Kaiir Elam CB Florida | NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
Kaiir Elam CB Florida
NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
Last Updated: 12/30/2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Draft Year: 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
40 time: 4.39 seconds (86%*) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Age: 22.0 DOB: 05/05/2001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
*Percentile calculated on how any given stat would rank at the NFL combine
historically in the player's position group (Higher value represents better perfomance).
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NFL Combine & Pro-Day Results |
Last Updated: 12/30/2021 | |
Draft Year: 2022 | |
40 time: 4.39 seconds (86%*) | |
Age: 22.0 DOB: 05/05/2001 | |
*Percentile calculated on how any given stat would rank at the NFL combine
historically in the player's position group (Higher value represents better perfomance).
| |
NFL Combine & Pro-Day Results |
Overall Rating: | 89.8 / 100 | |
---|---|---|
Game performance weighted rating | ||
QB Rating When targeted: | 71.1 | |
Tackling: |
|
65% |
Run Defense: |
|
81% |
Coverage: |
|
73% |
Zone: |
|
74% |
Man/Press: |
|
71% |
DRAFT PROJECTION:
1st - Mid
Overall Rank:
#23
Position rank:
#6
|
||
College Games: 33 College Snaps: 1678 | ||
![]() ![]()
College Combine Results
|
||
OVR Rank:
#32
Pos Rank:
#4
State Rank:
#7
College Combine Results
|
||
![]() ![]() |
||
![]() ![]() |

Draft Profile: Bio
Kaiir Elam is the nephew of former Ravens 2013 first-round pick safety Matt Elam. His father, Abram Elam, played safety at Notre Dame and Kent State (2004-2005) before going on to have a seven-year NFL career. He was a four-star recruit coming out of high school and opted to join Florida where he played in 8 games as a freshman logging 2 interceptions and 4 deflections leading to All-SEC honors. In 2020 he continued and played well while chalking up 2 interceptions and 11 passes defended in 12 starts. This led to him receiving accolades of the Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List and Preseason All-SEC Second Team.He entered his 2021 junior season with high expectations, and while injuries have limited him, he made 27 tackles, a pick, and five pass breakups.
Scouting Report: Strengths
- Ideal height for the position 6’2″, 193 pounds but still moves with nice agility and quickness
- A former receiver that skills translate to the defensive side of the game - has a great vertical jump combined with a natural timing
- Tracks the ball well in the air - had an interception and three passes broken up last season, and his 13 pass breakups in 2020 tied for the fourth-most in the country
- Very aggressive in coverage with good top-end speed - ran track in high school and it shows
- Aware in coverage - has a natural feeling for the game
- While built more like a cornerback than a safety, he has the vision, range, hitting ability, and ball skills teams want at free safety in the pass-heavy NFL.
- Closes to the ball quite well and possesses the hands to snatch throws away from his frame.
- Good instincts and anticipation reads and reacts with discipline. Dangerous with the ball in his hands.
- Aware in the red zone, stays on the backline to take away fade throws. Capable of making quarterbacks pay for late throws.
Scouting Report: Weaknesses
- Has been inconsistent and was beaten for two long TDs in 2020
- Never quite played up to his athletic ability - over the past two seasons we have only given him an average man coverage rating
- Sprained his knee that led to missing games - will need to check out medically
- Inconsistent getting off of blocks - needs to improve his footwork.
- Takes questionable angles to tackles and will overshoot by being overly aggressive
- Elam has the height/weight/speed to match up well against bigger players on the outside but quicker players on the outside will be a concern for him.
- Questionable technique and he gets lazy with fundamentals, sometimes getting high in his backpedal and will breach the coverage call seeking flashy plays
Scouting Report: Summary
There is no doubt that Elam does have elite athletic ability in terms of speed, quickness, and length - but these traits have often not always translated through into his playing style - and has been a little inconsistent overall. He is still regarded by most scouts as the number two CB in the class but we would be wary of using a super high pick on a player who has suffered from consistency and injury issues and thus regard him as far from a sure thing. Still, he's worthy of a first-day pick and should be looked at as a boom-bust prospect in the 2022 NFL DraftKaiir Elam percentiles vs other Cornerback's (NFL Combine historically - higher value represents better perfomance)
How other scouting services rate Kaiir Elam (Overall Rank)
All Scouts AverageOverall Rank
31.4
All Scouts AveragePosition Rank
6.0