What's the deal with Elam?

[RyanC883]

2 hours ago, colin said:

I hope you are right, douglas has really been struggling lately.

 

I think McD is like most coaches where he simply has no time for mental mistakes, and Elam (along w Williams) tend to make those kinds of mistakes rather than just being slow or unathletic.  part of that is his complicated scheme in the back end.  every time we see elam play we see him make some kind of mistake, either being grabby, or gambling and losing.  we've also seen him make just crazy clutch athletic plays getting breakups and interceptions.

 

our d had a total lack of juice all game yesterday.  let's hope elam gives us some vs detroit.

McD gets to make all the mental mistakes on this team! 

Elam seems to be the type of CB you need in the playoffs.  Someone who is a bit more physical (less PI calls in the playoffs) and has a knack for the ball.  Not sure why we aren't rostering him on gameday and playing him.  4 playoff games, 2 Int's.  

 

If he doesn't "fit the scheme" and we were not willing to adapt at all, why was he drafted! 

[Utah John]

The Bills have a reserve safety named Lewis Cine.  He was activated for the Rams game but I don't know if he got onto the field.

 

Cine was drafted in the first round by the Vikings in 2022.  He had a really bad injury.  The Vikings released him this past summer and the Bills picked him up.  

 

The point being, all teams miss from time to time.  College skills don't always translate to NFL skills.

 

At least the team that drafted Elam sees enough in him to keep him around.  Elam knows the system and has been a good backup when called upon.

[starrymessenger]

Never understood what the thinking was when they drafted Elam, let alone in the first round. His skill set is not diversified so he's got to be really good at what he does but then he is not a scheme fit at all so that he winds up being practically useless. He would have been better off going to another team for his development. I wonder who in the war room was in favour of this pick, why they thought it was a good idea, and whether it was controversial (with McD maybe not wanting him).

Edited December 9 by starrymessenger

[Mango]

10 hours ago, billieve420 said:

Doesn’t play special teams and is behind Benford and Douglas simple as that. Imagine he will get shot at starting next year. Have to believe they will let Douglas walk in FA.

 

Nothing to do with starting. He has been a healthy scratch. Not having a backup corner for the perimeter dressed on game day is strange. 

[LABILLBACKER]

9 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

If Douglas is out next week Elam will start. He is just a boundary corner whereas Ingram plays teams, and can play nickel and dime and that is why he gets a jersey on the 47. 

 

I really hope Elam kills it next week. I am over Douglas at this point. But that might be a folorn hope.

Right now our ST is not that special.  I don't think ST should be the underlying factor in whether a guy gets defensive snaps.  This Elam narrative is so ridiculous.  Start playing more man you stubborn goat McD and get Elam's ass in there.

[Back2Buff]

I think half of Elam's issues are injuries.  Even in the game we needed him, he went out for an injury.  His body seems to breakdown.

 

In saying that, he should be playing over Douglas.  If Douglas isn't gonna get turnovers, he is no better than Elam.  

[coloradobillsfan]

31 minutes ago, starrymessenger said:

Never understood what the thinking was when they drafted Elam, let alone in the first round. 

Bills likely wanted McDuffie but the Chiefs leapfrogged us to grab him.  Elam was the booby prize, and the hope was McD could transfer his skill set to fit the Bills D.  So far that has met with somewhat.. limited success shall we say

[NewEra]

51 minutes ago, starrymessenger said:

Never understood what the thinking was when they drafted Elam, let alone in the first round. His skill set is not diversified so he's got to be really good at what he does but then he is not a scheme fit at all so that he winds up being practically useless. He would have been better off going to another team for his development. I wonder who in the war room was in favour of this pick, why they thought it was a good idea, and whether it was controversial (with McD maybe not wanting him).

Mcd viewed him as a big and fast athlete that he was hoping to mold into a good zone corner.

 

I also thought that part of why we drafted him was because McD wanted to start playing more man as to be more unpredictable.  
 

maybe he just loves Ingram-  🤷🏻‍♂️ 

 

I thought that Elam was inactive because he doesn’t play STs and Ingram does.  Maybe they don’t view the gap between the two so great that it would outweigh the ST play.  
 

eager to see who gets the start if Douglass is out 

[MiracleAtRich1393]

8 hours ago, DJB said:

Unless it’s a reasonable one year deal I don’t want to see Douglas back. I don’t want us to overpay for him to return 

yes yes yes do not pay multiple boundary CB's in this system. You can pay Benford on an extension but not both. Just pick 2 with some arm length, tackling ability & zone awareness skills on day 3 this year and at least one will work out.

