Would this be the week to give Elam a chance.

[strive_for_five_guy]

This thread reminds me of when I was in little league.  My dad was the coach and our next game was for the championship.  One of the other kid’s dads called my dad, and asked what he thought about his kid pitching in the championship.  Only thing was, his kid hadn’t pitched all season.  This guy must have been drinking and/or smoking something real good that night.

[Saxum]

49 minutes ago, BearNorth said:

Once Gilmore left us - doubtful he would ever return, esp when he was desired by the wealthiest franchise in the game.

 

Wasn't he the player who said he left because not enough people could see him play.

 

I wonder how many of his people could see him when he played in Indianapolis?

[PaattMaann]

22 hours ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

Without an injury?  I don't see it.  Benford didn't have his best game in coverage but he forced a fumble.  

 

Benford was also consistently put in "no-win" situations by the Chiefs...flooding his zone with two options so whichever he chose to go to, left the other open. He played a good game considering that. Made tackles, weathered the storm, and as you pointed out, forced a fumble.

[2003Contenders]

26 minutes ago, FireChans said:

We barely had a starting corner on the roster and they had one with a first round grade.

 

Are you arguing they should have taken what they believed to be was a lesser player solely because they weren't a DB?

Actually, I get the opposite sense when it comes to McD. I think he prides himself on finding diamonds in the rough at the CB position and believes that he can coach them up. In a way he is right, as he has managed decent production from late-round and undrafted players. Benford was a day 3 pick in the same draft as Elam.

[FireChans]

1 minute ago, 2003Contenders said:

Actually, I get the opposite sense when it comes to McD. I think he prides himself on finding diamonds in the rough at the CB position and believes that he can coach them up. In a way he is right, as he has managed decent production from late-round and undrafted players. Benford was a day 3 pick in the same draft as Elam.

We hadn't drafted Benford at the time when we were selecting Elam.  And we had one CB who could start on the roster during that time.

 

Elam sucks and is a bust. It sucks.

 

But the vision was obvious. Elam/Dane + Tre when he got healthy. And, ideally, once Elam took the starting job and developed into a budding star, you can move on from Tre (@Bill from NYC rather have a rookie deal CB than a gigantic contract CB, right?)

 

Of course, Benford was also drafted and outplayed Elam by a lot.  But physically, I'm not sure he has it in him to be a top flight CB in the league.  Which again, sucks. Because we are gonna move on from Tre, and probably cut or trade Elam, and just have some above average DB's.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

8 minutes ago, FireChans said:

We hadn't drafted Benford at the time when we were selecting Elam.  And we had one CB who could start on the roster during that time.

 

Elam sucks and is a bust. It sucks.

 

But the vision was obvious. Elam/Dane + Tre when he got healthy. And, ideally, once Elam took the starting job and developed into a budding star, you can move on from Tre (@Bill from NYC rather have a rookie deal CB than a gigantic contract CB, right?)

 

Of course, Benford was also drafted and outplayed Elam by a lot.  But physically, I'm not sure he has it in him to be a top flight CB in the league.  Which again, sucks. Because we are gonna move on from Tre, and probably cut or trade Elam, and just have some above average DB's.

 

Tre is going to make pennies on the open market so i do hope there's a chance to massively reduce his cap hit and keep him around.  With Hyde gone and poyer probably gone it would be nice to keep one vet around who's been here since the start, and he's the youngest in that group.  

[FireChans]

1 minute ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

Tre is going to make pennies on the open market so i do hope there's a chance to massively reduce his cap hit and keep him around.  With Hyde gone and poyer probably gone it would be nice to keep one vet around who's been here since the start, and he's the youngest in that group.  

Richard Sherman ruptured his Achilles around 28-29 and his play took a serious dip.  Tre is now coming off Achilles AND major injury the year prior.

 

I'm not sure he will be WORTH any number.

[JohnNord]

4 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

I agree with you Gunner. To take it a half step further, his ability to play multiple positions make him an ideal candidate to be active on game days. It allows the team some flexibility with other game day decisions. 

I think he’s better as a safety or slot CB than a traditional boundary corner.  

[Bill from NYC]

1 hour ago, FireChans said:

We barely had a starting corner on the roster and they had one with a first round grade.

 

Are you arguing they should have taken what they believed to be was a lesser player solely because they weren't a DB?

Wait, a lesser player than Elam who they traded up for to play in a zone? Do you want to rephrase your question?

