy of Elam's notebook page 1 under the Cover2 section...

 

Actually, I heard it was just keeping track of who had more TBD-TSW posts.  Elam or Edmunds.  Edmunds is still in the lead.

[RunTheBall]

5 minutes ago, RkFast said:

On Sunday night, Muki Hawkins was part of a Twitter space, which he does often, and strongly implied that it was attitude based. He wouldnt say, becuase he cant violate privacy as someone who has lockerroom access, but he basically said "read between the lines."

 

Take that for what you will......

Idk everything McD says is that Kair has acted like a true professional. He’s not going to come out and say he has a crap attitude but at the same time he wouldn’t do the exact opposite and praise his professionalism if it was really an issue.

 

I think it’s highly likely that Elam is taking longer to grab the nuances of a zone D than the team anticipated when we drafted him. He’s got the physical skills, but he’s gotta get the “feel” of the zone like Benford and Bernard have and not be thinking out there too much about where exactly he has to be.

 

One thing about this staff is except for Teller, they don’t give up on players too soon. If Elam gets traded at some point I’m confident it’s because he just couldn’t pick up the system and not for lack of opportunity.

 

[Sargent Hulka]

3 hours ago, JGMcD2 said:

This is just a woefully ignorant statement.
 

You have no idea who the scouts are, what they said, and quite frankly no idea how difficult projecting talent is. 

I never said I knew who the scout was,  but one of them sure made the recommendation. Goober! Ignorant statement? Who the f**k you think you are, A**hole?

Edited October 3, 2023 by Sargent Hulka

[PatsFanNH]

14 hours ago, Mango said:

I think Elam is likely “fine”. I don’t think he’s a bust. Probably “meh”.
 

Jackson struggled as the year went on and everybody on defense went down, but when Tre went down Dane played really well. And by the time we hit the playoffs was better than Levi. Through the first 5 or so games of last season DJ was something like top 5 in passer rating when targeted. He’s struggled but he can ball too.

 

All that said Benford beat him out in a close battle. And apparently Elam wasn’t too far behind. 
 

I think it’s a factor of having an all-pro on one side and and 2 pretty goods on the other. Pair that with minimal game experience, being strongest at the defenses least used skill set, and a lack of versatility compared to the guys in front of him, he finds himself the odd man out. 

Thats so confusing to me.. why draft someone that excels in an area you don’t care about? But has minimal experience in what you do? Wonder if they weee thinking of switching to more man coverage

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

2 minutes ago, PatsFanNH said:

Thats so confusing to me.. why draft someone that excels in an area you don’t care about? But has minimal experience in what you do? Wonder if they weee thinking of switching to more man coverage

 

Usually when you blitz you want to play some level of man coverage behind it - perhaps we were looking to blitz more.  

[HoofHearted]

4 minutes ago, RunTheBall said:

Idk everything McD says is that Kair has acted like a true professional. He’s not going to come out and say he has a crap attitude but at the same time he wouldn’t do the exact opposite and praise his professionalism if it was really an issue.

 

I think it’s highly likely that Elam is taking longer to grab the nuances of a zone D than the team anticipated when we drafted him. He’s got the physical skills, but he’s gotta get the “feel” of the zone like Benford and Bernard have and not be thinking out there too much about where exactly he has to be.

 

One thing about this staff is except for Teller, they don’t give up on players too soon. If Elam gets traded at some point I’m confident it’s because he just couldn’t pick up the system and not for lack of opportunity.

 

There's no "feel". It's all rule based. Dude will either get it or he won't. I don't buy into any of this about him not understanding how to play zone coverage. There's no team in the world that runs just man coverage. His time with the Bills isn't the first time he's had to learn zone coverages or play in zone coverages. Other dudes have just out-performed him or been more consistent than him. That doesn't mean he's a bust and can't do it - just means there's dudes who are playing better.

 

I am really curious what we do now though. Benford and Dane really and truly are both field corners. They stuck Benford at the boundary spot after Tre went down, but I don't know if that'll stick going forward.

