Players who have stood out in NFL preseason

#5 Chad Kelly, QB, Broncos

I know it’s not the most prestigious list of names, but I believe Chad Kelly could end up being the best Mr. Irrelevant ever. Talent-wise Kelly rarely looked like the final pick of the draft at Ole Miss. I had the former Rebel as my fifth QB available in last year’s draft purely based on his potential, but off-the-field weirdness took him off the board for most teams in the league.

Coming out of college, I liked Kelly’s quick release, escapability, toughness and how he shined in two huge wins over Alabama. An injury to his throwing hand and being stuck behind Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch and even Brock Osweiler didn’t help getting his career off on the right track.

Going into his second season with the Broncos, Kelly has shown mobility, arm strength and no fear of delivering passes while getting hit through the preseason. In week one versus the Vikings, he knew exactly that he would have to take a shot, but he stood in there and connected with his back on an angle route for a touchdown.

That performance versus Minnesota earned him the second-string spot behind Case Keenum already. Kelly rewarded the Broncos with a beautiful seem ball to Courtland Sutton for a touchdown on his first drive versus the Bears and so far he has looked very comfortable taking deep shots off hard play-action as well as throwing the ball on the move off bootlegs.

He has also gotten the ball out quickly on hot-reads to his backs and extended plays with his legs. In three weeks of game-action, Kelly has gone 28 of 41 for 340 yards, three touchdowns and a pick. He has clearly put Paxton Lynch at the end of the depth chart, who has struggled with ball-placement and looked gun-shy.