Tag: Chad Kelly

Former Clemson QB inks with pro team

A former Clemson quarterback has signed with a professional football team. The Toronto Argonauts announced Friday they have signed Chad Kelly, who was aquired by the Argonauts last October as a negotiation list player in a trade with the Edmonton …

A former Clemson quarterback has signed with a professional football team.

The Toronto Argonauts announced Friday they have signed Chad Kelly, who was aquired by the Argonauts last October as a negotiation list player in a trade with the Edmonton Elks.

Kelly was drafted in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos and spent two seasons in Colorado before a two-year stint with Indianapolis from 2019-2020. The 6-foot-2, 216-pounder played four preseason games for the Colts in 2019, starting two, going 54-of-73 (74 percent) for 583 yards and two touchdowns, while adding two touchdowns on the ground.

Kelly began his college career at Clemson in 2012 and redshirted that year before playing one season with the Tigers in 2013, when he went 10-of-17 passing for 58 yards in 55 snaps over five games. After being dismissed from the Clemson football team, he played at East Mississippi Community College in 2014 before transferring to Ole Miss in 2015.

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Former Clemson QB acquired by pro team

A former Clemson quarterback was a part of a trade between two professional teams on Tuesday. The Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League announced they have acquired the negotiation list rights to Chad Kelly as well as a conditional 2022 …

A former Clemson quarterback was a part of a trade between two professional teams on Tuesday.

The Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League announced they have acquired the negotiation list rights to Chad Kelly as well as a conditional 2022 second-round pick in exchange for quarterback Nick Arbuckle in a trade with the Edmonton Elks.

Kelly, 27, was drafted in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos and spent two seasons in Colorado before a two-year stint with Indianapolis from 2019-2020. The 6-foot-2, 216-pounder played four preseason games for the Colts in 2019, starting two, going 54-of-73 (74 percent) for 583 yards and two touchdowns, while adding two touchdowns on the ground.

Kelly began his college career at Clemson in 2012 and redshirted that year before playing one season with the Tigers in 2013, when he went 10-of-17 passing for 58 yards in 55 snaps over five games. After being dismissed from the Clemson football team for conduct detrimental to the team, he played at East Mississippi Community College in 2014 before transferring to Ole Miss in 2015.

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Browns try out 7 players including two quarterbacks

The Browns welcomed 7 free agents in for tryouts including a pair of former Ole Miss QBs

The Cleveland Browns welcomed seven NFL free agents to try out for the team on Monday. It’s an interesting mix of players that includes a pair of quarterbacks.

The quarterbacks who tried out are both from Ole Miss, Jordan Ta’amu and Chad Kelly. They couldn’t be more divergent stylistically, however. Kelly is a strong-armed pocket passer and Ta’amu is a smaller, mobile, rhythm type of QB.

Among the others, former Texans linebacker Dylan Cole stands out. Cole thrived on special teams in Houston and had some decent work at inside LB for the Texans before injuries slowed his career. Wideout Darvin Kidsy is a speedster who has spent time with the Football Team.

The full septet who tried out, per the NFL’s transaction wire:

  • Dylan Cole, LB
  • Jonathon Johnson, WR
  • Chad Kelly, QB
  • Darvin Kidsy, WR
  • T.J. Morrison, CB
  • Jordan Ta’amu, QB
  • Kerrith Whyte, RB

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Report: Bills to hold tryout with QB Chad Kelly

Buffalo Bills to hold tryout with quarterback Chad Kelly.

The Buffalo Bills are bringing in a familiar face for a tryout: Quarterback Chad Kelly.

Nephew of Hall of Famer and former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly, he was released by the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad on Sept. 30. Kelly also spent the 2019 regular season on the Colts’ active roster:

Kelly was the final draft pick in the 2017 NFL Draft otherwise known as Mr. Irrelevant, by the Broncos. But off-field issues which followed Buffalo native through college held him back in Denver as well, leading to his dismissal from the team in 2018.

From there, Kelly signed with the Colts during the 2019 season but was suspended for the first two games of that season for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy for that trespassing charge he was involved in while with the Broncos.

Kelly coming in for a workout is interesting on multiple levels. He’s the nephew of a team legend and has always had boat loads of talent. He won’t surpass Josh Allen anytime soon on the depth chart, but as ESPN’s Field Yates mentions, Kelly could compete for a future backup spot.

