Player Spotlight: Malcolm Kelly

Malcolm Kelly was drafted with the 51^st Overall Pick (2nd Round) out of Oklahoma, in the 2008 NFL Draft.  Standing at 6’4” and weighing in at 226 lbs, this is a beast of a Wide Receiver (WR), at least in stature.  But not in production…. at least not yet.  I believe the young man is poised for a breakout season.  And when it happens, remember that you heard about Malcolm Kelly from me first.  If you don't believe me just ask his college teammate, Sam Bradford.

So far, Kelly has appeared in 10 games and has 365 yards on 28 catches.  So I guess there is no where to go, but up.  But he is more than just a big body.  We are talking about a WR that was an All-American, twice named all Conference (Big 12) and was name to the Big 12 All-Freshman team in college.  Kelly finished his college career with 144 catches, 2,285 yards and 21 TD catches.  What has been the issue with Kelly has been the same injury that's plagued him since his Senior year in college, and hampered him during the NFL Combine time.  He tried to workout during Oklahoma’s Pro Day, but the same injury hampered him and allowed him to run a disappointing time in the 40-Yard Dash (4.75 and 4.68).  Most categorized him as just a deep threat, but his route running has improved a bit since entering the NFL and so has his explosion.

The injury that Kelly has been hampered with is….  a hamstring injury.  See this injury is not as tricky as people make it out to be.  It is either a hamstring tendon strain, hamstring tendon tear, hamstring tendon rupture, hamstring strain (muscle) or hamstring tear (muscle).  I am not a doctor, nor a professional trainer, but this injury, unless there are other underlying health issues like I have experienced, should have been healed within a few weeks his rookie season.  But for some reason it lingered and carried over into last season.  And with the turnover of the training staff and strength and conditioning team, Kelly was poised to take the field last year, but an early decision to put him IR (injured reserves), didn’t allow him to play a down last year.  During that time Kelly healed and now he is set to take the field.  So what can you expect from him this season?

Expect a big-bodied target that will be able to run the short and medium routes.  Expect the production of a Possession Receiver (not a lot of down the field stuff, but a lot of catches 10-20 yards down the field.).  Expect a WR that will be called on to catch the jumpball in the Red Zone (the last 20 yards of the field).  When it is all said and done,  I expect 50+ catches, 900+ yards, and 7-9 TD’s.  Malcolm Kelly will be the #2 WR by the end of season.  Who will be the #1 WR on the Redskins?  Only time will tell, but if things hold to form, that will be Santana Moss.  And the Moss-Kelly tandem isn’t all that shabby.  I have seen worse.