5 Buffalo Bills who could be league award candidates in 2022
Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year: Kaiir Elam
Similar to Offensive Rookie of the Year, it has been a while since the Buffalo Bills have won Defensive Rookie of the Year with linebacker Shane Conlan the last to do it in 1987.
This year the Buffalo Bills’ best chance to win the award likely will be with cornerback Kaiir Elam, who Leslie Frazier is expecting to play a lot almost immediately. The fact that Elam is expected to be a starter almost from the start should help his chances.
In addition, with Tre’Davious White on the other side of the field, opposing quarterbacks should test him often and this could give him the chance to secure a number of interceptions as a rookie.
The biggest challenge for Elam is that cornerbacks have typically not won this award. In fact, since 2000 it has only happened twice with Marcus Peters winning it in 2015 and Marshon Lattimore in 2017.
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This year’s draft class had a number of excellent players on the defensive side of the ball so this award should be very competitive. However, Elam should have plenty of opportunities to make his case this season.