Bills rookie Kaleb Elarms-Orr prides himself on versatility, tackling

GM Brandon Beane and the Bills draft room selected LB Kaleb Elarms-Orr at No. 126 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft in the fourth round. He is the type of off-the-ball linebacker Buffalo has been in the market for in Jim Leonhard's new defensive scheme.

And the do-it-all style player out of TCU believes he can come in and make a difference.

"[The system] definitely fits my profile," Elarms-Orr said to the media. "I pride myself on the versatility of my game. Just being able to be a three-phase, complete linebacker, stop the run, stop the pass, and affect the quarterback. And I feel like I can bring all three of those to the city".

Leonhard's defense — a scheme built on positionless, three-down linebackers who can rush, cover, and defend downhill in the run game — needs versatility.

Elarms-Orr sees himself bringing that and more to Buffalo, a team that had an eye on him early in their evaluation process as the First-Team All-Big 12 selection with 130 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, and 6 QB hits in 2025 at TCU. Plus, he doesn't miss tackles.

"I take a lot of pride in tackling. As linebackers, you can't miss a lot of tackles or at least bad plays," the rookie continued. "I always just try and bring a lot of force, a lot of power into my tackles, striking with the near foot, near shoulder. And always just finish on the ball, always trying to take the ball away at all times and always trying to get the dudes down for minimal gains, always knocking dudes back."

For a Bills defense that has struggled during Beane's tenure to get meaningful stops on crucial downs and against the run on defense and special teams, adding tackling by way of a three-down player with a 130-tackle résumé from a Power-Four conference can only help their cause.