2 minutes ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

Usually when you blitz you want to play some level of man coverage behind it - perhaps we were looking to blitz more.  

This isn't true...

[RunTheBall]

1 minute ago, HoofHearted said:

There's no "feel". It's all rule based. Dude will either get it or he won't. I don't buy into any of this about him not understanding how to play zone coverage. There's no team in the world that runs just man coverage. His time with the Bills isn't the first time he's had to learn zone coverages or play in zone coverages. Other dudes have just out-performed him or been more consistent than him. That doesn't mean he's a bust and can't do it - just means there's dudes who are playing better.

 

I am really curious what we do now though. Benford and Dane really and truly are both field corners. They stuck Benford at the boundary spot after Tre went down, but I don't know if that'll stick going forward.

 

Sure it starts off rules based but in order to develop the correct muscle memory to play fast he has to get to the point where he’s not thinking so much. Again it’s pure speculation on all our parts why he isn’t out there because it’s a fact that he has better physical skills than our other corners. I’m guessing it’s because he’s not playing his zone responsibilities as good as White/Jackson/Benford but, it’s just a guess.

 

[JGMcD2]

16 minutes ago, Sargent Hulka said:

I never said I knew who the scout was,  but one of them sure made the recommendation. Goober! Ignorant statement? Who the f**k you think you are, A**hole?

Wait a second, you're the one throwing around statements like "he should never again be involved with picking that high of a selection" and "Honestly, some of the Bills scouts suck at their job." My question is, who the f**k you think you are, A**hole?

 

I can tell you from being in these rooms, it isn't as simple as "making a recommendation."

Edited October 3, 2023 by JGMcD2

[H2o]

Whatever his issues are, he's about to get some run now and I hope he makes the most of his opportunity. He showed some flashes last year of being a talented young CB. I hope this has served as a learning experience and now he comes out with some fire.

[billsfan89]

39 minutes ago, PatsFanNH said:

Thats so confusing to me.. why draft someone that excels in an area you don’t care about? But has minimal experience in what you do? Wonder if they weee thinking of switching to more man coverage

The Bills were coming off 13 seconds and Tre’s ACL injury. They wanted to get faster at corner and drafted the best athlete at corner. I think you also may be onto something where they may have also wanted to run more man. But I think generally they saw just how vulnerable not having speed was to them when Tre was out and looked to add more speed.

[kickedface]

very simple it comes down to scheme. hes a man cb that excels in man coverage but the d uses a lot of zone coverage which the other 2 are much better at. sure theres the physical side as well where he plays a very physical game that can get him in trouble with pass interference depending on the refs. it was that way in college for him as well. but he's willing to learn and takes everything the coaching staff and veterans tell him and tries to integrate it. he can even tell you about every play hes ever had in college or the pros and what he could've done to do better

[newcam2012]

20 hours ago, All I Need is Hope said:

Makes it even more puzzling to understand why they can't get top end production out of someone with Elam's elite athletic traits

 

I think he might not be able to grasp the McD zone scheme. 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

22 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

I think it also has to do with Elam though. Lot of negative innuendo in the comments by McDermott about Elam. Even today, he basically was like, “we’ll see” about Elam. 

He was "concerned" about Diggs.  That worked out ok.  I think the kid will be fine especially with two capable safeties behind him.

[Aussie Joe]

8 hours ago, babulator said:

Remember how impressed the staff was when he brought his notebook to the team interview? They really hyped that up. 😇

He must be on about his 5th notebook by now ..

[SoCal Deek]

I’m going to trust that this kid sees this as his one shot to prove he’s not a total bust. Let’s hope he has some inner motivation and pride. 

[JimmyNoodles]

Just my take, since we’re all guessing, but I think the issue is his physicality. I mentioned in a post a long time ago that I thought he could be more physical at the point of the catch. In that same vein,  I think tackling, run support, etc is the problem. Zone is not the issue per se. Closing and tackling out of that could be a problem.  I think McD would like him to be a little tougher.