RD 1, Pick 23: CB Kaiir Elam, Florida

[jkeerie]

15 hours ago, turftoe said:

Trade chart said 40 points.  Beane paid 52

Pick 130 is worth 42 points not 52 points.

[BADOLBILZ]

13 hours ago, KOKBILLS said:

It's cliché as a Bills fan now but...I'm going to go ahead and trust McBeane on this...They needed a CB, and I think McD especially knows what DB's fit in their system. His record is pretty good here... Elam has traits and pedigree...It's a big need area. I think it's fine. My guess would be that we could have had him at #25. But that's a guess...So...GO BILLS...

 

 

Yeah I assume Elam will turn into a really good starter.    

 

Maybe the low fruit of the Elam football tree would be REALLY bad pickin's for a drought era team........especially snagging him just before his daddy's team could.  

 

That might have dampened his spirit significantly and set him on a course for 1 contract and done OR bust if this was 2012.

 

But as Richard Sherman said..........with the coaching he is going to get and the situation the team is in he shouldn't fail.   

 

It's important to remember that one of the reasons the Bills drought left them with ZERO of their first round picks from the prior 17 drafts on the field in Jagsonville when they finally made the playoffs was because the organization didn't get the best from those players.

 

It wasn't a lack of talent.

 

It was a lack of direction.......and a lack of a QB to put them into contention.......more than anything else.

[BuffaloRebound]

10 minutes ago, jkeerie said:

Pick 130 is worth 42 points not 52 points.

Overpaid by 2 points.  Beane is a bum.  

[Dan]

31 minutes ago, SlimShady'sSpaceForce said:

 

 

 

 

Seeing all someone’s hopes, dreams, and hard work payoff in a single moment like that is incredible and humbling.  I hope he’s a long time pro bowler for us. 
 

Go Bills!

[Koufax]

15 hours ago, mannc said:

I don’t love it but I’m not going to second-guess McDermott on a CB…I do not understand the trade up though.

 

Probably they did not like their third best player left as much as Elam, and if you wait at 25 two players will be gone at 23 and 24 either to the teams with those picks, or someone trading to get ahead of the Bills (and since 23 was available in trade that is clearly a big open door). If they like this player I don't a 4th to move up and get him instead of risking getting stuck with a less valuable player at 25. Adding a 1st round trade up worthy player AND Tre back to our pass defense puts us in better position to stop Mahomes, Burrow, etc, so I like this pick overall.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

 

 

[BillsFanSD]

3 hours ago, Don Otreply said:

Wouldn’t one think as a point of skill, and positional need, that a first round pick is a magnitude higher than a fourth round pick? This noise about a fourth round pick’s value being insinuated at a higher value than a first round pick / acquisition that filled a giant hole in our roster with a quality CB is preposterous, just stop already, be f ing happy we don’t have a giant hole in our starting line up anymore, context and priorities are important factors…, 

 

nuthin but love, 

 

Go Bills!!!

Sure.  Obviously the first round pick is more important than the fourth round pick.  But it would have been nice to have both, and we really should have had both.  That's all.

[BADOLBILZ]

1 hour ago, Perry Turtle said:

White and Elam could be the best pair of cornerbacks the Bills have ever had.

 

 

For their scheme..........yeah maybe.......... if Elam pans out and White stays on top of his game.

 

But they have had A LOT of good CB combo's who were actual real man coverage dudes who could run with anyone in the league at that time.

 

If the Bills played a defense like Cinci..........which changes schemes based on opponent...........would be hard to beat peak Clements and Winfield.

 

But like I said.......they've had a lot.........they have basically drafted a CB in round 1 every 3-4 years over the past 30.   Elam is the 8th.   Only bust was McKelvin.

 

All the rest got big second contracts........though most were with other teams..........because the Bills always felt they could just draft another in round 1 and plug them right in.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Tre Sighting. 

