Richard Bauckham's identification of elders vs. disciples and the function of elders in preserving doctrine

Richard Bauckham (Jesus and the Eyewitnesses) argues that "elders" in Papias refers not to the disciples who traveled with Jesus but to those appointed by the disciples to keep doctrine pure. Consistent with 1 Timothy 1 where Paul leaves Timothy in Ephesus to appoint elders to preserve pure teaching. Their function was specifically to prevent doctrinal drift — a direct counter to the community tradition view.