Hating on Ole Miss' Chad Kelly won't stop him from dissecting defenses
For someone who prides themselves on having a complete understanding of what some might refer to as traditional offensive football — power-run concepts, “12,” “13,” and “22 personnel,” schemes deeply rooted in the quick game — what the University of Mississippi has brought to my beloved Southeastern Conference doesn’t always appeal to me.
Sure, lining up in “10 personnel,” spraying the ball all over the yard and working the edges in the run game from a tempo pace is nothing to sneeze at, I just prefer a nice ball-control offense that works in between the tackles while focusing on ways to get the ball to its multiple tight ends.
That’s not to say Mississippi isn’t a physical team.
Actually, quite the contrary, its defense may be the premier unit in all of college football. Moreover, I recognize the type of talent it takes to run the hurry-up, no-huddle style of the Rebels — and others such as Texas A&M.
While teams like the University of Arkansas can afford to have a caretaker at the quarterback position, due to those aforementioned benefits my favorite style of offense provides, the Rebels require a signal-caller of the playmaking variety to truly make their offense pop.
Former starter Bo Wallace, despite how the majority of the media tried to paint it, was a scheme-specific fit for head coach Hugh Freeze’s multiplicative offensive philosophy as he could navigate his read-option principles and manufacture first downs with his feet.
Additionally, his ability to throw on the run opened up the move-the-pocket game, which cut down on the complete-field reads normally associated with such an offense.
He played with a certain je ne sais quoi that was hard to define, but he was a trooper that meant a lot more to the Rebels than many wanted to give him credit for.
But Coach Freeze may have found an even more scheme-specific fit in his brief tenure as the head man in Oxford in Clemson University transfer Chad Kelly, who may be an even more hot button topic than his predecessor.
And that’s saying a lot.
Many are aware of Kelly’s back story so I’ll spare you the family details. However, his prep hype certainly went far beyond family ties.
As a composite 4-star dual-threat prospect out of Buffalo NY., Kelly could’ve virtually gone anywhere but chose the stylings of former Clemson offensive coordinator Chad Morris, who just may be the most innovative offensive mind in the sport.
Coming off his work with one of the, if not the, greatest QBs in Clemson history, Tajh Boyd, many figured it would be a natural transition from the similarly talented signal-callers when Boyd would be lost due to graduation.
But an undoubtedly immature Kelly never got the chance to take the reins as he was unceremoniously dismissed due to conduct detrimental to the team — when he openly lashed out at coaches on numerous occasions.
And in this teardown society in which we live in, anything that’s different is met with a cockeye, for lack of a better term.
His confidence was mistaken for cockiness after he openly challenged his future teammate Cole Stoudt in an ill-advised Tweet. And when the media — and fans — got wind of a rap song one of his friends made about him, aptly titled Chad Kelly, he was immediately painted with a broad brush.
There’s room for all types of personalities in this world and, quite frankly, it’s what makes this place we live in so wonderful.
But I digress; I’m only concerned with what goes on between those white lines.
And when it comes to that, we may have a new Sheriff in town in the great city of Oxford.
Arm-Talent/Athleticism/Toughness
Ryan Buchanan and DeVante Kincade may end up being viable options for Ole Miss, however, Kelly is the most talented QB on the roster at this current junction.
Where Kelly lacks for experience in Freeze’s system, as both of his teammates have a full year of experience on campus, his playmaking ability will undoubtedly cut down on the learning curve.
Not to mention his previous team, East Mississippi Community College, ran very similar concepts to what he will have to navigate with the Rebs.
There’s a ton of rhythm-and-timing concepts throughout Freeze’s outfit where the QB has to make rapid decisions to get the ball into the hands of his targets for some good ‘ol yards after the catch.
Here’s a great look at the polish of Kelly: Look at the spacing in his gather phase combined with his over-the-top delivery. Although Kelly is listed at 6’3″, 220 pounds, very ideal size for a signal-caller with professional prospects, he actually plays to his height with his traditional delivery.
Far too many times we see 3/4 deliveries from even taller QBs causing their passes to be batted down as if they were Russell Wilson’s height.
While we don’t know how a full 3- or 5-step drop might look from Kelly, mostly due to Ole Miss aligning its QBs from the “Gun,” we can see that he does a fantastic job with his gather phase and the point-and-shoot phase of his throw.
On this “Bang 8” route, which went for a TD to tight end Taz Zettergren, Kelly looked off second- and third-level defenders at the onset of his drop back phase, then proceeded to put it on the target, effortlessly, off just a couple of mini hitches.
Wallace naysayers often pointed to his lack of arm strength as a reason for some of his perceived shortcomings, no such thoughts will he had regarding Kelly as he has a very strong arm; he will excel in the vertical portion of Ole Miss’ scheme.
He does a great job at changing his arm angle to accommodate the type of throw needed to complete the pass, and he also throws very well on the run
We know that he’s a fantastic athlete with great ball-handling skills who can navigate the read-option portion of the playbook, and he’s tough enough to get the tough yardage in between the tackles.
Case in point: Kelly took this zone-read jaunt to the house, really showing off just how physical he can be.
Ole Miss has the most talented receiving corps in the nation, and now it can boast, potentially, having one of the better playmakers in the conference at the signal-caller position (again!).
Is it game time, yet?
