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The Buffalo Bills made several difficult decisions in order to determine their initial 53-man roster for the 2022 NFL season, but there’s still one more big choice the team must make before the NFL season opener on Thursday, September 8 — which rookie will start at left cornerback.
The Bills officially placed Pro Bowler Tre’Davious White on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, which means he won’t be suiting up for at least four weeks, and likely longer as he continues to recover from an ACL tear suffered last season. And when Buffalo traded up to select cornerback Kaiir Elam with their first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, it seemed the team found White’s replacement. Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier announced in June that they expected the 21-year-old Florida alum to start “right away.”
However, the Bills’ sixth-round pick, fellow cornerback Christian Benford, has been so impressive throughout the training camp and preseason that Elam is no longer a lock.
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Bills general manager Brandon Beane said during a press conference on September 1 that just because Benford was drafted later doesn’t mean the Villanova alum can’t play as much or more than Elam. Head coach Sean McDermott said on Tuesday, September 6, just two days before the Bills face the Los Angeles Rams for their primetime Week 1 matchup, that he still wasn’t ready to name either Elam or Benford the starter, per The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia.
While these statements may sound like a knock to the team’s No. 23 overall pick, having two strong candidates for the starting role is not a terrible situation, as they both performed well in the preseason.
Fox Sports AFC East reporter Henry McKenna wrote of the position battle, “First-rounder and Gators product Kaiir Elam has been a standout. But the biggest surprise has been Christian Benford, a sixth-round selection out of Villanova. Benford has arguably played better than Elam in the preseason.
“Over the three weeks of preseason play, Benford allowed one catch for nine yards on two targets in 62 snaps, per Pro Football Focus. He also had a pass breakup. In 59 coverage snaps, Elam faced six targets and allowed three catches for 30 yards. He logged two pass breakups. Neither player allowed a touchdown.”
Frazier Said Buffalo Will ‘Mix Things Up’ With Benford & Elam
While Elam is currently listed as the starting cornerback on the depth chart, nothing is set in stone. However, even if Elam gets the start, it seems the Bills are working on a plan to deploy both rookies against the Rams.
“We’re still going through the process with them,” Frazier said on Monday. “They both had good training camps for us. And we’ll mix it up in the ballgame and see how things are going as the game goes on.”
Regardless of which played is named the starter, the team will be relying on a young corner with no NFL experience to play against the defending Super Champions in their first-ever NFL game. However, Frazier believes the presence of veteran safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer will provide major backup support.
“It’s definitely a positive to have two All-Pro safeties on the back end when you’re going to be playing a rookie corner in a ballgame like this,” Frazier said. “To have guys who’ve done it before, and done it at a high level very successfully, kind of calms the waters a little bit. And they can, in some ways, give that young corner some protection, to where they feel like, ‘I’m not out here alone because of the two guys that really roam in the back end.’ So, I think having those two really helps to buffer some of the angst that you might would have. We’re fortunate to have them.”
There’s No Animosity Between Elam and Benford
Fighting for the same job over the past few months might’ve derailed the possibility of a friendship between Elam and Benford, but the two rookies instead become close friends. “Him being there along my side is something I appreciate and I really don’t take for granted and I thank him for it,” Elam said of Benford, per Rochester First. After practices, “We might go to the indoor or we might watch film together. If he got a question he can ask me.”
“We all know it’s one goal and one common theme and it’s to win every game and to improve,” Elam added.
Benford feels the same way. “We not haters or anything. That’s kind of weird. I know you’re competing but at the end of the day we’re humans. At the end of day, if he gets it, I get it, it’s no bad blood we’re still going to eat together. We’re still going to make sure the main thing is the main thing and the goal is a Super Bowl.”
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