But then there’s the curveball. Kelly played for the Colts going back to earlier this season. There’s always the idea that players come in for visits and tryouts in order for teams to grab some intel on upcoming opponents. Connecting some dots, the Bills (13-3) do host the Indianapolis Colts (11-5) on Saturday in a Wild Card matchup.

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Colts sign WR Krishawn Hogan to practice squad, release Chad Kelly

Colts add a WR and release Chad Kelly.

The Indianapolis Colts signed wide receiver Krishawn Hogan to the practice squad and released quarterback Chad Kelly from the practice squad, the team announced Wednesday.

With some injuries hitting the wide receiver room, the Colts brought in Hogan for a workout on Monday. He has experience working with the Colts in Frank Reich’s offense over the last few seasons so it shouldn’t take long for him to get up to speed.

As Parris Campbell is currently sitting on the injured reserve list and Michael Pittman Jr. is expected to miss some time with a leg injury, Hogan could provide solid depth on the practice squad.

Kelly was waived by the Colts at roster cuts and then signed to the practice squad. With Philip Rivers playing at a high level and with Jacoby Brissett and Jacob Eason behind him on the active roster, the Colts have some flexibility at the position to let Kelly go.

It will be interesting if the Colts bring Kelly back at all but for now, it seems the Colts will be rolling with three quarterbacks.

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4 ex-Broncos quarterbacks learn their fates on roster cuts weekend

Former Broncos quarterbacks Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch, Chad Kelly and Brandon Allen failed to make 53-man rosters.

The Denver Broncos waived quarterback Brett Rypien when they trimmed their roster down to 53 players over the weekend. After Rypien cleared waivers, Denver signed him to the 16-man practice squad.

Rypien will serve as the Broncos’ third-string quarterback this season behind starter Drew Lock and backup Jeff Driskel. Four ex-Denver quarterbacks also learned their fates after NFL teams completed roster cuts.

In Pittsburgh, Paxton Lynch was cut by the Steelers and was not re-signed to their practice squad. Mason Rudolph and Joshua Dobbs will serve as the Steelers’ backups behind Ben Roethlisberger. Devlin Hodges will serve as Pittsburgh’s fourth quarterback on the practice squad.

In Tennessee, Trevor Siemian lost the Titans’ backup job to Logan Woodside, who will serve as the No. 2 behind Ryan Tannehill. Siemian was brought back to serve as Tennessee’s No. 3 quarterback on the practice squad.

In Indianapolis, Chad Kelly failed to make the Colts’ 53-man roster but he was brought back on the practice squad. Indy will carry three quarterbacks on the active roster: Philip Rivers, Jacoby Brissett and Jacob Eason.

In Cincinnati, Brandon Allen did not make the Bengals’ 53-man roster but he was also brought back on the practice squad. Joe Burrow will start for Cincy this season and Ryan Finley will serve as QB2.

Two other former Broncos quarterbacks — Kyle Sloter and Kevin Hogan — did not go to training camp with a team and remain unsigned free agents.

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4 takeaways from Colts training camp practice Aug. 14

Takeaways from Colts training camp on Aug. 14.

After roughly two weeks of strength and conditioning working out without pads and helmets trying to get back into playing shape, the Indianapolis Colts threw on the shells at Friday’s training camp practice session.

The Colts are still not permitted to go full bore in practice with full-padded sessions, but they were able to get in some 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 work as they prepare for the start of the regular season, which is officially less than a month away.

Even with the limited training camp due to COVID-19 protocols, there were some interesting takeaways from the notebook of Colts.com writer Andrew Walker, who was there to document it all.

Here are four takeaways from the practice session on Friday, Aug. 14:

Parris Campbell, Philip Rivers connect on a big play

After an injury-marred rookie season that saw Campbell deal with several broken bones and muscle tears, the former second-round pick is in line to have a big sophomore campaign.

That was flashed a bit on Friday when, according to Walker, Campbell and Rivers connected on what would have been a long touchdown down the middle of the field.

Perhaps the biggest offensive play of the day came about midway through practice. Rivers launched a pass deep down the middle of the field to speedy wide receiver Parris Campbell, who was able to get by the covering safety Willis and haul in what would’ve been a long touchdown reception. Campbell gave so many flashes of being a big-play threat in his injury-plagued rookie season last year, and with full health, watch out going into Year 2.

While T.Y. Hilton and Michael Pittman Jr. are expected to lead the wide receiver room, Campbell has the YAC skillset from the slot that can make him an intriguing target for Rivers in the middle of the field.

