At the conclusion of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills showed the league that they once again focused on upgrading their defense. Not only did the defense look atrocious at times last season, but a new defensive scheme under Jim Leonhard meant that they needed to give him playmakers that best fit his defense.
Out of their ten picks, the Bills drafted six defensive players. One of those players was linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr, who the Bills drafted in the 4th round. Coming out of TCU, Elarms-Orr demonstrated his ability to go sideline-to-sideline and cause havoc. When the Bills drafted him, he most likely became the replacement for Matt Milano.
The linebacker room for the Bills doesn’t look the greatest, especially at depth. However, adding Elarms-Orr might give Buffalo an earlier-than-expected starter and he certainly is looking to be a starter sooner than later.
Kaleb Elarms-Orr sends strong message about what he wants in 2026 season
Elarms-Orr spoke with the media after an OTA practice and Ian Mills from News10NBC shared a brief interview video of Elarms-Orr where Elarms-Orr stated “I wanna be the starter week one.”
“I wanna earn it. I want to be the guy that comes in and earn everybody’s respect and the coaches’ respect. Not only the respect, but the trust, the ability to be the guy we want.” said Elarms-Orr per Mills.
"I wanna be the starter week one."#Bills rookie LB Kaleb Elarms-Orr is positioned to, at the very least, play a lotta snaps this year. The fourth-rounder says he wants to be on first team for week one.
— Ian Mills (@IanMillsTV) June 2, 2026
Jim Leonhard had some praise for the TCU product last week. #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/DXjbFxV5Bu
If there is one thing that is true about this league, it’s that it doesn’t matter where a player gets drafted, or if they got drafted. If they can compete with the best and prove that they are a valuable asset who can help a team, that’s all that matters.
While Brandon Beane has missed on early draft selections, he has a history of acquiring players in mid-to-late rounds who have provided a great impact for the Bills. The biggest example was the 2022 draft class where the Bills acquired players like James Cook, Terrel Bernard, Khalil Shakir, and Christian Benford. All of them received extensions last offseason.
Even though the linebacker position for Buffalo doesn’t look the greatest right now on paper, Elarms-Orr might very well be a diamond in the rough that isn’t getting enough attention. Bills fans shouldn’t be surprised if he not only gets meaningful playing time, but also is eventually a starter at some point this season.
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