Back in April when the Buffalo Bills selected Florida cornerback Kaiir Elam in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft, they thought they were getting the big, physical corner they needed to play opposite Pro Bowler Tre’Davious White.
It’s starting to look like they got all that and more.
Through most of the season, Elam had been dealing with various injuries, and had a middling start to his career. That wasn’t ideal for the Bills, considering White was dealing with injuries of his own. But in his first game back from an ankle injury, Elam came up big, and has performed like a premier corner worthy of his high draft slot.
In the Thanksgiving game against the Detroit Lions, Elam had the opportunity to cover against one of the top offenses in the league, and showed up in a big way. Filling in for a limited White, who played just 16 total snaps, Elam blanketed his receivers. He was only thrown at once, and was able to force an incompletion. On tape, you could see he was quick and loose on the outside, and Lions quarterback Jared Goff looked him off more than once.
If Elam can continue to stay healthy, and build upon the glimpses of greatness that we’ve already seen from this ultra-talented corner, the sky is the limit for him and the rest of the Buffalo secondary.
