What's the deal with Elam?

[ShakAttack]

In a game like yesterday, a turnover can change everything.  If a team is going to run & pass all over us anyway, give me the CB that has made multiple red zone ints in big games despite a very limited # of starts in his career.

 

Many of us expect the Lions game to be similar.  Elam needs to be starting over Ingram in this game.  This shouldn't even be up for debate and I hate that it is.

[RiotAct]

5 hours ago, Utah John said:

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.

 

 

he was out there on special teams, but I didn’t notice him on the field for defense at all.

[Dr.Sack]

13 hours ago, Jerome007 said:

Milano has been far from his past self. But, he is worth the  risk. Williams played well, Milano played GREAT. Always around the ball, fumbles, tackles for losses, INTs. The guy is (was) a baller. And if he doesn't get back up to speed, Williams is there and experienced now. Worth the "risk" since the Bills have a playoff spot and what matters most is winning it all come postseason. 

Milano has played better than Williams in 2024?

[Kelly to Allen]

I think Elam is going to steal the starting job. Jmo

 

Milano will be himself by January 

[Kirby Jackson]

The deal is that the Bills have no idea what to do with him. Elam is a physical, at times handsy, CB that is aggressive playing the ball. The Bills conservative style is an odd fit with him. I suspect that they don’t like that he can get beat and sometimes struggles getting off blocks in the run game. 
 

The flipside is that he has the physical tools to match up with great receivers. He will get beat some but also make some plays. The Bills try so hard to “bend but not break” that he ends up not playing. The reality is that he should play some vs. the best receivers. Mirroring Puka the other day would have been nice. I’m confident that he wouldn’t have produced the game he produced otherwise. The Bills are so set on sitting in that soft zone that they can get shredded by slot receivers and TEs. They did. Stafford was the top rated QB in the NFL vs. zone entering the game the other day. The Bills seemingly played it all day and got 1 stop I think (excluding the last series where they were running out the clock). This one goes to coaching.

[Kelly to Allen]

20 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

The deal is that the Bills have no idea what to do with him. Elam is a physical, at times handsy, CB that is aggressive playing the ball. The Bills conservative style is an odd fit with him. I suspect that they don’t like that he can get beat and sometimes struggles getting off blocks in the run game. 
 

The flipside is that he has the physical tools to match up with great receivers. He will get beat some but also make some plays. The Bills try so hard to “bend but not break” that he ends up not playing. The reality is that he should play some vs. the best receivers. Mirroring Puka the other day would have been nice. I’m confident that he wouldn’t have produced the game he produced otherwise. The Bills are so set on sitting in that soft zone that they can get shredded by slot receivers and TEs. They did. Stafford was the top rated QB in the NFL vs. zone entering the game the other day. The Bills seemingly played it all day and got 1 stop I think (excluding the last series where they were running out the clock). This one goes to coaching.

He's kinda like James Williams honestly from the Early 90s bills teams. First Rd pick with flashes but never materialized into a number one cb

[Kirby Jackson]

7 minutes ago, Kelly to Allen said:

He's kinda like James Williams honestly from the Early 90s bills teams. First Rd pick with flashes but never materialized into a number one cb

Honestly, he reminds me more of Thomas Smith but point taken.
 

I think that the Elam situation is more a function of the organization than him. They are so worried about him getting beaten or penalized that they don’t play him. They are willing to sacrifice his playmaking in exchange for solid play with potentially less mistakes. Personally, it should be situation dependent.
 

Before the game the other day my brother and I were talking about how that was an ideal game to play him a bunch. The Rams crush the zone so you needed to play some man. He can help there. That holds true against teams like the Bengals as well. Put him on Chase for a little while. He will get beaten some but might make a play or 2 that changes the game. It’s better than the death by 1,000 paper cuts from Sunday. 

Edited December 10 by Kirby Jackson

[BobbyC81]

23 hours ago, Billyhouseman said:

Dude was a #1 pick.... Can't even get on the active roster.. . Is he bad? Does McDermott like his undrafted UB bulls better? Elam has massive ints in his limited game action, yes he is a little handsy, but we need a physical corner, especially one that's long like him.    I just don't understand what's going on with him

He was known for his man-to-man coverage and they drafted him with hope they could fit him into their zone defense.  Apparently they feel he hasn’t worked out to their satisfaction.  They may have tried to trade him but haven’t been satisfied with any offers. 
 