[FireChans]

2 minutes ago, Bill from NYC said:

Wait, a lesser player than Elam who they traded up for to play in a zone? Do you want to rephrase your question?

No. They didn’t know Elam was a bust. I’m saying that under the 3 major assumptions:

 

1 Elam was their last 1st round graded player on the board

 

2 They had major need at CB, with one healthy player who was a backup the year prior

 

3 They don’t know the results of the draft at the time

 

You would argue they should’ve taken a day 2 graded player instead? On draft night? 

 

 

Edited December 12, 2023 by FireChans

[gonzo1105]

Why are we still having this argument. Sure you could blame his ankle but he hasn't played a lot in his career even last year. He got his chance finally against the Jaguars and got absolutely roasted by Ridley. Now you want to trot him out there against Ceedee Lamb, Brandin Cooks, Michael Gallup. Cmon now. 

[Bill from NYC]

15 minutes ago, FireChans said:

 

You would argue they should’ve taken a day 2 graded player instead? On draft night? 

 

I am saying that McDermott followed the trail of idiocy paved by inefficient, incompetent folks who controlled our Buffalo Bills by focusing on DBs (remember the trade for the Mahomes pick?) and making defensive backs his priority. This a major reason for the failure of our franchise. 

 

You are a long time fan. It would seem to me that you already know this. If not, start at 1990 and look at how inferior regimes like Levy/Jauron destroyed this team. If you like him and what he is doing on the Bills, great!!! Imo, McDermott is a bald headed, trite version of Jauron.

 

Peace!

 

https://www.drafthistory.com/index.php/teams/bills

Edited December 12, 2023 by Bill from NYC

[nedboy7]

He had a couple of bad games.  He needs to be exiled.  We cant have players who have bad games. 

[margolbe]

What I am wondering about Elam is that he appears to be in McD's doghouse.  Not sure how he got there, but wondering if they are really giving him a fair shake.  You think they would given that he was a first round pick, but I have a feeling there is more to this story than meets the eye.

[FireChans]

1 hour ago, Bill from NYC said:

I am saying that McDermott followed the trail of idiocy paved by inefficient, incompetent folks who controlled our Buffalo Bills by focusing on DBs (remember the trade for the Mahomes pick?) and making defensive backs his priority. This a major reason for the failure of our franchise. 

 

You are a long time fan. It would seem to me that you already know this. If not, start at 1990 and look at how inferior regimes like Levy/Jauron destroyed this team. If you like him and what he is doing on the Bills, great!!! Imo, McDermott is a bald headed, trite version of Jauron.

 

Peace!

 

https://www.drafthistory.com/index.php/teams/bills

Drafting Tre instead of Mahomes or Antoine Winfield 20 years ago has no bearing on the Elam pick, Bill.

[Jauronimo]

5 hours ago, Bill from NYC said:

Yep, that pick simply had to be a corner, even if it involved trading up. Screw wide receivers and/or blockers. We needed a first round corner to play in a zone at all costs. 

Now, Tre might be shot due to his injury. Perhaps McDermott and his lapdog will run to the podiun in 2024 and grab another corner in the 1st. It wouldn't surprise me.

If it were up to you the team would have zero defensive backs

[FireChans]

5 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

If it were up to you the team would have zero defensive backs

As a Bama fan, it’s criminal that @Bill from NYC forgets that one of the best players on Bama is their five star CB Kool Aid McKinstry. 
 

Of course, Saban should have never offered him a scholarship. Because of Leodis McKelvin, or something. 

[Jauronimo]

10 minutes ago, FireChans said:

Drafting Tre instead of Mahomes or Antoine Winfield 20 years ago has no bearing on the Elam pick, Bill.

He's been bitching about drafting DBs since Whitner was selected over Haloti Ngata.  It went full crusade after McKelvin was the pick and its only gotten worse over time.  The whole league drafts DBs in the first round because its a money position.

[DuckyBoys]

Think they kept him strictly in case they suffered further injuries at db.  Only way we see him is further injuries at db .    He could not beat out Benford as a rookie and is probably way behind him at this point in their eyes  Whiff by Beane .   It is what it is.  

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

3 hours ago, FireChans said:

Richard Sherman ruptured his Achilles around 28-29 and his play took a serious dip.  Tre is now coming off Achilles AND major injury the year prior.

 

I'm not sure he will be WORTH any number.

 

Fair. If hes gonna cost u 11 in cap space to cut. Maybe u can structure it at like 13? I see what ur saying tho.