 

 

[Norcalbillsfan]

16 minutes ago, BuffaloRebound said:

Overpaid by 2 points.  Beane is a bum.  

Jane slater said there were several teams wanting to trade infront of the cowboys, sounds like beane didn't just panic and burn a 4th for no reason.

[TheyCallMeAndy]

1 hour ago, KDIGGZ said:

Kaiir said previously he wants to wear #5. Marquez Stevenson has it now. Does he make the roster though? I'd say unless he wins the returner job he's definitely on the bubble

Right, I think unless Quez gets beat out for the 5th or 6th WR spot, Elam will need to shop for a new number. 32 would be sweet though. 

[YoloinOhio]

That suit is 🔥🔥🔥

[Doc]

1 minute ago, Norcalbillsfan said:

Jane slater said there were several teams wanting to trade infront of the cowboys, sounds like beane didn't just panic and burn a 4th for no reason.

 

No surprise.  I doubt the Ravens were shopping the pick to just the Bills.

 

 

2 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

That suit is 🔥🔥🔥

 

Meh.  Needs a red stripe across it.

[jkeerie]

Greg Cosell was talking with Brown and Tasker on One Bills Live and was discussing how with Elam's length, he could cover the TEs the Bills have to face.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

4 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

That suit is 🔥🔥🔥

your getting slow old man.

 

[The Dean]

13 hours ago, Governor said:

We likely had 4 CB’s on our board and traded up to secure the 4th ranked one. I don’t think anyone could say he was BPA. 
 

Beane’s job was to come home with a CB. He did that.  You’re throwing around phrases like “we got our guy” and that’s just silly.

 

 

The Bills surely had MORE than 4 CBs on their board.  I'm sure their board has CBs ranked by round throughout the draft.  They may have had 4 CBs they liked "best" maybe fewer, maybe more.  But being "on the board" doesn't mean those CBs were equal and interchangeable. I'm sure they considered the drop (according to their rankings) or why else move down?  Beane came out and admitted that was his last player with a 1st round pick. So BPA also.

 

What evidence do you have to suggest something different?

 

Some here seem to think Beane made the trade just to trade. That seems preposterous. 

Edited April 29, 2022 by The Dean

[Sestak4ever]

11 minutes ago, Norcalbillsfan said:

Jane slater said there were several teams wanting to trade infront of the cowboys, sounds like beane didn't just panic and burn a 4th for no reason.

I would bet that the Bills were aware of other teams that coveted Elam and were attempting to move up for him. Good for the Bills to make the move and get your man!

[The Dean]

1 minute ago, Sestak4ever said:

I would bet that the Bills were aware of other teams that coveted Elam and were attempting to move up for him. Good for the Bills to make the move and get your man!

 

From what I heard, Beane didn't suggest he "knew" anything, but was concerned a team might grab him before he dropped.  So maybe the teams next in line or maybe a draft down. He didn't think it was worth the risk to wait.  One can question if he was correct, of course.  But nobody knows because it didn't happen.

[Royale with Cheese]

18 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

That suit is 🔥🔥🔥

 

He's slender like Levi Wallace.  

[nucci]

17 minutes ago, jkeerie said:

Greg Cosell was talking with Brown and Tasker on One Bills Live and was discussing how with Elam's length, he could cover the TEs the Bills have to face.

you mean height?

[ExWNYer]

6 minutes ago, The Dean said:

 

 

The Bills surely had MORE than 4 CBs on their board.  I'm sure their board has CBs ranked by round throughout the draft.  They may have had 4 CBs they liked "best" maybe fewer, maybe more.  But being "on the board" doesn't mean those CBs were equal and interchangeable. I'm sure they considered the drop (according to their rankings) or why else move down?  Beane came out and admitted that was his last player with a 1st round pick. So BPA also.

 

What evidence do you have to suggest something different?

 

Some here seem to think Beane made the trade just to trade. That seems preposterous. 

 

There is nothing to be gained in engaging with the chronically myopic and deliberately obtuse.