This is certainly a rapport to keep an eye on as practices become more physical.

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Chad Kelly claims only Lamar Jackson is a faster QB than him

Chad Kelly believes in his speed.

With Madden NFL 21 ratings coming out this week, there have been endless debates as to which attributes for certain players should be higher. Indianapolis Colts quarterback Chad Kelly seems to have a gripe with the perception of his speed.

Though it isn’t clear if his Madden rating stemmed this statement, but Kelly wanted to make it clear he believes he’s one of the fastest quarterbacks in the NFL.

In fact, the Ole Miss product tweeted Saturday that only Baltimore Ravens quarterback and reigning MVP Lamar Jackson is the only signal-caller faster than him.

Kelly has shown his ability to make plays on designed runs and outside of the pocket during his only preseason with the Colts, but being the second-fastest quarterback might be a stretch.

Kelly didn’t run the 40-yard dash so we don’t have any data to back up the argument. But the likes of Cam Newton, Kyler Murray and Taysom Hill probably have a better argument than Kelly.

Kelly will be competing for a roster spot with fourth-round pick Jacob Eason when training camp arrives. But he will likely need more than just his speed to win the role over the rookie.

2020 Colts training camp preview: QB Chad Kelly

Can Chad Kelly win the QB3 role?

The Indianapolis Colts are hoping to return from their summer break on July 28 for training camp, barring any changes. We will be previewing the majority of the roster as the summer progresses.

Name: Chad Kelly
Position: QB
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 216
Age: 26
Free Agent Year: 2021

Background

Kelly joined the Colts quarterback room during the 2019 offseason following a tryout he went through after the draft. After his stint with the Denver Broncos didn’t go as planned thanks to off-field issues and character concerns, Kelly got another chance with Indy.

The “Mr. Irrelevant” of the 2017 NFL Draft has proven to the Colts thus far that he can stay out of trouble off the field. This is evident both in the words they’ve used and the fact that he’s still on the team—the front office has made it clear what kind of short leash he’s on.

Kelly had a solid preseason with the Colts during the 2019 campaign but spent the season on the practice squad.

Expected Role

Kelly will be competing with rookie Jacob Eason, who was taken in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. With Philip Rivers and Jacoby Brissett already entrenched as the starter and backup, respectively, Kelly and Eason will be battling it out for the QB3 role.

2020 Outlook

The first thing Kelly has to make sure of is that he stays out of trouble off the field. If he can do that, he at least has a shot to take the competition with Eason down to the wire during training camp and the preseason.

That being said, if the Colts have to choose between Kelly and Eason, the decision should be pretty easy. The rookie in Eason has a much higher ceiling in the NFL than Kelly does, which is ultimately what it will likely come down to when the roster cuts are made.

Bottom Line

With the Colts more than likely keeping three quarterbacks on the active roster, it will be interesting to see if they keep Kelly around on the practice squad. Regardless, he will be fighting for his NFL career this preseason, especially with their being no guarantees for another chance around the league.

Colts backup QB room ranked 4th in NFL

Jacoby Brissett headlines the Colts’ backup QB room.

The Indianapolis Colts only have one quarterback under contract through the 2020 season, but the room they have working right now is one of the more complete groups in the league.

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With 38-year-old Philip Rivers joining the Colts as a free agent this offseason, Jacoby Brissett returned to his backup duties following a disappointing season as a starter in 2019. That said, he is still regarded as one of the top backups in the NFL.

Nate Davis of USA TODAY ranked the Colts as having the fourth-best backup quarterback situation in the NFL.

Hard to devise a much better formula for a QB room than one led by a Hall of Fame-caliber starter (Philip Rivers) in front of a reliable backup (Jacoby Brissett) and two intriguing prospects (Jacob Eason, Chad Kelly) who need ample time to learn if they’re to fulfill their potential.

Both Brissett and Rivers are on one-year deals essentially while Kelly will be competing with the fourth-round pick in Eason for the QB3 role. It is likely that Eason wins that job, which could mean the Colts are carrying three quarterbacks on the active roster.

While Brissett didn’t show much long-term value during his season as a starter, he does provide the Colts with a great backup situation. He knows the offense in and out and would be serviceable if Rivers goes down.

Regardless, the Colts are hoping the backups in the room won’t have to see the field in 2020 and that Rivers can return to form as the starter.

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