Personally, if they’re not going to play him, they should just waive him.  It would be a big dead cap hit though as he has another year on his contract.

[philholbroo]

1 hour ago, Kirby Jackson said:

The deal is that the Bills have no idea what to do with him. Elam is a physical, at times handsy, CB that is aggressive playing the ball. The Bills conservative style is an odd fit with him. I suspect that they don’t like that he can get beat and sometimes struggles getting off blocks in the run game. 
 

The flipside is that he has the physical tools to match up with great receivers. He will get beat some but also make some plays. The Bills try so hard to “bend but not break” that he ends up not playing. The reality is that he should play some vs. the best receivers. Mirroring Puka the other day would have been nice. I’m confident that he wouldn’t have produced the game he produced otherwise. The Bills are so set on sitting in that soft zone that they can get shredded by slot receivers and TEs. They did. Stafford was the top rated QB in the NFL vs. zone entering the game the other day. The Bills seemingly played it all day and got 1 stop I think (excluding the last series where they were running out the clock). This one goes to coaching.

PERFECT SUMMATION

[Brand J]

Elam will probably go to some other team and be their version of L’Jarius Sneed, a long, fast, handsy CB. Let’s hope it’s not KC, CIN, or BAL.

[ShakAttack]

10 hours ago, Kelly to Allen said:

I think Elam is going to steal the starting job. Jmo

 

Milano will be himself by January 

 

That all depends on if we give him the chance in the first place.  But I'm pulling for this to happen.  Think most of us are.  Rasul was an incredible acquisition last season, but he's over the hill and has not looked very good this season.  Meanwhile, Elam may very well be in his prime...

 

To be completely honest, I have actually been hoping for something to happen that would give Elam a chance to start this season, and I am glad that "something" happened to Douglas rather than Benford.  But once again, the fact that we have to even consider the possibility of Ingram starting over Elam is infuriating.  Elam was a 1st round investment.  Here we are, in December, there is NO BETTER TIME THAN NOW to see what we have in this guy!!!  This IS the chance to see if he should be part of the long term plan.  It's right there, on a silver platter.  If McDermott botches this one too.... I don't even know what to say. 

 

We already know Ingram's ceiling.  Elam, on the other hand, could be something special.  Yes, we have seen him struggle at times, but we're going up against the Lions.  They are not going to have a problem moving the ball on us.  Which means we will likely need to be playing for turnovers on defense and Elam gives you the best chance at that, better than any other DB on this roster.

[Einstein]

19 hours ago, ShakAttack said:

In a game like yesterday, a turnover can change everything.  If a team is going to run & pass all over us anyway, give me the CB that has made multiple red zone ints in big games despite a very limited # of starts in his career.

 

Many of us expect the Lions game to be similar.  Elam needs to be starting over Ingram in this game.  This shouldn't even be up for debate and I hate that it is.

 

Everyone brings up Elams INT’s but no one mentions that ANY cornerback in his shoes would have intercepted those easy passes. There was no difficulty or skill to them whatsoever. He was lucky to be the one in that spot.

 

That being said, Bernard said the Bills had planned to play a lot of man but then switched to zone. If they had planned to play man, why would Elam not be active!? That makes no sense. It’s the one thing he is good at!

[ShakAttack]

15 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

Everyone brings up Elams INT’s but no one mentions that ANY cornerback in his shoes would have intercepted those easy passes. There was no difficulty or skill to them whatsoever. He was lucky to be the one in that spot.

 

That being said, Bernard said the Bills had planned to play a lot of man but then switched to zone. If they had planned to play man, why would Elam not be active!? That makes no sense. It’s the one thing he is good at!

 

I would have to go back and look, but I’m pretty sure I remember at least a couple that were great plays on the ball.

 

in contrast, Jamarcus Ingram’s pick six was TRULY an “anyone can do it” type of play. Heck, if a DT was in his spot, even he would have been able to run up on that air ball lobbed by Tua and secure it. 

