Kaleb
Elarms-Orr.
Kaleb
Elarms-Orr.
TCU· 6'2"· 234 lb· 4.47s 40
R4 · #126 · Buffalo Bills"Downhill thumper with elite production — one-year Big 12 tackling leader whose burst, sideline range, and tackle radius translate, but tackle-form and hand size are real flags."Pre-draft read
This off-ball linebacker operates as a see-ball / get-ball MIKE/WILL, winning with trigger and range. He reads guard/tackle pulls cleanly and times downhill inserts with pace. He beats blocks with quick hands rather than relying on knock-back power. He demonstrates excellent closing burst when chasing outside zone and screen concepts to the sideline, taking decisive rather than hesitant angles in space.
In coverage, he responsibly carries the vertical hook, matches tight end and running back man reps with balanced hips, and accurately buzzes on RPO reads. When blitzing, he times A-gap green-dogs and threads B-gap twists with speed. His pad level rises on stack-and-shed reps at the point of attack, and his hand size impacts wrap tackles, leading to missed tackles on backs with contact balance.
The Buffalo Bills run a traditional nickel 4-3 defense, mixing zone coverage and man blitz principles.
Year 1 rotational Will or Mike, with the range and processing to develop into a three-down stack LB.
Any two-gap 3-4 scheme that consistently asks him to anchor and shed against climbing interior linemen.
Elarms-Orr's exceptional range and processing against the run and pass are ideal for a modern nickel defense, but his outlier small hands present a tackling reliability concern if he cannot finish more consistently.
Senior Bowl 1-on-1 tape — TCU LB Kaleb Elarms-Orr
Senior Bowl 1-on-1s vs backs and tight ends — coverage hips, tackle radius, and jam counters against NFL-level receivers.
Best of Linebackers | 2026 NFL Scouting Combine
Combine field workout reel — the 4.47 forty and 40" vertical that confirmed the sideline range on TCU tape.
Kaleb Elarms-Orr post-draft media session
Post-selection presser after Buffalo took him at 126 — role expectation, McDermott fit, and the special-teams pathway.
This off-ball linebacker projects as a downhill MIKE/WILL, offering teams a player with significant tackling production and sideline-to-sideline range. His movement traits, confirmed by a 4.47 forty-yard dash, allow him to cover ground and make plays from inside the box to the perimeter. Teams are buying a proven tackler who can contribute immediately, particularly in pursuit and coverage disciplines, despite some concerns about his hand size affecting his tackling consistency.
He transferred from California to TCU, turning a rotational 2024 season into a breakout 2025 where he led the Big 12 with 130 tackles, adding 11 TFL and 4 sacks. Prior to this, he had a 92-tackle season in the Pac-12 in 2023. He became the first TCU player since 1995 with back-to-back 15+ tackle games, and received Alamo Bowl MVP honors. This production came after recovering from an ACL tear in 2021 and working his way up through special teams.
The primary concerns for evaluators were his outlier 9-inch hand size, potentially leading to missed tackles, and the fact that his high-level production came in primarily one true starting season. His average arm length was also noted. Despite these flags, consensus placed him as a Day 3 starter-caliber MIKE, and he was drafted in the fourth round.
- 01
Big 12 tackling volume
led the conference with 130 tackles in 2025, with 11 TFLs and 4 sacks, also posting consecutive 15-tackle games.
- 02
Sideline range and closing burst
exhibited a 40-inch vertical, showing up on outside-zone chases and screen pursuits with decisive angles.
- 03
Downhill trigger vs run
consistently reads guard/tackle pull cleanly and times downhill inserts, beating pullers to the spot to gain leverage.
- 04
Coverage awareness
responsibly carries vertical hooks, matches TE/RB man reps with balanced hips, and accurately reads RPO buzz keys at the second level.
- 05
Blitz timing
demonstrates good timing on A-gap green-dog pressures and B-gap twist depth, leading to multiple beat-the-guard scrapes for sacks.
- 01
Hand size
his 9-inch hands are an outlier for an off-ball linebacker, with wrap tackles on backs with good contact balance slipping more often.
- 02
One-year sample
2025 was his only true starting season at a high-major program; 2024 at TCU was rotational, and 2023 Cal tape was in a less competitive conference.
- 03
Pad level in traffic
stack-and-shed reps against pulling guards can ride high, needing better leverage to avoid being washed out on double-team blocks.
- 04
Length is average
his 31.5-inch arm length is functional but not plus, allowing NFL centers and guards to lock him out on scoop blocks in gap schemes.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.47sp50
- Vertical
- 40inp50
- Broad jump
- 124inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.10sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.32sp50
- Bench
- 19repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | California | 12 | 87 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 2024 | TCU | 13 | 54 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | TCU | 13 | 130 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Career | — | 38 | 271 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Undrafted-turned-starter WILL/MIKE whose downhill trigger and blitz timing carve out real snaps despite average length.
Undersized off-ball starter whose sideline range and coverage feel outperform the frame in a modern nickel-heavy defense.
Rangy Day 3 linebacker who cements a core teams role and rotates in on obvious passing downs without holding a full-time job.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Pre-draft context
Elarms-Orr's stock arc was one full year long. Recruited to Cal as a four-star EDGE, he lost his freshman year (2021) to an ACL, spent 2022 on teams, then broke out at Cal in 2023 with 92 tackles before transferring to TCU. A quiet 2024 (54 tk, 0 starts) reset expectations to fifth-round backup. Then 2025 happened: Big 12 tackling lead (130), 11 TFL and 4 sacks, back-to-back 15-tackle Big 12 games (Baylor + West Virginia), an Alamo Bowl MVP against USC, and a Senior Bowl invite. Combine testing (4.47 forty, 40" vertical, 7.10 three-cone) matched the sideline range on tape. The 9" hand size and one-year sample kept him in the Day 3 tier despite Big 12 DPOTW hardware.
NFL fit — Buffalo Bills
Buffalo took him at 126 as a bet on the sideline-to-sideline speed the Bills value at second-level defender. Terrel Bernard and Dorian Williams are penciled in as the 2026 starters; Elarms-Orr's year-one role is core special teams (he was a top Cal teams player earlier in his career) with sub-package snaps as the third linebacker on dime looks. The pathway to real defensive volume is Bernard's injury history and Williams' contested WILL job — Bell's green-dog timing and vertical hook coverage should get him situational third-down snaps quickly.
Retrospective
Too early to grade; he is a rookie with a legitimate special-teams floor and a real developmental path to starting off-ball reps in 2027. The evaluation risk was always the one-year sample plus the tackling-radius questions from small hands, not effort or range. If the arm-tackle misses tighten up and the coverage holds against NFL routes, this looks like a fourth-round steal in a defense that badly needs second-level speed. If not, the ceiling is a core teams captain and quality dime linebacker — which is still fine value at pick #126.