Elam a healthy scratch part deux (now part TRES) (now part QUATRO)

[LABILLBACKER]

  On 9/17/2023 at 3:38 PM, FrenchConnection said:

It's really a numbers game, more than anything else.

• Benford beat him in camp and played well last week
• Dane Jackson is the veteran 3rd CB
• Cam Lewis offers positional flexibility because he can play CB and safety in a pinch
• Elam doesn't play special teams

But it is at this point a really poor draft pick

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Then teach Elam ST.  I find it hard to believe Cam "stone hands" Lewis is better than Elam. 

[appoo]

  On 9/18/2023 at 3:58 AM, LABILLBACKER said:

Then teach Elam ST.  I find it hard to believe Cam "stone hands" Lewis is better than Elam. 

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so if Hyde & Poyer get dinged who's our deep safety?

[Paup 1995MVP]

  On 9/17/2023 at 4:47 PM, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

 

Agree!

 

My take on it is if Benford wasn't on the team, Elam would at a minimum be active and maybe even starting.  If the Bills had known they were going to draft Benford and he'd be as good as he has turned out to be, I'm sure things would have been done differently.  It's not very often a 6th round pick beats out a 1st rounder particularly from the same draft so that certainly gives this a bad look for the Bills. 

 

Diggs was a 5th round pick.  I'm sure he's jumped over many players drafted higher than him, but because they weren't likely taken in the same draft, it goes unnoticed and all the talk is about how great Diggs is.  With Elam not playing also doesn't give him the in game experience to improve so will take longer.

 

To me though this whole thread should be about how good Benford has become, that to me is the story.

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The other real story is that Tre White looks like he is running in quicksand.  He has nowhere near the burst that he played with before his knee injury.  And that's too bad.  But thats the NFL.  Lets hope he gets better the more he plays.  But Elam can play in the NFL.  Don't write him off yet because he isn't dressing.  It would not shock me if this is Tre's last year with the team.  And then we go Benford Elam and Jackson as our top 3 boundary corners.  

[Beck Water]

  On 9/18/2023 at 3:58 AM, LABILLBACKER said:

Then teach Elam ST.  I find it hard to believe Cam "stone hands" Lewis is better than Elam. 

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He's more versatile.  Lewis can play nickel CB, boundary CB, and S - plus teams.

[DJB]

  On 9/17/2023 at 11:39 PM, appoo said:

Taron Johnson’s contract runs out after next season, and Dane is a RFA after this season. 
 

Kair isnt going anywhere, and I think he’ll get a shot to compete with Taron Johnson - who plays a lot of man - eventually, perhaps next season 

Corners are a lot more valuable than RBs and I think Kair is gonna work out. Too much cover ability to not. 

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Not going to disagree that corners are more valuable than an RB…they are …but I’ve said all along this offense needed an elite RB to take the pressure off Josh and an elite one was staring at us in the face and we passed on him. 
 

It’s only compounding my frustration because Elam is a scratch atm

[Ethan in Cleveland]

  On 9/18/2023 at 9:43 AM, DJB said:

Not going to disagree that corners are more valuable than an RB…they are …but I’ve said all along this offense needed an elite RB to take the pressure off Josh and an elite one was staring at us in the face and we passed on him. 
 

It’s only compounding my frustration because Elam is a scratch atm

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Honest question. Which elite rb did we pass on?

[DJB]

  On 9/18/2023 at 11:36 AM, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Honest question. Which elite rb did we pass on?

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Cmon man don’t play foolish. Breece Hall you know the answer 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

  On 9/18/2023 at 4:13 AM, Paup 1995MVP said:

The other real story is that Tre White looks like he is running in quicksand.  He has nowhere near the burst that he played with before his knee injury.  And that's too bad.  But thats the NFL.  Lets hope he gets better the more he plays.  But Elam can play in the NFL.  Don't write him off yet because he isn't dressing.  It would not shock me if this is Tre's last year with the team.  And then we go Benford Elam and Jackson as our top 3 boundary corners.  

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Completely agree.  Not sure how Tre's contract lines up if they can easily do that in this coming off season or not.  But yeah unless he improves, his time will be somewhat limited.

[SCBills]

The Defense has obviously looked good in the first two weeks against bad and average QB play.  

