2017 NFL Draft: Breaking down Ole Miss QB Chad Kelly

Alabama Tape 2015

Chad Kelly often faded back on his throws and left his receivers out to dry against a vicious defense.

Kelly showed a great sense for the rush in this game. He escaped the rush often with subtle and quick actions.

At the four minute mark in the first quarter Kelly created a first down with his legs, that would be exactly how he would do it at the next level.

Chad overthrew a wide open receiver down field and then followed that up by under-throwing Evan Engram in the end zone that led to a pass interference call– very inconsistent thrower.

Kelly’s passes are got tipped at the line a lot, he will need to work on that with such a short stature.

Kelly plays with a lot of heart. His rushing touchdown got the entire team fired up. Coaches and players will love that in the NFL.

Chad’s miraculous touchdown to start the second half can be seen as a huge negative as he just chucked the ball up to Laquon Treadwell in triple coverage. He trusted his top option, something wide outs will love. Bad read, lucky play, game changer.

Kelly threw a beautiful back shoulder throw to number three off of a quick play action. It is hard to tell if it was designed as a quick read or if he read the safety, but it was man coverage and his guy had an advantage.

Kelly’s pump fake fumble was atrocious. Coaches will not tolerate that.

Kelly followed that up with an absolute dime; delivers the football about 25 yards down the sideline to Treadwell in stride and led him away from contact.

Kelly has a tendency to flick the ball when throwing across the middle of the field. Using less of his footwork and consistent motion is a no–no, but it gets results.

Chad has a very quick release.

For the first time Kelly missed a blitzer coming at him and he got crushed just before the five-minute mark in the third. He showed good hand strength in holding onto ball long enough to throw it for incompletion.

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The very next play Kelly showed off enough arm strength to throw a comeback route from the opposite hash to the sideline.

Kelly then ran into a sack on back-to-back plays to end the third quarter.

Remember when I mentioned in the highlights that he has a seamless transition from tucking the ball to throwing it? That comes into play on his fourth touchdown of the day. At the 12 minute mark in the fourth quarter he baited both the safety and corner to jump early on a run and then tossed it to an open receiver for an easy score. It was very close to being an illegal throw.

Kelly’s last score of the day was a gorgeous deep fade to Treadwell. He threw it high where his guy could get it in man coverage.

The rush flusters Chad into throwing a should be interception with 3:10 left in the game, but the defender drops it. It was a really bad play by Kelly. A solid running game would keep him from forcing throws like that.

Kelly’s first down run right before the two-minute warning was great football IQ and also not what he should be doing. Another result of a poor Rebel rushing attack.