[jkeerie]

Just now, nucci said:

you mean height?

Height and arm length.

[SCBills]

If I had to guess, the Bills had Sauce, Stingley, Elam and McDuffie with RD1 grades at CB. 
 

I have no idea who they had rated higher.. Elam or McDuffie.  Elam seems to check all the boxes the Bills want in high picks aka really young and really athletic.  Beane wanted to add speed to the secondary and Elam can fly.  
 

Regardless, I’m guessing they would have taken either of them at 25.  
 

Then KC traded up and took one of them off the board.  With only one guy left with a RD1 grade, they weren’t going to play around waiting for a guy in a draft that was off the rails with trades.  

[Doc]

21 minutes ago, The Dean said:

The Bills surely had MORE than 4 CBs on their board.  I'm sure their board has CBs ranked by round throughout the draft.  They may have had 4 CBs they liked "best" maybe fewer, maybe more.  But being "on the board" doesn't mean those CBs were equal and interchangeable. I'm sure they considered the drop (according to their rankings) or why else move down?  Beane came out and admitted that was his last player with a 1st round pick. So BPA also.

 

What evidence do you have to suggest something different?

 

Some here seem to think Beane made the trade just to trade. That seems preposterous. 

 

I'm assuming Gov meant on our 1st round board.  But even still, at that point in the draft, according to them, there weren't any 1st round talents left, so it was BPA.

 

And the Ravens were obviously shopping the 23rd pick to more than just the Bills.  That's common sense.

[Bill from NYC]

What a wonderful first round pick! Now the Bills need to focus even more on another corner, and also a pair of safeties! Josh Allen is pretty good but he has enough weapons and more than enough blocking, so even if we have to trade up again for more defensive backs, I say let’s do it! After all, DBs got us where we are!

GREAT job McLevy!!!!!!!🏈🏈🏈

[Don Otreply]

1 hour ago, BillsFanSD said:

Sure.  Obviously the first round pick is more important than the fourth round pick.  But it would have been nice to have both, and we really should have had both.  That's all.

Should have had both? That would come under the heading of conjecture / opinion, certainly not a point of fact, you me and the deep blue sea, can only guess as to the reasoning behind the trade up circumstances, I will go with Beanes thoughts on this as he was at the point of action, unlike ourselves. 
 

Go Bills!!!

[buffaloboyinATL]

2 minutes ago, Bill from NYC said:

What a wonderful first round pick! Now the Bills need to focus even more on another corner, and also a pair of safeties! Josh Allen is pretty good but he has enough weapons and more than enough blocking, so even if we have to trade up again for more defensive backs, I say let’s do it! After all, DBs got us where we are!

GREAT job McLevy!!!!!!!🏈🏈🏈

lol. I seem to remember you having the occasional rant over the selection of DB's in the first round, in the past.  

[NewEra]

3 minutes ago, buffaloboyinATL said:

lol. I seem to remember you having the occasional rant over the selection of DB's in the first round, in the past.  

You’re thinking of someone else.

[YattaOkasan]

16 hours ago, Cray51 said:

Elam is a better press zone corner than man.  He is going to learn a ton from McD.  Tre is one of the best tackling corners in the league. Elam has character, measurables, AND on field performance.

I love Tre (and this pick) but he is not one of the best tackling corners in the league.  Actually, Levi was the best tackler.  McD typically has below average tackling teams.

7 hours ago, billsbackto81 said:

What else is new 😂

Time will tell. Everyone knows you can't really judge a draft class until you've seen your players perform for at least 3-4 years. Posters here are always saying you can't draft for need, gotta go with BPA. Well Elam was a need. If you go by most if not all prospect rankings he was well behind players like Lloyd, Johnson and Booth. 

 

Elam may very well turn out the best of the bunch and I hope that's what becomes reality. But as of today you can't tell me or anyone else that's the case.

