Mel Kiper moved Kaiir Elam up his board after their talk, predicted him to Buffalo

On3 imageby:Zach Abolverdi•04/29/22•

ZachAbolverdi

When ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. released his mock draft two weeks ago, he did not include Florida’s Kaiir Elam in the first round.

He predicted Elam to get selected 35th overall in the second round by the Cincinatti Bengals.

Kiper also had him ranked as the No. 6 cornerback on his Big Board at the time, behind Sauce Gardner, Derek Stingley, Trent McDuffie, Andrew Booth and Kyler Gordon.

When Elam appeared on the Dari and Mel Show last Saturday, he made sure to put Kiper on the spot.

“Kaiir Elam came on the radio with me and Dari Nowkhah,” Kiper recalled, “and he said, ‘Hey Mel, why aren’t I the No. 1 corner?’ I went up against [Ja’Marr] Chase, I went up against [Treylon] Burks, I went up against Jameson Williams. I went up against all these great receivers in my career and I did a heck of a job.’ So, he thinks he’s a lockdown corner.”

Apparently, Elam’s argument was convincing.

In Kiper’s final rankings this week, he kept his top three corners the same but moved Elam up his Big Board and projected him as a first-round pick.

When Kiper released his final mock draft on Thursday, he had Elam 10 spots higher and predicted him to get selected 25th overall by … Buffalo.

Kiper was right on about the Bills, who traded up two spots to add UF’s star cornerback to their secondary with the 23rd pick.

After the selection Thursday night, Kiper revealed that he projected Elam higher this week because of their interview on the Dari and Mel Show.

“I tell you what, I listened to him, and you know what I told him (Wednesday) when I talked to him? ‘Kaiir, I’m moving you up a little bit.’ Because he was an impressive kid to talk to. He does not lack in confidence,” Kiper said during the ESPN broadcast.

Kiper evaluates Kaiir Elam

The ESPN draft analyst also gave his evaluation of Elam.

“He’s 6-1.5, 191 pounds. He ran a 4.39. He did not play as well this year, had a knee sprain against Alabama, missed a couple games, came back from that knee sprain, got a little grabby in coverage. Didn’t play nearly as well as he did in 2020 where he was making plays on the ball, and he was one of the elite corners in college football.

“Buffalo Bills are figuring, hey, we can get this guy where he’s going to have a full season healthy, play like he did in 2020 and he can be that impact corner. I thought maybe they would go running back, but corner was their pressing need. McDuffie was the third corner and it’s a mixed bag on a lot of these corners after Kaiir Elam.”

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