 

My only concern is speed in the secondary when we play against Miami.  Not so much with Benford or Johnson, but Hyde, Poyer and Tre are going to need to be on point in that matchup and not find themselves chasing guys. 

 

Would be nice to have a CB like Elam to put out there in a matchup like this.

 

 

Edited September 18, 2023 by SCBills

[Breakout Squad]

  On 9/17/2023 at 4:06 PM, PatsFanNH said:

The Bills won’t get much back for him. Maybe a 5th or 6th round pick.. most teams wait for the Bills to cut him next year and then take a flier on him. 

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I’d take a 5th. Anyone else hear about his bad practice and/or work ethic? Heard rumors he’s not putting in the work 

[Brand J]

  On 9/18/2023 at 3:22 PM, Breakout Squad said:

I’d take a 5th. Anyone else hear about his bad practice and/or work ethic? Heard rumors he’s not putting in the work 

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That would be surprising. I’ve heard the opposite, that he puts in a ton and will beat himself up if he’s not producing. Last year early on I remember McD saying Kaiir needs to be easier on himself. Don’t think work ethic is the issue. 

[davefan66]

  On 9/17/2023 at 5:05 PM, nedboy7 said:

They made up for Elam with Benford.  No one thought that was a bad pick at the time.  Not ideal but not the drama some make it out to be. 

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My son and I had the same take talking about him yesterday that the Benford pick makes up for it player for player.

 

Wasting a top pick on a guy who can’t get on the field is definitely a problem.

[QLBillsFan]

The niners say hold my beer 🍺 on fanning up #1 picks🤓

[QLBillsFan]

  On 9/18/2023 at 4:03 PM, davefan66 said:

My son and I had the same take talking about him yesterday that the Benford pick makes up for it player for player.

 

Wasting a top pick on a guy who can’t get on the field is definitely a problem.

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Great points. That’s why you play this out on his rookie deal. He will end up being way more valuable than any trade for a 5th. One injury and he’s contributing.

[HardyBoy]

Is it possible that he's actually number two on the depth chart, just not coming in off the bench during a game?

[SCBills]

  On 9/18/2023 at 4:03 PM, davefan66 said:

My son and I had the same take talking about him yesterday that the Benford pick makes up for it player for player.

 

Wasting a top pick on a guy who can’t get on the field is definitely a problem.

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I don't know if I'm there yet.  

 

Does Benford have the ability to become a CB1?  If so, I'd be inclined to agree.

 

If his ceiling is solid CB2 in our system, then a potential miss on Elam still hurts.  

 

A guy you draft in RD1 typically has traits to become a high end starter.  Elam has those traits, but it hasn't translated yet.  Does Benford?  Maybe, we'll see.. but for this to be a one for one deal, I need to see that ability from Benford.  

 

Ideally Elam figures it out and we have the option (not saying we should, but we "could") of moving off Tre next year, depending on how this year goes for him, and have a much easier job resetting our cap by moving off say... Tre White and Mitch Morse. 

[BillsFan4]

  On 9/17/2023 at 3:46 PM, wppete said:

Wow. Fells like he could be a trade candidate this year. Disappointing. 

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I think it would be tough for the Bills to stomach the dead cap hit.

 

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/kaiir-elam-76877/#:~:text=Kaiir Elam signed a 4,dead cap value of %2411%2C201%2C572.

 

$11M dead cap if he’s traded this year.

 

[FireChans]

  On 9/18/2023 at 5:18 PM, HardyBoy said:

Is it possible that he's actually number two on the depth chart, just not coming in off the bench during a game?

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No.

[PatsFanNH]

  On 9/18/2023 at 3:41 PM, JayBaller10 said:

That would be surprising. I’ve heard the opposite, that he puts in a ton and will beat himself up if he’s not producing. Last year early on I remember McD saying Kaiir needs to be easier on himself. Don’t think work ethic is the issue. 

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Oh I wasn’t talking about him as much as teams don’t usually offer much in trade if they think he is going be cut . And the way they were talking that’s what It sounded like.

[DrDawkinstein]

  On 9/18/2023 at 11:36 AM, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Honest question. Which elite rb did we pass on?

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  On 9/18/2023 at 1:15 PM, DJB said:

Cmon man don’t play foolish. Breece Hall you know the answer 

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Hall the obvious, but even Ken Walker II looks pretty decent in comparison.