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

[Beast]

1 minute ago, Augie said:

 

Wasn’t there talk of moving Benford to safety last year? Looks like Elam needs to figure it out before we can consider that. But maybe in 2024? 

Yeah, there was talk of Benford.

 

I’d hate to at least not try Elam at Safety before they wash their hands of him. He is 6’1” and can play a physical game.

[BananaB]

McD can’t get quality play out of any draft pick. Boogie, Aj and now Elam. Wasting picks. We were lucky Benford stepped up, sadly we had to go pay veterans to rush the passer. Trust the process

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

1 hour ago, 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

 

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.

[Solomon Grundy]

7 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Mildly disappointing but I can’t sign up for the pouting here.  All GMs miss.  Better to miss on an island position than elsewhere on the roster.  Process was sound.  It’s the rest of that draft I take issue with.

Could've chosen Breece Hall with that pick. IJS😎

[Motorin']

14 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Seems to be a massive fail.  
 

 

 

I wouldn't read that much into it. The cb chart is deep. And that's a good thing. 

 

As soon as he gets his chance he'll take it. 

 

 

 

[Beast]

5 minutes ago, BananaB said:

McD can’t get quality play out of any draft pick. Boogie, Aj and now Elam. Wasting picks. We were lucky Benford stepped up, sadly we had to go pay veterans to rush the passer. Trust the process

Clearly the worst coach in football. The guy just doesn’t know defense, does he? 🙄

 

 

[BillsShredder83]

1 hour ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

2nd healthy scratch in a row...time to trade him.

Buy high, sell low, 2 games into year 2!!

We gotta regular Warren Buffet over here!!

Next week I plan to buy a brand new car, drive it off the lot, and sell it a week later! Make sure to spill some pop and crumbs in it, ill let the next owners clean that out.

Fingers crossed i make lots of profits 🤞🤞🤞

[Matt_In_NH]

Hopefully things change but a first round pick who cannot get a jersey in year two has to be in bust territory.  Hopefully he can turn it around.   In his defense his results were on when he played….he will get chances no team stays healthy all year. 

[Virgil]

I have no issues with them drafting Elam.  It was the right call at the time with Tre being out, Wallace leaving, and Benford not existing yet.  
 

I’m frustrated that we haven’t developed or flipped him for something yet.  I’ll say it again, play him in the preseason, let him play man, trade him to the Ravens for a third.   
 

Elam’s value will only go down from this point.  We don’t need him for depth if he’s not even activated.

[NewEra]

11 minutes ago, Motorin' said:

 

I wouldn't read that much into it. The cb chart is deep. And that's a good thing. 

 

As soon as he gets his chance he'll take it. 

 

 

 

Sure, things might work out….As of now….. it’s looks like a massive fail.  1st rd healthy scratches, not good.

 

[nedboy7]

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. 

[BananaB]

10 minutes ago, Beast said:

Clearly the worst coach in football. The guy just doesn’t know defense, does he? 🙄

 

 

He might know defense but their is a problem with scouting if guys we draft high never really help us

[The 9 Isles]

Uhhhh…..

 

this season is starting off pretty miserably. 
 

 

[Rocky Landing]

1 hour ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

Likely won't change until there's an injury ahead of him. They played Benford 100% of the snaps last week and seemed very happy with how he played. Jackson is next man up. 

 

Not ideal for a former 1st rounder, but it's good we have other dudes that stepped up. 

Or if Cam Lewis is injured on a ST play. I doubt that Lewis is ahead of Elam on the defensive depth chart, but as a core STer, that certainly put's him over Elam.

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

2 hours ago, FireChans said:

 

Make sure we tank his value as much as possible before we shop him Beane!

I’m not putting a liability on the field just to give him more value in a hypothetical trade. 

[FireChans]

Just now, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

I’m not putting a liability on the field just to give him more value in a hypothetical trade. 

He doesn’t need to be on the field. He needs to be active lol

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

12 minutes ago, FireChans said:

He doesn’t need to be on the field. He needs to be active lol

What does it matter? He wouldn’t be playing anyways so his value wouldn’t increase plus I am not using a roster spot that could go to a better player. 

[Mr. WEO]

why is this still a thing?

[Rocky Landing]

There are 11 DBs on this roster, and there's no way they're all going to be active on game day. Elam is obviously #4CB, but Cam Lewis is a core STer, and that moves him up the depth chart.

[JaCrispy]

Play action in the bills bread and butter 👍

Offense is clicking 

[RyanC883]

1 hour ago, Solomon Grundy said:

I'm thinking of all the exotic type of defenses you can play having a good press coverage CB. Think of how they used Deion Sanders to shadow the teams best receiver and play zone coverage everywhere else. 

 

yeah, but we don’t have those exotic type plays.  Was my hope when we drafted him, but Frazier and McD not creative enough. 

[DJB]

Not ideal but CB depth always gets tested every year . 
 

yeah I’d much rather have my boy Breece who I was screaming for but here we are . 
 

 

[3rdand12]

4 hours ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

2nd healthy scratch in a row...time to trade him.

and Hamlin ?

[Buffalo Barbarian]

It happens

 

Beane can work a roster but he needs to draft better

 

 

1 hour ago, DJB said:

Not ideal but CB depth always gets tested every year . 
 

yeah I’d much rather have my boy Breece who I was screaming for but here we are . 
 

 

 

Who?

 

 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

16 minutes ago, 3rdand12 said:

and Hamlin ?