[JakeFrommStateFarm]

Elam is good at man coverage and I believe is the only CB on this team with 2 ints from Mahommes

[starrymessenger]

22 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Mcd viewed him as a big and fast athlete that he was hoping to mold into a good zone corner.

 

I also thought that part of why we drafted him was because McD wanted to start playing more man as to be more unpredictable.  
 

maybe he just loves Ingram-  🤷🏻‍♂️ 

 

I thought that Elam was inactive because he doesn’t play STs and Ingram does.  Maybe they don’t view the gap between the two so great that it would outweigh the ST play.  
 

eager to see who gets the start if Douglass is out 

I also thought Bills were looking to add man coverage in an attempt to diversify the scheme, which was topical at the time. And many good Ds are able to transition seamlessly between man and zone coverages. Indeed I thought we sometimes switched into man even after presenting a zone alignment in appropriate circumstances. So what I have difficulty understanding why we stick with soft zone when it's clear it cannot work - like yesterday. We made life very easy for Stafford. To me it looks like a conservative coach's mindset that is patently risk averse. After all no risk= no reward. 

Edited December 9 by starrymessenger

[GunnerBill]

26 minutes ago, NewEra said:

 

I thought that Elam was inactive because he doesn’t play STs and Ingram does.  Maybe they don’t view the gap between the two so great that it would outweigh the ST play.  

 

Doesn't play teams and can't play inside. Ingram covers boundary, 2nd string dime and 3rd string nickel as well as playing teams. Elam offers one thing - outside depth, that's it. 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

I remember the talk that offseason was about needing to play more man. It’s one of the reasons they didn’t re-sign Edmunds, too big for man.

 

So they drafted Elam, a man CB, but never started playing more man.

 

So, I wonder if there was some disagreement between the scouting staff and coaching staff with the Elam pick.

[NewEra]

8 minutes ago, starrymessenger said:

I also thought Bills were looking to add man coverage in an attempt to diversify the scheme, which was topical at the time. And many good Ds are able to transition seamlessly between man and zone coverages. Indeed I thought we sometimes switched into man even after presenting a zone alignment in appropriate circumstances. So what I have difficulty understanding why we stick with soft zone when it's clear it cannot work - like yesterday. We made life very easy for Stafford. To me it looks like a conservative coach's mindset that is patently risk averse. After all no risk= no reward. 

Yeah- I agree.  I’ve been hoping for more man since we drafted Elam.  We saw it a lot vs KC.  Maybe because they weren’t worried about their WRa beats our cbs, whereas nacua and kupp are top tier and have an advantage vs every corner, even benford

[Flip Johnson]

We watched Benford and Douglas get beat in zone, we could have watched Elam pick up PIs in man. 

If you play Stafford and those WRs in a climate controlled environment and get zero pass rush you are going to get picked apart. 

[starrymessenger]

9 minutes ago, Flip Johnson said:

We watched Benford and Douglas get beat in zone, we could have watched Elam pick up PIs in man. 

If you play Stafford and those WRs in a climate controlled environment and get zero pass rush you are going to get picked apart. 

I'm sure Bills were counting on pressuring the non-mobile Stafford. But McV knew what the Bills were about. Apparently all he had to do was  give his non-mobile quarterback a moving pocket or roll him out of it and that was enough to flummox the Bills D-line. Groot and AJ looked completely lost at times.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

4 minutes ago, starrymessenger said:

I'm sure Bills were counting on pressuring the non-mobile Stafford. But McV knew what the Bills were about. Apparently all he had to do was  give his non-mobile quarterback a moving pocket or roll him out of it and that was enough to flummox the Bills D-line. Groot and AJ looked completely lost at times.

On the first series Rousseau got knocked on his butt by Kyren Williams chipping. Just blew him up. Set the tone for the game. Probably thought about it the rest of the game.

[Herc11]

12 hours ago, Freddie's Dead said:

 

He's not Matt Milano.  Milano had no business on the field today.

Milano isn't going to step in and be his old self after not playing for as long as he was out. If we want any chance of him knocking off the rust and getting back to his old self for the playoffs, he needs to be in every game he can.

[Freddie's Dead]

23 minutes ago, Herc11 said:

Milano isn't going to step in and be his old self after not playing for as long as he was out. If we want any chance of him knocking off the rust and getting back to his old self for the playoffs, he needs to be in every game he can.

 

I'm fine with him as a situational guy, but he's not an every down guy right now.  I heard this from another poster, who was fine with us losing the #1 seed as long as Milano was "ready" for the playoffs.  I disagree, we should be playing Dorian Williams mostly, and mixing in Milano.

[Don Otreply]

No-one knows for certain, 

 

it’s a riddle wrapped up in an enigma, surrounded by an uncertainty, or It’s a Shrodengers cat thing…,