2022 NFL Draft recruiting rewind: Florida's Kaiir Elam to Buffalo Bills

Florida's Kaiir Elam was a bluechip prospect, but evaluators were split on how high he would climb

Coming out of The Benjamin School (Florida) in the class of 2019, defensive back Kaiir Elam was universally viewed as a bluechip prospect.

While evaluators stopped short of listing him as a future Day 1 pick, he was widely believed to be a future Day 2 pick.

Elam has outperformed those expectations. 

He was selected No. 23 overall by the Buffalo Bills. 

Here's how Elam was rated as a high school prospect:

247Sports

Ranking: 4-star prospect; Nation's No. 74 overall prospect, No. 10 cornerback, No. 9 player in Florida 

Notable: The Under Armour All-American Game selection was listed as a future Day 2 NFL draft pick and compared to Jalen Mills.

Rivals

Ranking: 4-star prospect; Nation's No. 63 overall prospect, No. 9 cornerback, No. 10 player in Florida 

Notable: Rivals viewed 247Sports quite similarly to 247Sports, projecting Elam as a future NFL Draft pick, but stopping short of a rating that would make him a slam-dunk future Day 1 pick.

ESPN

Ranking: 4-star prospect; Nation's No. 59 overall prospect, No. 4 athlete, No. 7 player in Florida

Notable: ESPN listed Elam as an "athlete," and not a cornerback.

But the site believed he had a bright future regardless, making him a top-60 prospect nationally. 

Senior season highlights