Kaiir Elam selected 23rd overall in the 2022 NFL Draft
Kaiir Elam was the first Florida Gators player selected in the 2022 NFL Draft. The Buffalo Bills drafted him Thursday night with the 23rd pick in the first round.
Elam is the 54th Gator selected in the first round in the modern draft era. Only Alabama has more first-round picks than Florida in the SEC.
Elam becomes just the sixth cornerback in school history to get drafted in the opening round and the 10th defensive back overall. His selection makes it seven straight years the Gators’ secondary has produced a draft pick. In that time, 11 total defensive backs have been taken.
Elam is the fourth first-round pick in that group, joining C.J. Henderson (No. 9, 2021), Vernon Hargreaves III (No. 11, 2016) and Keanu Neal (No. 17, 2016). He’s also the first Gators player picked by the Bills since Vosean Joseph in 2019.
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Elam is the 48th Florida defensive back selected in the modern draft era. He will be the only player on the Bills roster from the University of Florida.
Last year, the Gators had eight players that were selected over the three-day event, including tight end Kyle Pitts, wide receiver Kadarius Toney, quarterback Kyle Trask, defensive backs Marco Wilson and Shawn Davis, defensive tackle TJ Slaton and offensive tackle Stone Forsythe.
Scouting Kaiir Elam
Elam spent three seasons starting for the Gators. He started in 26 games over three seasons.
Here’s the scouting report on Elam from NFL.com’s Lance Zierlen:
Strengths
- Desired size, length and strength for press man.
- Well-balanced with ability to crowd and stuff the release.
- Patient feet rarely fall for release fakes.
- Able to swivel hips and pursue with fluidity.
- Mirrors shifting routes with basketball agility.
- Rarely bites on the cheese against double moves.
- Allows receiver to close the cushion for him in Cover 3 and quarters coverage.
- Squeezes deep sideline routes with physicality.
- Contested catches are typically tilted in his favor.
- Solid transition quickness to plant and drive on the throw.
- Some improvement in his tackling on 2021 tape.
Weakesses
- Loses his leverage unnecessarily.
- Allows a little too much clearance early in the route.
- Needs better open-and-sprint timing when squatting underneath.
- Vertical specialists can overtake and stack him.
- Inconsistent digesting route combinations.
- Too much panic and grab in his 2021 tape.
- Can improve his eye balance between the man and the ball.
- Doesn’t play to his size in run support duties.
- Inconsistent coming to balance as open-field tackler.