[Einstein]

4 minutes ago, ShakAttack said:

 

I would have to go back and look, but I’m pretty sure I remember at least a couple that were great plays on the ball.

 

in contrast, Jamarcus Ingram’s pick six was TRULY an “anyone can do it” type of play. Heck, if a DT was in his spot, even he would have been able to run up on that air ball lobbed by Tua and secure it. 

 

Most of his have been like this. Just floaters that go right to him.

 

 

I do recall one INT where he made a good play on the ball. I think it was in the endzone against Pitt.

 

[Charles Romes]

Also the INT v at the chiefs ‘22. Maybe the most impressive Bills win of the Allen era, all things considered. When will they get the memo that producing 1 stop out of 8 drives with a huge play is better than zero.  Could not have done any worse than Douglas who had to have surrendered the max 158 rating.  

[ShakAttack]

1 hour ago, Einstein said:

 

Most of his have been like this. Just floaters that go right to him.

 

 

I do recall one INT where he made a good play on the ball. I think it was in the endzone against Pitt.

 

 

 

He also had some nice PBU's in the Miami playoff game a couple years ago.  

 

And his one start this season - I think it was against Miami - he had a fumble recovery AND a forced fumble that unfortunately didn't count.  

 

He's just one of those guys that seems to have a knack for taking the ball away, kinda like Rasul Douglas prior to this season.

 

But turnovers aside, my fundamental point was that he should be starting over Jamarcus Ingram without question.

 

And if there is a chance that we have anything in this guy, now is the time to find out.

[GaryPinC]

22 minutes ago, ShakAttack said:

 

 

He also had some nice PBU's in the Miami playoff game a couple years ago.  

 

And his one start this season - I think it was against Miami - he had a fumble recovery AND a forced fumble that unfortunately didn't count.  

 

He's just one of those guys that seems to have a knack for taking the ball away, kinda like Rasul Douglas prior to this season.

 

But turnovers aside, my fundamental point was that he should be starting over Jamarcus Ingram without question.

 

And if there is a chance that we have anything in this guy, now is the time to find out.

He also almost had a pick six bit just couldn't corral it.  Don't know if he plays against Detroit, but hopefully with Miami and 2 Patriot games they give him some opportunities to sharpen up in case he's needed in the playoffs. 

[Riverboat Ritchie]

13 hours ago, Kelly to Allen said:

I think Elam is going to steal the starting job. Jmo

 

Milano will be himself by January 

I sure hope you are right. A lot of reasons to not like Chiefs but one of my tops is that they traded ahead of us in 2022 draft to take McDuffie. 

[KOKBILLS]

12 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Honestly, he reminds me more of Thomas Smith but point taken.
 

I think that the Elam situation is more a function of the organization than him. They are so worried about him getting beaten or penalized that they don’t play him. They are willing to sacrifice his playmaking in exchange for solid play with potentially less mistakes. Personally, it should be situation dependent.
 

Before the game the other day my brother and I were talking about how that was an ideal game to play him a bunch. The Rams crush the zone so you needed to play some man. He can help there. That holds true against teams like the Bengals as well. Put him on Chase for a little while. He will get beaten some but might make a play or 2 that changes the game. It’s better than the death by 1,000 paper cuts from Sunday. 

 

I've been saying basically the same thing for 3 years now. McD's stubbornness has it's strengths, but it also has it's weaknesses when you run into a hot offense every now and again that can pick apart the zones and has really good skill position players. I think Elam could be a major help at just breaking tendencies every now and again. And it would give teams more to worry about on tape. It's not like Elam has been void of production when he has played. But he's not a good ST's player so... I guess we sit the 1st Rd pick... Anyway...

[Kelly to Allen]

1 hour ago, Riverboat Ritchie said:

I sure hope you are right. A lot of reasons to not like Chiefs but one of my tops is that they traded ahead of us in 2022 draft to take McDuffie. 

Yeah that one stings. Obviously getting Benford offset it. So if Elam can be a good number 2, I'll be happy 

1 hour ago, Riverboat Ritchie said:

I sure hope you are right. A lot of reasons to not like Chiefs but one of my tops is that they traded ahead of us in 2022 draft to take McDuffie. 

I personally think McDuffie is the best CB in the NFL. I love his game