“Some critical battles will be played out in the 2026 NFL Training Camps. These battles will have a direct impact on your IDP rosters and draft position. Multiple teams will watch for key moments in camp and preseason games. This will be the key to setting their depth charts accordingly in all IDP positions.”
Our first key training camp battle – Starting LB for the Buffalo Bills
Dorian Williams vs Kaleb Elarms-Orr
Williams is part of the IDP Training Camp Battles for the Bills
Williams is entering his fourth season with the Bills. He was drafted in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft out of Tulane University. His best year came in 2024 when Matt Milano was injured. Williams played anywhere from 70-90% of the defensive snaps in 12 of their 17 games. For that 2024 season, he had 11 starts and produced 117 tackles (68 solo), 5 tackles for a loss, 2 QB hits, 1 forced fumble, and 3 fumble recoveries. Williams has only missed one game in his first three seasons while starting 22 of his 50 games played.
Last year, in 2025, his defensive snaps were reduced quite a bit. In his 16 games played, nine games had 39% of the defensive snaps played. Even Shaq Thompson played more defensive snaps than Williams. Milano and Terrel Bernard led the way in defensive snaps for the Bills’ linebackers.
The Bills have a new coaching staff this year, and the new defensive coordinator is Jim Leonhard, who came over from the Denver Broncos. The system he will be bringing with him is much different than the previous one. With Williams missing all of the off-season practices, the new coaching staff has to rely on his film in the old defensive scheme.
Elarms-Orr is part of the IDP Training Camp Battles for the Bills
Elarms-Orr is the new kid in town. The rookie was drafted in the fourth round of this past NFL draft out of TCU by the new regime in Buffalo. He had a very nice 4-year college career playing for California and TCU. Elarms-Orr transferred after his sophomore season and played his two final seasons with the TCU Horned Frogs. Elarms-Orr was a highly effective producer in the final three years of college. In those final 3 years combined (47 games), he posted 276 tackles (135 solo), 19 tackles for a loss, 7 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries, 7 passes defensed, and 1 interception.
Now, he gets the chance to show off his talents to the Bills coaching staff with Williams missing all of the field work. Williams hurt his neck in the playoff game against the Denver Broncos. Now, he has been seen on crutches with an unknown injury.
Recap of similarities and differences between Williams and Elarms-Orr
Both players are highly athletic and ran the 40-yard dash in the high 4.4s. Elarms-Orr scored a higher overall RAS (Relative Athletic Score) of 9.33 out of 10.00. In comparison, Williams scored an 8.81 RAS score. Based on Elarms-Orr’s coverage capabilities in college, he seems to have a good grasp of coverage skills and can hold down a three-down role. Williams has the experience advantage, with 50 games played, 22 of which were starts, in the NFL. This will be a very fun battle to watch if Williams can get on the field next month for training camp.
This NFL IDP training camp battle will be worth paying attention to. One of these players will get close to 100% of the defensive snaps, while the other will probably get a lot of the special teams snaps. It will benefit your IDP squad substantially if you have the right Bills linebacker.
Thank you for checking out my NFL IDP Training Camp Battles article! You can read all of my articles on my IDP+ author page. Be sure to follow me on X at @OldMan_FF and @IDP_Plus (we have offense, too), and please consider becoming a subscriber.
