Kaiir Elam in lock down mode in first practice

[Woodman]

https://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffa...-practice.html

Orchard Park, N.Y. — Before Khalil Shakir and Kaiir Elam were teammate with the Buffalo Bills, they trained together down in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. at XPE Sports in preparation for the NFL Draft.

They didn’t talk much. Shakir is a wide receiver and Elam is a cornerback. The two future teammates were busy getting their bodies right in an effort to perform during draft season and enter the NFL ready from the jump.

[Woodman]

1. Elam locks down rookie receivers

Whenever Elam and Shakir got matched up with one another during practice, everybody was watching that side of the field. On one particular play during 11-on-11, tryout quarterback Breylin Smith rolled to his right and immediately eyed down the matchup. Shakir turned on the jets and found himself locked up one on one with Elam, who wouldn’t relent. The two were tied up the whole route and Smith eventually was forced to scramble to his right as Shakir couldn’t separate.

[Woodman]

2. Shakir gets open and makes plays

Shakir was the most active receiver on the day. He had a bunch of different looks and made a few grabs throughout practice. His best play came over the middle when he beat his man gave Smith enough room to fire one in in between two defenders. Shakir’s first step is noticeably difficult to contend with and on this play he was putting pressure on the back side of the coverage almost instantly. Smith recognized, rolled a smidge to his left, and fired a strong pass. Shakir hauled it in and turned up field.

After practice, Shakir said that he’s been talking to Gabriel Davis about what it’s like to play in Buffalo and in the Bills’ offense. He said he didn’t want to put up a front and act like he still isn’t amazed that he gets to play alongside Stefon Diggs.

[Woodman]

3. James Cook burst impossible to miss

Cook took plenty of reps during individual passing drills, but the rookie running back got to handle the rock out of the backfield once team drills began. On one of the final plays, Cook cut one time to his left and exploded through a crowd at the line of scrimmage. Before linebacker Terrel Bernard and Baylon Spector even knew what happened, Cook was by the pack of defenders in the area and on his way to the end zone. Cook’s speed was visible all over the field. It was just practice but he showed some patience and vision in his runs. He had another one earlier that he broke off.

[Woodman]

4. Don’t forget about Olaijah Griffin

Griffin was one of three “veterans” participating in rookie camp along with tight end Quintin Morris and guard Jacob Capra. Griffin was energetic on the field and showing some of his younger teammates how it’s done in between the line. His best play matched up with Malik Williams. Griffin had sticky coverage on Williams as Smith tried to wait for an opening that never came. Smith’s eyes were glued the whole way on Williams and when he finally pulled the trigger, Griffin sprinted in front of the pass and knocked it down. Griffin spent last season on the Bills’ practice squad and is a wildcard name to watch during training camp.

[Woodman]

5. Neil Pau’u vs. Christian Benford fun battle

Pau’u and Benford had a few battles on the day but the most memorable came during 11-on-11. Benford had perfect coverage as Pau’u ran his route and tried to gain separation. When he didn’t get any, Smith decided to let his 6-foot-4, 215-pound receiver have a chance at a 50/50 ball. Benford made a play on the ball as it was thrown but he couldn’t knock it away and his attempt to rip the ball out failed as Pau’u came out of the exchange with the ball and on his way to the end zone.

[Woodman]

Sounds like we may have a few ballplayers in this group.

[Saratoga Slim]

I'm kinda excited to see if Griffen can make a jump. He was a relatively high profile UDFA signing last year--some of the mockers had him as a mid-round draft pick. Sounds like he's off to a good start.

[Woodman]

I'm kinda excited to see if Griffen can make a jump. He was a relatively high profile UDFA signing last year--some of the mockers had him as a mid-round draft pick. Sounds like he's off to a good start.

It would be great to see.

[OpIv37]

I mean, we did trade up in the first round to take Elam. I would hope he could lock down rookies.

[Woodman]

He played against some current NFL'ers while in the SEC he's gonna be awesome!

[OpIv37]

BTW I should have said this before, but does anyone remember seeing him with Josh Allen in the box at the Sabres' last game?

Allen looked huge, like an NFL player.

Elam is up there in height but he's a beanpole. He looked like a high school basketball player. I'm not worried about it- most guys lack muscle mass when they first come into the league. I just found the contrast interesting.

[Woodman]

That's one of the things they love about him ... length .... this kid is gonna be tough to beat.

[swiper]

Elam at Mini Camp....

Elam picks Allen

The one time Allen did make a mistake it was clearly a mis-communication between him and either Gabriel Davis or Jamison Crowder (I couldn’t tell which). But neither was near the football as rookie cornerback Kaiir Elam saw it headed his way, made a nice adjustment to get under it, and grabbed it with his outstretched hands. The rest of the defense went wild to congratulate him.

It was the first interception I’ve seen from Elam this offseason in any of the offense versus defense periods. Elam has had a nondescript camp, and that’s not a bad thing. I haven’t noticed him making flash plays nor getting beaten. So intercepting Josh Allen on the last day is a great way for him to end his first minicamp.

LINK

[Goobylal]

I really hope Tre can be healthy to start the season.

[Woodman]

I really hope Tre can be healthy to start the season.

That is the target for now.