ESPN says recent first-round pick was Bills’ most surprising player at minicamp

Kaiir Elam currently stands out as a wild card in a Buffalo Bills secondary that has long been defined by continuity and consistent high-level play.

The team has largely deployed the same defensive backfield since head coach Sean McDermott took the reins during the 2017 NFL season: Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer manned the safety positions while Tre’Davious White served of lockdown cornerbacks, with a revolving door of players starting. in front of him on the border over the years. The team attempted to end that door by trading up to select Elam, then an athletic defensive back for the Florida Gators, in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft; The plan, thus far, has not come to fruition, as the 23-year-old has only appeared in 16 career regular season games over the past two years and has largely struggled to win the confidence from Buffalo’s coaching staff given his aggressiveness.

The Bills revamped their secondary in the 2024 offseason, moving on from Hyde, Poyer and White in an effort to get younger throughout the unit. These decisions did not necessarily disrupt the team’s plans at cornerback (Rasul Douglas and Christian Benford closed the 2023 campaign as the team’s starters and project again as running backs in 2024), but the maneuvers offer Elam a path forward. playing the role of the team’s primary depth corner.

The third-year defenseman appears to be off to a good start. In a recent article featuring a player from each team who impressed during minicamp, ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg praised Elam, noting that he showed big improvements throughout spring practice.

“Elam looked like he took a step forward and stood out throughout the offseason, including with multiple interceptions,” Getzenberg wrote. “The 2022 first-round pick was a backup for the majority of his first two years, with injuries playing a role. He now has a new coaching job in Jahmile Addae and has had plenty of time on the field in the offseason with cornerback Rasul Douglas missing from the team’s voluntary sessions and corner Christian Benford excused from the obligatory minicamp for a family problem. Elam has a big camp ahead of him to continue to show what he can do with Douglas and Benford as the favorites to start.

Related: Bills land former Top 3 pick in 2022 NFL overhaul

Elam stood out as one of Buffalo’s strongest and most improved defenders at minicamp, building a solid foundation upon which he hopes to build a stellar training camp. It will take a pretty strong summer for the former first-round pick to usurp one of Douglas or Benford on the depth chart, but that’s not a glaring suggestion given his obvious talent; he’s just two years away from being the 23rd overall pick in the NFL Draft, after all.

That said, the Bills don’t necessarily expect Elam to get a starting job, which perhaps makes his situation even more advantageous. There are no longer sky-high expectations attached to defensive back – the team simply wants him to be a reliable depth option, a role in which he appears capable of thriving. New Buffalo defensive coordinator Bobby Babich recently told reporters that the coaching staff has given Elam a “clean slate,” something the promising defenseman already appears to be taking advantage of.

—Benefit from free bill coverage Buffalo Bills on SI—

More Buffalo Bills news: