Bills coaching staff offers recent first-round draft pick CB a ‘clean slate’

Kaiir Elam’s NFL career hasn’t gotten off to a great start as he — or the Buffalo faithful — expected.

Expectations were high for the former Florida Gator after the Bills traded up to select him with the 23rd overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Although it wasn’t a foolproof plan suited to the NFL’s zone defense, Buffalo, many expected the team to be able to mold the athletic defensive back into a special player, its long-time starter opposite stalwart Tre’Davious White.

This hasn’t been the case for two seasons. He failed to secure an immediate starting role in the Bills secondary despite White missing the first few weeks of the 2022 season while rehabbing a torn ACL; he was usurped on the depth chart by fellow rookie Christian Benford, who was selected 162 picks after Elam in the 2022 draft. He would appear in 13 games in his rookie year, making 41 tackles and two interceptions.

He had a penchant for making timely plays as a rookie — namely his Week 6 interception against Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes — but mistakes and untimely penalties prevented him from gaining confidence total of Buffalo’s coaching staff. An injury would limit him to just three regular season games throughout the 2023 season, and his up-and-down performances continued when he was pushed into the lineup in the playoffs; he, again, was inconsistent, but made big plays when needed, scoring an interception in the team’s Wild Card playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Related: 3 Fascinating Storylines to Watch at the Bills’ 2024 NFL Minicamp

Elam would be the first to tell you that his career hasn’t started exactly the way he would have liked, but it’s too early to completely write off the 23-year-old. There is too much natural talent and ability at defenseman to be cast aside after just 16 regular season games. That sentiment seems to be shared by Buffalo’s defensive coaching staff; While speaking to reporters last week, new defensive coordinator Bobby Babich spoke about Elam, implying that his past struggles have no bearing on his current position.

“Kaiir, literally, the same way I go about my business – the only thing we asked him to do is go repetition by repetition, exercise by exercise, minute by minute,” Babich said. “Clean slate for Kaiir. Working extremely hard, like all of our players, there are a lot of moments of growth, and there are moments of adversity in what you do or in executing projects where you have to get better at certain things. And it’s everyone on our defense, but he works extremely hard.

“I think his mindset is where it needs to be, and (cornerbacks) coach (Jahmile) Addae (and safeties) coach (Joe) Danna, they do a great job fine-tuning the little things with him where we know he needs to improve, literally minute by minute, exercise by exercise. We’re not trying to broaden our focus, we’re trying to focus on certain things.

Elam, although he doesn’t project as a starter for the Bills until his third season, still plays a fairly important role as the team’s primary cornerback behind Benford and Rasul Douglas – he’s injured, a wink, far from being pushed into a starting point. If he is able to take advantage of the “clean slate” offered by Buffalo’s coaches and regain their trust, he could reach the heights previously expected of him if given the opportunity.