Exposing Myself For My Biggest NFL Draft Whiffs: Kaiir Elam

Exposing Myself For My Biggest NFL Draft Whiffs: Kaiir Elam

Before I begin, let’s just put it out there. I lost my mind when the Ravens drafted Matt Elam instead of Tyrann Mathieu. Kaiir Elam felt like he was going to be different. That, of course, never happened, and both Elam’s turned into massive busts.

I wasn’t a fan of Matt Elam. He was a slow safety that showed zero bite to his game. Kaiir was actually a productive corner and actually looked like an NFL cornerback. I had him ranked as the third best cornerback in the 2022 NFL Draft behind Derek Stingley and Sauce Gardner. That was a mistake…

I don’t want to spend forever on this post, but here’s his draft profile post so you can see why I bought into Kaiir.

It couldn’t have aged worse. Elam didn’t just fail to live up to his first round status. He was passed on the Buffalo depth chart by guys like Christian Benford, who was taken in the 6th round of that same draft. Elam legitimately wouldn’t have made Buffalo’s roster and often times looked unplayable during stretches last year.

In 29 career games thus far, Elam has two interceptions. Both of which came during his rookie season. We just never saw any leap after that.

Honestly, I’m not sure what the lesson is to be learned here. Elam, 6-foot-1, is a long press corner who had the traits to do it. The pure instincts just might not be there to be who he was drafted to be. It is what it is.

2022 NFL Scouting Combine: Cornerback Notes

Elam has since been traded to the Cowboys for a late round pick swap. I still think there’s a chance he can turn into a real contributor for them, but regardless, it’s pretty clear he’s never going to live up to that first round status.

I am sorry for leading you down the wrong path. Just remember, Trey is actually accountable for wrong draft calls. The rest of the industry pretends their bad calls never happened.

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