Chad Kelly is Mr. Irrelevant

It's a term used to describe the very last player taken each year in the NFL Draft.  In most cases the last player taken in the seventh round is a long-shot, but this year that player could turn out to be the steal of the draft.

Former St. Joe's High School and Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly has the so-called "honor" of being Mr. Irrelevant after being selected by the Denver Broncos with the 253rd and final pick of the NFL Draft.  But with his talent and leadership he could become a star quarterback in the NFL.  He just needs to do a better job managing his own off-field antics.

I was amazed the first time I saw Chad Kelly during the annual Punt, Pass and Kick competition during Bills games.  Even as a 12 and 13-year old the kid from Grand Island could throw the ball a mile with accuracy.

Then I had a chance to see Kelly up close while officiating St. Joe's High School football games.  And for the past couple of seasons I looked forward to college games involving Ole Miss where he broke 14 school passing records.  No doubt the kid can play.

But he hasn't been able to keep himself out of trouble.  When his dad was transferred to Pennsylvania, Kelly was kicked off his high school team for reasons never revealed.  He was removed from the Clemson football team after a sideline blow-up with coaches during a spring practice game.

Kelly was arrested by Buffalo police during a disturbance at a downtown nightclub where he allegedly threatened to bring a gun and shoot up the place.  And there was incident during a St. Joe's High School football game last season when Kelly entered the field to come to the aid of his brother during a pushing and shoving match with members of the Timon/St. Jude team.

Then the injuries.  He's had two surgeries on his knee and recently had surgery on his throwing wrist.  For some NFL general managers there were just too many question marks to risk a draft pick.  I personally wished that the Bills had taken a flyer on him.  They did interview him, but apparently weren't all that interested.

The Denver Broncos were interested, going so far as to contact his agent that if Kelly went undrafted they planned to sign him as a free agent.  Now he'll compete for the starting job against Paxton Lynch and Trevor Siemian during training camp this summer.  And wouldn't that be wild if he was the starting quarterback when the Broncos visit the Bills on September 24th.  We'll have to wait and see.