National Signing Day 2019: Four-star defensive back Kaiir Elam commits to Florida

A handful of years ago, Matt Elam stalked the Florida secondary and changed games by being an indefatigable madman.

Another Elam is going to get a chance to do that with the Gators, too.

Four-star defensive back Kaiir Elam — nephew of Matt and son of fellow NFLer Abram — committed to Florida on Wednesday during an ESPN broadcast, head-faking with a Georgia hat before donning a big smile and a Florida cap and doing a massive Gator Chomp.

Dan Mullen’s tweet celebrating the commitment was ... appropriate.

Kaiir Elam — who like Matt and Abram spent his high school years in Palm Beach County, but went to Palm Beach’s The Benjamin School rather than his uncle’s alma mater, William T. Dwyer, or his father’s, Cardinal Newman — is a four-star, top-50 prospect. Per the 247Sports Composite, he’s the nation’s No. 48 player for the 2019 cycle, which makes him Florida’s second highest-rated recruit behind fellow defensive back Chris Steele.

And the younger Elam might be more likely to play opposite Steele as a corner than alongside him as a safety and slot corner as his uncle did. At 6’1” and 180ish pounds, Elam has good size for the corner position, and his senior-year highlights immediately showcase the long arms and good speed that made him a primary target for Florida and Georgia.

The Gators stayed on Elam throughout his recruiting process, as did Georgia, but the Bulldogs lost primary recruiter Mel Tucker — hired by Colorado as head coach in January — late in the cycle. And Georgia’s poaching of Florida cornerbacks coach Charlton Warren, purportedly a move made with Elam in mind, obviously seems to not have worked out for Kirby Smart, as Elam is heading to Gainesville despite Florida’s new corners coach, Torrian Gray, having only been on staff for less than amonth.

Elam adds to a very deep class of corners for Florida in its 2019 class: He, Steele, Jaydon Hill, and Chester Kimbrough make a fine quartet of players. Elam, who is likely to be the final player to commit to Florida in the 2019 cycle, also bolsters Florida’s chances of landing a top-10 2019 class, boosting it to No. 9 right now per the 247Composite with several hours left to go on National Signing Day.

10 wins, a Peach Bowl rout, and a top-10 recruiting class sure would be a strong first season for Dan Mullen.