Benford is outplaying 1st rounder Elam in camp (edit) Benford gets start

[That's No Moon]

1 hour ago, hemma said:

I wonder who gets Kupp.

Taron Johnson in the slot

2 minutes ago, Bobby Hooks said:

Sounds like a good problem to have considering Elam looked very sticky on the Colts first stringers. 

sticky, grabby, holdy, illegal contacty

[machine gun kelly]

1 hour ago, MJS said:

Training camp and one preseason game is not enough to make any bold declarations like Benford should be starting over Elam.

 

It looks like Dane Jackson is ahead of both of them anyway, right now.

 

Just have to see how things play out. But Elam was brought in partly because of his elite physical traits, something we were lacking at CB.

 

Excited for Benford and what he can bring to the table as well.

Well said.  Inigo, thanks for posting, but I agree with MJS’s point that Elam is a rare talent.  He was playing Man Only at UF, as he’s learning to play a blend of zone and a faster NFL.

 

I can see our 4 CB’s being Tre, Dane, Elam, and Benford.  I’m omitting Taron as he’s locked into the Nickel spot.

 

what’s interesting is the backup safety jobs.  They want guys who have position flexibility, but also potential starters for next year if they don’t do anything for Poyer, or Hyde the year after.

[whorlnut]

1 hour ago, Allen2Diggs said:

Elam's tackling is one of his biggest weaknesses, so I don't think safety would suit him. I think we keep both active on gameday and rotate them situationally, using Benford more in zone coverage and Elam in press man coverage.

This is what makes the pick even more confusing for me. McDs system calls for keeping receivers in front of the sticks and making solid tackles. Elam is a weak tackler that is grabby in coverage. Still not a fan of the pick, especially when a 6th rounder is getting more pub. But…that’s been sort of the sweet spot in the draft for Beane…4th to 6th round. 

[Mango]

1 hour ago, Beck Water said:

 

Elam was known as a press man corner with a grabby hands issue, while Benford made the team as a zone coverage guy.

It's not a shock that the experienced zone corner would be outplaying the guy who is learning that coverage during pre-season.

 

And I don't think there are reports of Elam being bad. A lot of talks of him flashing during camp. 

But to your point I get the sense that Benford is probably playing faster and more instinctual at the moment, and Elam is thinking a bit even though he is faster. The Bills need a physical press man corner even though we play zone. 

I was thinking the other day that this would be a great situation for a young team trying to build. We are pretty luck that by the time the snow starts falling both these guys are going to be CB3 and CB4 outside. 

[Brand J]

One thing is for sure… if a guy proves he can play CB at a relatively high level, you don’t move him to safety. Good CBs are in high demand.

[Bobby Hooks]

13 minutes ago, That's No Moon said:

Taron Johnson in the slot

sticky, grabby, holdy, illegal contacty

Worked for the Chiefs in the afccg. 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

Benford can also be the future at safety with his ball skills and size. I think they should look at working him in there. 

[John from Riverside]

At the end of the day....the bills might be looking very good at corner for years to come.

[Dopey]

I was very happy when I saw the pick come on the board. I really thought he would compete at a safety spot, but with White recovering, we can use all the CBs we can get now. 

[GunnerBill]

He outplayed him on Sat for sure. Not that Elam was bad. He was mainly good with a couple of dodgy moments. I think Benford was excellent and tbh it comes down to the fact that for me right now he looks more comfortable with the primary zone concepts in this defense.

 

Dane is going to start one side and my prediction is without Tre they will declare the other corner a job share but that Benford will end up with more snaps. Similar to what they did a couple of times when Levi had rough patches (rotating him with Kevin Johnson and Josh Norman). 

[clayboy54]

2 hours ago, FireChans said:

But we need 3 starting CB's.

Why do people forget that we have Taron Johnson, one of the best slot corners today. Dane is fine as he showed when Tre went down. So, you have a choice between Benford and Elam to man the other side. Once Tre does come back, we just might be stacked for awhile.

[Allen2D̶i̶g̶g̶s̶TBD]

32 minutes ago, whorlnut said:

This is what makes the pick even more confusing for me. McDs system calls for keeping receivers in front of the sticks and making solid tackles. Elam is a weak tackler that is grabby in coverage. Still not a fan of the pick, especially when a 6th rounder is getting more pub. But…that’s been sort of the sweet spot in the draft for Beane…4th to 6th round. 

I really wanted Andrew Booth after McDuffie was off the board. I think the Elam pick indicates we will play a lot more man coverage this year.

[Simon Says]

2 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:

I’m not sure I’d say that. It would be a great problem to have if both were playing so great that you didn’t know who to choose.

 

Buffalo’s 1st round pick being outplayed by a late round selection isn’t ideal though.

Is Benford really outplaying Elam? Did someone analyze snaps from the Colts game ,taking into consideration how many were against starters, who tbey were covering,etx. and the fact that Elam is transitioning to zone from man?

[BillsFan4]

Just now, Georgie said:

Is Benford really outplaying Elam?

I don’t know. I was mainly just basing my post on the premise of this thread.

 

Sounds like Elam has been up and down in camp. Like I said in another response, we won’t really know anything until the regular season hits and we see how both do.

[Simon Says]

1 hour ago, Scott7975 said:

Does it matter if he is? They both play for us 😁

 

seems like a good thing to me. 

Well said! I think this situation is not about Elam being " a disappointment"  but more about Beane getting a player like Benford in the 6th round.

[Brand J]

9 minutes ago, Allen2Diggs said:

I really wanted Andrew Booth after McDuffie was off the board. I think the Elam pick indicates we will play a lot more man coverage this year.

Booth was a hugely popular pick on these boards during the draft. Did he run more man or zone at Clemson? It’s interesting the Bills didn’t have a first round grade on him, but that could’ve been due to his injury history.

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

Considering how both have looked, especially vs the Colts is anyone here really mad at the idea of a backfield with Tre White, Dane Jackson, Elam, Benford, Taron Johnson, Hyde, Poyer and Jaquan Johnson?

 

 

[hemma]

11 minutes ago, Georgie said:

Is Benford really outplaying Elam? Did someone analyze snaps from the Colts game ,taking into consideration how many were against starters, who tbey were covering,etx. and the fact that Elam is transitioning to zone from man?

I think YoloinOhio posted a score from Pff that had top the 5 Bills scores — Benford was listed with a fairly high score.  

They probably try to account for some of those parameters.  Don’t know .. been a long time since i had an account.

[Allen2D̶i̶g̶g̶s̶TBD]

7 minutes ago, JayBaller10 said:

Booth was a hugely popular pick on these boards during the draft. Did he run more man or zone at Clemson? It’s interesting the Bills didn’t have a first round grade on him, but that could’ve been due to his injury history.

He was mainly a zone corner who seemed like a perfect fit for our system. I think injuries were the main reason for his fall. It looks like he will be ready for the regular season though.

[jahnyc]

If one of the two of Benford and Elam end up being a starting caliber corner, it all will be okay.  I seem to recall that there were negatives noted for Elam in the pre-draft reviews, and he did seem to experience a significant rise up draft boards as the draft approached.  I also read recently (can't remember where) a review of recent first round CB picks, and it was kind of shocking the number that were already out of the league, on teams other than the teams that drafted them, or performing poorly.