Former Florida cornerback [autotag]Kaiir Elam[/autotag] made the biggest play of his young NFL career on Sunday night during the Buffalo Bills‘ wildcard round win over the Miami Dolphins.
With his team down 24-20, Elam intercepted Skylar Thompson at Miami’s 30-yard line and set up a go-ahead score five snaps late. The Bills went on to win the game 34-31, but it was Elam’s interception that allowed Buffalo to regain the momentum lost at halftime. It’s the rookie’s second career interception after securing his first in Week 5 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Buffalo selected Elam in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft with the No. 23 overall pick. He played three years at Florida and made an impact from Day 1 as a true freshman in a thin secondary. He left the Swamp with 79 career tackles (52 solo), 26 pass deflections, six interceptions and one fumble recovery.
The Wildcard Round was Elam’s best showing in the NFL to date, according to Pro Football Focus. PFF gave him an 88.1 grade on defense and an 88.0 grade in coverage in the night. Prior to the game, Elam had not recorded a single grade above 79.1 in 12 games as a rookie.
The Bills are set to face the Cincinnati Bengals at 3 p.m. EST on Sunday in the Divisional Round. That means a rookie Gator will be advancing to the conference championship with [autotag]Zachary Carter[/autotag] on Cincy.
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