Theres only one prospect ranking that mattered it had Elam as BPA.  Agree time will tell, but he was definitely BPA on Beane's board as he was the last first round grade left.  I think the thing most rankings lack is access to medicals and interviews; as such, they are missing a very important part of the process.

[Bill from NYC]

4 minutes ago, buffaloboyinATL said:

lol. I seem to remember you having the occasional rant over the selection of DB's in the first round, in the past.  

Yeah, this is the new, calm me. I don’t want to get a bad reputation. 😊

[John from Riverside]

1 hour ago, BillsFanSD said:

Sure.  Obviously the first round pick is more important than the fourth round pick.  But it would have been nice to have both, and we really should have had both.  That's all.

....................

[H2o]

[ArtVandalay]

Long term CB is a position of need by the time Elam is mid-prime Tre will most likely be in full decline.  They will work great together for several years in the meantime as long as Elam comes up to speed efficiently. If Elam fully blossoms his big deal will come on after Tre's is reduced hopefully.  

 

As for the player, kid has size and speed,  very different from the undersized or non-high end athletic guys Beane typically goes for.  So I like this from that aspect. Don't know enough about his playing ability to make a call on that but his production in the SEC looks great. 

 

In today's NFL can't have enough corners and I like we are staggering the ages of these guys on the roster. 

 

We need an RB upgrade but it doesn't need to be Rd 1... Walker or Hall Rd 2, let's go.

 

 

[mannc]

1 hour ago, Koufax said:

 

Probably they did not like their third best player left as much as Elam, and if you wait at 25 two players will be gone at 23 and 24 either to the teams with those picks, or someone trading to get ahead of the Bills (and since 23 was available in trade that is clearly a big open door). If they like this player I don't a 4th to move up and get him instead of risking getting stuck with a less valuable player at 25. Adding a 1st round trade up worthy player AND Tre back to our pass defense puts us in better position to stop Mahomes, Burrow, etc, so I like this pick overall.

Don't get me wrong...I like the pick a lot...just not convinced that the move up was necessary.

[Doc]

41 minutes ago, Bill from NYC said:

What a wonderful first round pick! Now the Bills need to focus even more on another corner, and also a pair of safeties! Josh Allen is pretty good but he has enough weapons and more than enough blocking, so even if we have to trade up again for more defensive backs, I say let’s do it! After all, DBs got us where we are!

GREAT job McLevy!!!!!!!🏈🏈🏈

 

There you are.  I was starting to get worried something happened to you bro.

Edited April 29, 2022 by Doc

[John from Riverside]

1 hour ago, The Dean said:

 

From what I heard, Beane didn't suggest he "knew" anything, but was concerned a team might grab him before he dropped.  So maybe the teams next in line or maybe a draft down. He didn't think it was worth the risk to wait.  One can question if he was correct, of course.  But nobody knows because it didn't happen.

Right it is all speculation but just an educated guess

 

- Beane did say he was one of the last 1st round graded players he had

- There were other teams that were attempting trade for that spot

- Looks like they were trying to get in front of Dallas.....so they must have made an educated guess/heard something that Dallas might take him

- Other teams could have been looking to take Elam or another player at that spot (it really doesnt matter which)

[Fan in Chicago]

37 minutes ago, Bill from NYC said:

What a wonderful first round pick! Now the Bills need to focus even more on another corner, and also a pair of safeties! Josh Allen is pretty good but he has enough weapons and more than enough blocking, so even if we have to trade up again for more defensive backs, I say let’s do it! After all, DBs got us where we are!

GREAT job McLevy!!!!!!!🏈🏈🏈

I would be concerned if we walked away tonight without any significant addition (s) to the offense. Imo, if we add an OT, C+G and a fast WR, the draft would already be a success. 

But in reality I expect one O addition and one on D

[YoloinOhio]

 

[Gambit]

Damn bot beat me to it

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by Gambit

[YoloinOhio]

I just want him to snag a game sealing INT so we can refer to it as the Elam Ending like in basketball