ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — We've had this conversation before.
Will Kaiir Elam finally play like a 1st round pick?
There's no need to go too deep into the past, as it's pretty well documented the limited impact Elam's made on the field since being selected 23rd overall in 2022.
It's been a slow transition for Elam and he's been very open about it, whether that's been adjusting to zone concepts after being a press corner at Florida or simply other elements to the Bills defense.
Elam is always seen working after practice, so effort doesn't seem to be part of this equation. He said during OTAs that he's got a new mindset. New defensive coordinator Bobby Babich flat-out said it's a clean slate for Elam.
The most important change must come on the field, which we did see repeatedly throughout the offseason program.
Elam had interceptions that even earned pretty visible reactions from Sean McDermott and Babich.
Of course, there's two pretty cemented corners in front of him on the depth chart in Rasul Douglas and Christian Benford. I wouldn't expect Elam to be able to challenge either for their starting job, but I'm also not sure that's completely necessary to find success and new optimism about his ability to be reliable at this level.
Visible improvement is the goal.
And that's something Kaiir Elam's already well on his path through the spring.