Why Undrafted?: Kameron Kelly, CB, San Diego State
By Charlie Campbell, @draftcampbell
Four years ago, we started a series of articles on why certain prospects went undrafted. In that series, I reach out to sources with NFL teams to find out why their organizations passed on drafting a given player, and/or, what were the reasons for other teams to pass on that prospect. We got a lot of positive reader feedback about the series, so we decided to expand in the genre to investigate why some prospects slid in the draft. Three years ago, we started the Why the Slide? series, and this year it is back. Feel free to email me requests for Why the Slide? and Why Undrafted? at [email protected]. I can’t promise to get to all of them, but I will do my best and definitely will respond to the email.
At the end of the college football season and well into 2018 NFL Draft process, some draft media were projecting San Diego State cornerback Kameron Kelly to be a first-round pick. WalterFootball.com never projected Kelly that high because we had not heard team sources grading Kelly there. In fact, we were hearing that Kelly projected to Day 3 of the 2018 NFL Draft, at the highest. Thus, it wasn’t completely shocking when he went undrafted.
Sources from teams said the reason that Kelly slid was because teams had speed concerns. His game tape revealed that issue and was given further validation at the Senior Bowl. Then, it was given numerical proof with a painfully slow 40 time at the combine of 4.66 seconds. That time is slow for a safety, much less a cornerback. Speed concerns and being a tight cornerback were the reasons why every team passed on drafting Kelly.
After going undrafted, Kelly signed with the Dallas Cowboys, which was a wise choice. The Cowboys play a lot of zone coverage due to Rod Marinelli being a Monte Kiffin Tampa 2 disciple, and Kelly’s lack of speed and tightness won’t be as problematic in zone coverage. Dallas has young cornerbacks Jourdan Lewis and Chidobe Awuzie as the projected starters, but beyond them, the team has some open competition for backup spots. Kelly definitely has a shot to make the team and also could compete at safety. It would not surprise me if Kelly makes the Cowboys or sticks on their practice squad.
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