With the 23rd pick in the 2022 NFL draft, the Buffalo Bills select Florida CB Kaiir Elam.
The Bills traded up with the Ravens to take Elam, the Florida cornerback, who brings the kind of aggressive coverage skills preferred by Sean McDermott and Leslie Frazier. He’s a bit of a work in progress in that his more bully-ball tendencies might be frowned upon by NFL referees, but this is a good pick at a position of need.
GRADE: B.
Height: 6’2″ (90th) Weight: 191 (46th)
40-Yard Dash: 4.39 seconds (84th)
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: N/A
Broad Jump: N/A
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Mark Schofield’s scouting report:
Bio: Kaiir Elam was a four-star prospect coming out of The Benjamin School in North Palm Beach, Florida. While in high school he played both defensive back and wide receiver, and for his career he notched nine interceptions on defense, while adding another 97 catches for 1,490 yards and 15 touchdowns as a receiver. He also played basketball in the winter — averaging almost 12 points per game over his career — and was a sprinter in the spring season.
Elam chose Florida over a number of schools, including Clemson, Georgia, Miami, Notre Dame and Ohio State. He stepped right into the rotation for the Gators as a true freshman in 2019, recording three interceptions while making five starts that year. During the 2020 campaign, Elam started all 12 games and finished the year with a pair of interceptions, and 11 pass breakups.
This past season, Elam started nine games, as he missed three with an injury suffered against Alabama. He finished the year with an interception, and allowed only 18 catches (on 35 targets) for 185 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His father Abram Elam played college football at both Notre Dame and Kent State before spending six years in the NFL as a safety. Elam’s uncle Matt Elam was a first-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2012 draft as a safety, and is currently playing for the Edmonton Elks with the CFL.
Stat to Know: As we will discuss in a moment, press coverage is a strength of Elam’s. He saw 184 press coverage snaps last season, 39th-most among college football cornerbacks according to Pro Football Focus.
Strengths: Teams looking for a press coverage cornerback that can play some bully ball are going to love Elam. He is not afraid to take the fight to receivers and jam them off the line, but can also use his feet and change-of-direction skills to play press-bail technique with confidence.
His patience also stands out when in press alignment. On this snap against Jameson Williams, watch as Elam fights to keep his hips as parallel as possible, waiting for Williams to declare, and then he matches his speed on the vertical route:
This play against South Florida is an example of Elam taking the fight to the receiver. He gets in a solid jam off the snap, but stumbles on the receiver’s break as the offensive player gets in a little shove at the top of his stem. Elam recovers, and makes an interception on an errant throw:
Elam is a press coverage corner with experience against upper-level competition throughout his college career. That should have teams giving him serious consideration in the first round.
Weaknesses: Discipline, both with his hands and his eyes, is where Elam needs to improve. He was flagged for seven penalties in his ten games a year ago, and will need to learn how to balance his physical style of play with how the game is called at the next level.
Take this play against Alabama, where he draws a flag for defensive pass interference:
At first blush, this looks like good coverage. But with both Elam and John Metchie III hand fighting along the route, Elam is the one that gets flagged. You just know this kind of play will be called against him on Sundays.
Eye discipline is another area where Elam can improve. There are moments where he gets caught peeking in the backfield, hoping to jump a route or throw, and then loses track of his receiver or the nearest threat when he is in zone coverage.
Conclusion: His ability in press, coupled with his experience against some of the best receivers that you could see on Saturdays, makes Elam a solid option at the position early in the draft. If he gets a little more disciplined with his eyes and his hands, he can become a solid CB1 for an NFL team.
Comparison: Joe Marino of The Draft Network compared Elam to Carlton Davis, and that is the most apt comparison I have come across.