Rapid Grade for Bills Second of Back-to-Back Fourth Round Picks Spent on Linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr

The Buffalo Bills’ best pick of the 2026 NFL Draft came at No. 126 overall, the second of back-to-back selections that netted the Bills a potential immediate contributor in TCU linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr.

Entering the draft, one of the Bills’ most significant needs came at the linebacker position, and the selection of Elarms-Orr gives Buffalo a prospect who can step in and challenge for a starting role in Year 1 of his professional career.

The Bills’ new rookie linebacker joins a unit headlined by the Bills’ former third-round picks Terrel Bernard [2022] and Dorian Williams [2023], both of whom are the team’s slated starters as it stands on Day 3 of the draft. However, with Elarms-Orr entering the fold, that could change, as his skill set points toward a rapid progression at the NFL level.

Standing 6-foot-2 and weighing 234 pounds, the former Horned Frogs LB is a freak athlete, recording an athleticism score of 86 at the NFL Scouting Combine, which was third-best among players at his position. He ran a 4.47 40-yard dash and recorded a 40-inch vertical jump. He is just the second linebacker the Bills have drafted over the past three seasons, with the last being fifth-round selection Edefuan Ulofoshio, who is no longer with the team.

Ascending player

TCU linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr (LB06) runs the 40-yard dash during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Elarms-Orr is coming off a big year for TCU in which he recorded career-best marks in tackles [130], tackles for loss [11] and sacks [4]. The Bills struggled at the linebacker position in both run support and pass coverage a season ago, as Buffalo received the 20th-best Pro Football Focus defensive grade in 2025. But under new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, Elarms-Orr’s sideline-to-sideline ability should fit right in and help the Bills make some much-needed changes.

Elarms-Orr could be a year or two away from ascending to a top-level talent, but his traits jump off the screen when you watch him play and at this point of the draft, when in doubt, draft the traits. And that’s what the Bills did with Elarms-Orr’s selection.

After starting the draft by making five different trades around the draft board, which resulted in a few questionable picks, Buffalo seems to have steadied the ship as they approach the late rounds.

Final grade: A+

It really doesn’t get much better than this pick. Elarms-Orr was on my radar from the very start of the predraft process, during which he met with the Bills. So clearly, Buffalo had a plan in place to land Elarms-Orr, and they executed it to perfection, picking him at the back end of his draft projection, which had him going anywhere from mid-round-three to late-round-four.

Bernard and Williams won’t be easy to unseat, given their experience and veteran presence in the locker room. However, neither player inspired a boatload of confidence based on their 2025 production.

Elarms-Orr is a player who excites and is well-positioned to overtake one or both of those players in due time.

A position of need, a quality player, an athletic profile: Elarms-Orr’s selection checks all of the boxes, and it makes him the perfect pick for the Bills this year.

The Bills’ 2026 draft slate is not yet complete, as they still have two fifth-round picks [167, 168] and pick No. 220 in the seventh round to round things out.

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