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Former Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott was a fourth-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, but that hasn’t prevented him from tearing through the NFL en route to a 13-2 record and an NFC East title with the Dallas Cowboys in his rookie season.
Could there be another player like Prescott to arise from the later rounds of the 2017 draft?
NFL.com draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah polled five executives for their opinion on the upcoming class, and most of them had different choices on who could be the next Prescott — but one went with Ole Miss QB Chad Kelly.
Here’s what the anonymous executive had to say:
Executive 1: Ole Miss’ Chad Kelly
“I’m not a fan of this QB class, but I think Chad Kelly could be a value pick with some upside.”
At the end of the article, Jeremiah chimed in with his two cents:
“(Cal’s) Davis Webb and Kelly are the two most interesting players, to me. Both guys have big-time arms, the ability to avoid pressure and big sturdy frames,” he wrote. “Kelly won’t be able to participate in the Senior Bowl because of an injury, and that could open the door for Webb to really stand out from the group.
“At the beginning of the year, I thought Webb would get picked in that Cousins/Prescott area of the draft. However, as we get closer to the spring, it’s starting to look like he could be long gone by that portion of the draft.”
Kelly tossed for 2,758 yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions (with another 332 yards and five scores as a runner) in nine games before sustaining a season-ending ACL injury.
CBS Sports ranks Kelly as the fifth-best quarterback prospect in his class, projecting him to be taken somewhere in the third or fourth round come late April.
Tyler Waddell is a member of the Saturday Down South news team. He brings over five years of professional journalism experience and is closing in on a Bachelor's in sports management. Follow him on Twitter (@Tyler_Waddell).
