Buffalo Bills cornerback Kaiir Elam came into the NFL with a lot of promise as the 23rd overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft out of Florida.
Elam, 22, played in 13 games last season. But he started in just six of those games due to a variety of rookie struggles and injuries.
Despite Elam being a standout football player ever since his days as a youth growing up in Florida, he saw how different the NFL is from anything he experienced previously.
It looked like Elam started to figure things out in the playoffs in 2022 as he began to understand how he is supposed to play within Buffalo’s defensive scheme.
Because of that, there are plenty of people in Elam’s corner, including Pro Football Focus. They are anticipating that he will have a better second season in the NFL and may even break out for the Bills.
Elam recently gave some insight into the difficulties he has experienced in his early days in the league.
“I never struggled in football ever, you know what I mean? It’s my first time ever, like, God just slowed me down and allowed me to really face adversity. Face negativity, face, (a) little injury, nicks and bruises, things like that because since eighth grade on, I always been successful in football, man. Elam said via Spectrum News. “Obviously, I still feel like I’m the best when I’m out there. But I’m trying to make the result show.”
Elam currently is in a three-way battle to start at cornerback across from Tre’Davious White. Through two preseason games it looks as if Dane Jackson has the upperhand on Elam and Christian Benford.
But Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott has yet to name a starter. He’s still leaning on his “we’ll know when we know,” response from earlier in training camp.
There’s still every possibility that Elam is the starter when the Bills open their season against the New York Jets.
For more from Elam, see the attached Spectrum News clip below:
Kaiir Elam's rookie season had many firsts.
How he played was the biggest.
"I never struggled in football ever."
Tomorrow, the #Bills 2022 1st round pick explains what he learned and how he's approaching another fight to find the field. pic.twitter.com/5jIl1Wbxum
— Jon Scott (@JonScottTV) August 23, 2023
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