Kaleb Elarms-Orr LB TCU |
NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report
| Jersey: #3 PLAY STYLE: MULI-ROLE LB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Updated: 03/23/2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Draft Year: 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FORTY time: 4.47 seconds (96%*) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Age: 22.11 DOB: 08/29/2003 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Jersey: #3 | |
| PLAY STYLE: MULI-ROLE LB | |
| Last Updated: 03/23/2026 | |
| Draft Year: 2026 | |
| Forty time: 4.47 seconds (96%*) | |
| Age: 22.11 DOB: 08/29/2003 | |
| Overall Rating: | 81.3 / 100 | |
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| Average rating of opposition Offense player has faced | ||
| Offense Rating: |
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74% |
| Click the links below to view how player ranks vs other prospects. | ||
| Tackling: |
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89% |
| Pass Rush: |
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72% |
| Run Defense: |
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92% |
| Coverage: |
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79% |
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DRAFT PROJECTION:
6th
Overall Rank:
#181
Position rank:
#18 (LB)
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| College Games: 37 College Snaps: 1899 | ||
ESPN RATING: 80/100
College Combine Results
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247 RATING: 91/100
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RIVALS RATING: 5.6 (92%)
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| Player Comparison* (Similarity level) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Marte Mapu - Sacramento State |
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84% |
| Jack Kiser - Notre Dame |
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84% |
| Jamin Davis - Kentucky |
|
80% |
Drafted: ROUND: 4 - Pick Number: 126 (BUF)
Draft Profile: Bio
Fifteen sacks across his sophomore and junior seasons at Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward, California, were enough to earn Kaleb Elarms-Orr four-star ratings from both ESPN and 247Sports despite COVID wiping out his senior year. He played both linebacker and tight end for the Mariners, and his tape landed him at Cal with offers from programs across the Pac-12. A redshirt year in 2021 due to injury meant his college career got a slow start, and a bench role on special teams in 2022 kept him waiting even longer.When he finally got his shot as a full-time starter in 2023, Elarms-Orr wasted no time establishing himself. He ripped off 92 tackles in 11 games for the Golden Bears, adding an interception, five pass breakups, and six quarterback hurries. That kind of production in the old Pac-12, going up against offenses led by Caleb Williams, Bo Nix, and Michael Penix, was enough to land him Second Team All-Conference honors from the AP and Phil Steele. After the Pac-12 dissolved, Elarms-Orr transferred to TCU for the 2024 season, but found himself stuck behind Namdi Obiazor and Johnny Hodges. He played in all 13 games without starting one, contributing 54 tackles and a couple of sacks while biding his time again.
The 2025 season was the full arrival. Starting every game for the Horned Frogs, Elarms-Orr led the Big 12 in tackles with 130, tacked on 11 tackles for loss, four sacks, and earned First Team All-Big 12 honors. He posted double-digit tackle games six times, including consecutive 15-plus tackle performances against Baylor and West Virginia that hadn't been done by a TCU player since at least 1995. He capped the year by winning Alamo Bowl Defensive MVP with 11 tackles and 1.5 TFLs against USC. A Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week recipient and Senior Bowl invitee, Elarms-Orr declared for the 2026 NFL Draft in January, looking to become the first TCU linebacker drafted since Dee Winters in 2023.
Scouting Report: Strengths
- Legitimate sideline-to-sideline range thanks to above-average long speed and quick-twitch burst out of his stance. Closes on the ball in a hurry.
- Flies downhill against the run with bad intentions. His run defense grading jumped dramatically from 2023 to 2025 as his reads and fits improved within TCU's scheme.
- Tackled with real authority and discipline this past season. Cut his missed tackle rate nearly in half from his Cal days, finishing and wrapping through contact consistently.
- Comfortable and effective as a green dog blitzer. Shows feel for timing his rush, and his 25 total pressures in 2025 came on a relatively modest number of rush attempts.
- Contact balance stands out when he's filling the gap. Uses leverage and a solid base to anchor against lead blockers better than his 235-pound frame suggests.
- Covered a ton of ground in Andy Avalos's defense, logging the most snaps of any Power Four linebacker in 2025. Durability and conditioning are not concerns.
- Tremendous year-over-year growth trajectory. Went from middling overall grades at Cal to strong marks across the board at TCU, suggesting a player still ascending.
- Competes with an edge. His willingness to wait behind established starters at both Cal and TCU without checking out says something about his makeup and competitive drive.
Scouting Report: Weaknesses
- Processing speed against the run remains inconsistent. Gets caught reading the wrong key on misdirection and play-action, losing his gap responsibility too often for a starter.
- Zone coverage is serviceable but nothing more. Allowed a completion rate north of 70% on targets in 2025, and receivers routinely found soft spots in his area.
- Undersized at 235 pounds with a below-average weight profile for the position. Gets swallowed by fullbacks and pulling guards when he can't avoid the block entirely.
- Pursuit angles to the perimeter run hot and cold. He'll take too steep a path and overrun the play, turning what should be a tackle for loss into a cutback lane.
- One interception across nearly 1,900 career defensive snaps is a red flag for ball production in coverage, even accounting for his zone responsibilities.
Scouting Report: Summary
There is a real football player in Elarms-Orr, but the tape tells you he is not a three-down starter at the next level right now. What he does well is attack downhill and fill the run lanes, and the jump he made in run defense from his Cal days to his final year at TCU is legitimately impressive. You can see a player who learned to trust his keys, play with better pad level, and finish through contact. His blitzing ability is a nice wrinkle too. He knows how to set up a rush and hit the gap with good timing, which gives you something to work with on passing downs in specific packages.The problem is everything happening behind him. When offenses spread the field and force him to process in space, the game slows down for the offense, not for him. Play-action still pulls him out of position. His zone drops lack anticipation, and receivers find the open grass around him with too much regularity. The low interception total across three years of significant playing time is not a fluke. He is a below-the-line athlete in coverage, and that limits his role in any defense that asks its linebackers to match up in the passing game.
The path for Elarms-Orr at the next level runs through special teams first and a reserve linebacker role second. He has the speed, the motor, and the toughness to be a core special teams contributor from day one, and his run-stuffing ability gives him a chance to carve out situational defensive snaps in heavy packages or early-down run fits. A scheme that keeps him in the box, limits his coverage exposure, and lets him hunt the ball downhill is where he will find his niche. There is enough here for a roster spot and maybe more, but he needs continued development in his mental processing to earn consistent defensive playing time.
Kaleb Elarms-Orr percentiles vs other Linebackers (NFL Combine historically - higher value represents better perfomance)
How other scouting services rate Kaleb Elarms-Orr (Overall Rank)
All Scouts AverageOverall Rank
151.8
All Scouts AveragePosition Rank
19.0
*Percentile Ranking in Player's Position Group (NFL Combine Historical Data): This percentile reflects how a player's specific statistics rank
in comparison to historical performances at the NFL Combine, specifically within their position group. A higher percentile indicates a better performance.
For instance, being in the 90th percentile for a particular stat means the player outperformed 90% of their peers in that category.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.
*Similarity Percentage: This percentage is calculated based on a comprehensive analysis of various factors, including height, weight, 40-yard dash times, on-field performance statistics, and overall player rating. The analysis is conducted against our database of draft prospects from 2021 to 2023. This similarity score helps in evaluating how closely a current prospect aligns with past prospects. It is important to note, however, that this score reflects similarities based on college production and attributes, and does not account for eventual success or performance in the NFL.