Hamlin isn’t a huge surprise, but your second year first rounder not cracking the active list …. If there is any potential trade value at all because a scheme prefers his man2man skill set you look at it. 

[Chaos]

18 minutes ago, 3rdand12 said:

and Hamlin ?

Someone has to be inactive. Who do you want inactive instead of Hamlin?

[BigDingus]

After the first 2 games, I think it's safe to say McDermott knows what he's doing on defense. I feel if Elam was as good as fans hoped, McDermott would be playing him.

 

I know people like to pick apart any mistake the defense makes when we lose, but overall they were really good against the Jets. They held the offense to 16 points, and that was after gifting them 4 turnovers. This week they held the Raiders to 10 points, 240 total yards, Josh Jacobs to -2 rushing yards & had 3 turnovers.

 

Sure, there were 0 sacks, but overall the D looks good. Elam may get a chance at some point, but at this point he's in the Aaron Maybin category to me.

[BillsFan2313]

4 hours ago, Einstein said:

 

The worst part in my opinion is that the Chiefs jumped in front of us to pick Trent McDuffie. Who looks like an absolute stud.

 

GunnerBill and I have debated whether the Bills would have taken McDuffie had the Chiefs not jumped us, but regardless, it’s a bad look.

 

So, either:

 

1) Beane wanted McDuffie but let the Chiefs outmaneuver him.

 

or

 

2) Beane had Elam in front of McDuffie on the draft board, which is probably even worse. 

 

 

 

Beane wanted Mcduffie. Wasn't happy when KC traded up. 

[3rdand12]

3 minutes ago, Chaos said:

Someone has to be inactive. Who do you want inactive instead of Hamlin?

I want all of them on the field
But we mentioned , two weeks deactivated. Hamlin also qualifies

Should he be traded ? Or do he and Elam offer depth for the season and injuries/matchups ?

[FireChans]

9 minutes ago, BigDingus said:

After the first 2 games, I think it's safe to say McDermott knows what he's doing on defense. I feel if Elam was as good as fans hoped, McDermott would be playing him.

 

I know people like to pick apart any mistake the defense makes when we lose, but overall they were really good against the Jets. They held the offense to 16 points, and that was after gifting them 4 turnovers. This week they held the Raiders to 10 points, 240 total yards, Josh Jacobs to -2 rushing yards & had 3 turnovers.

 

Sure, there were 0 sacks, but overall the D looks good. Elam may get a chance at some point, but at this point he's in the Aaron Maybin category to me.

Oh I think Elam isn’t good. That’s kinda the problem lol

[sven233]

Here's the deal.  It stinks that he's inactive.  Obviously, you want your first round pick to play.  But it's a numbers game on gameday and not everyone can be active.  He hasn't earned the right to have that jersey consistently.  But make no mistake about it.  He will play this year.  It's still football and injuries and poor play happen.  He will get a chance and it's up to him what he does with it when the time comes

'

[todd]

It is his second year. Relax. So many people look for a negative angle all the time, and it is really stupid. 

[Punching Bag]

5 hours ago, Draconator said:

We are not paid to coach the Bills. We only complain about them 

 

I am convinced some bad seeds get paid to complain.

[ProcessTruster]

6 hours ago, JayBaller10 said:

He and his scouting team selected him. It’s looking like Beane’s worst 1st round pick and he traded up no less. 

and Benford his best... we got the CB2 we were looking for.  nuf said

[billsfan714]

Im willing to be bet a no.1 pick not dressing in year 2 is pretty rare.  Maybe a bust qb like Manziel.

Edited September 17, 2023 by billsfan714

[Buffalo03]

What is the point of having inactives? So, out of a 53 man roster, 48 players can be active but not the other 5? What sense does that make?

Edited September 17, 2023 by Buffalo03

[Not at the table Karlos]

1 hour ago, sven233 said:

Here's the deal.  It stinks that he's inactive.  Obviously, you want your first round pick to play.  But it's a numbers game on gameday and not everyone can be active.  He hasn't earned the right to have that jersey consistently.  But make no mistake about it.  He will play this year.  It's still football and injuries and poor play happen.  He will get a chance and it's up to him what he does with it when the time comes

'

He'll most likely be active against the Dolphins and follow Tyreek around. I felt last year that they spent most of the year just getting him ready for Hill. He had good games against him. 

[gobills404]

6 hours ago, Joe Ferguson said:

McD will make sure to draft more defense next year. Screw the o-line and wide receivers.

Man you’re gonna be so stoked when you finally find out who we drafted in the first 2 rounds 5 months ago

[RiotAct]

2 hours ago, BigDingus said:

After the first 2 games, I think it's safe to say McDermott knows what he's doing on defense. I feel if Elam was as good as fans hoped, McDermott would be playing him.

 

I know people like to pick apart any mistake the defense makes when we lose, but overall they were really good against the Jets. They held the offense to 16 points, and that was after gifting them 4 turnovers. This week they held the Raiders to 10 points, 240 total yards, Josh Jacobs to -2 rushing yards & had 3 turnovers.

 

Sure, there were 0 sacks, but overall the D looks good. Elam may get a chance at some point, but at this point he's in the Aaron Maybin category to me.

yeah I guess if our defense gives up an average of 13 points per game, I’m good with our first round pick that we traded up for sitting out.  

[Boatdrinks]

52 minutes ago, Buffalo03 said:

What is the point of having inactives? So, out of a 53 man roster, 48 players can be active but not the other 5? What sense does that make?

Competitive balance. One team may have a lot of injuries and another may have none. NFL tries to balance things out a bit.