Silver And Black Pride
Cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly is receiving quite a bit of buzz after the Las Vegas Raiders’ Week 1 win over the New England Patriots, and deservedly so.
While Kelly was targeted eight times and allowed six completions for 67 yards, a lot of that production came at the end of the game when the Raiders were playing from ahead and willing to give up short gains. Also, he managed to pick up a PBU, coverage stop and earned a solid 67.6 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus. Not bad for a first NFL start.
With that, let’s dive into the tape and break down the third-year pro’s performance.
We have to start with the worst call from the game. This is not pass interference, and Kelly should get credit for two PBUs on the afternoon, as he plays this perfectly.
It’s fourth and one where the Patriots try to call a tendency breaker, dialing up a play-action pass down the field. Meanwhile, the Raiders are in Cover 1 with a linebacker blitz, putting Kelly one-on-one against wide receiver Mack Hollins on a corner route, who New England tries to hide in the backfield.
However, the cornerback isn’t fooled by the run fake and turns to run with the receiver down the field, playing from a trail position and staying in the receiver’s hip pocket. Once the ball is in the air, Kelly does a great job of locating it and batting it down for what should have been an incompletion and turnover on downs.
This next rep won’t show up on the stat sheet, but it’s a quality play for the cornerback.
The Patriots come out in a three-by-one formation where Stefon Diggs, their No. 1 receiver, is on the single receiver side and lined up outside of the numbers. Clearly, they were looking to target this one-on-one matchup between Diggs and Kelly, which makes sense seeing as it’s a four-time Pro Bowler against a guy making his first start.
However, Kelly has excellent technique, using a one-arm jam to slow Diggs down at the line of scrimmage and help take away the inside route. The latter is especially impressive because he opens toward the sideline initially to protect against the goal line fade and then flips his hips to adjust to the slant. From there, the receiver tries to break back outside, but the corner is too physical and wins the rep.
As a result, quarterback Drake Maye has to come off his first read and the pressure starts to come, so the pass falls incomplete.
Kelly was pretty good in press coverage against New England, as the clip above was one of the best plays he made in the game, that counted at least…
He draws a one-on-one matchup again and shows some impressive patience at the line of scrimmage to avoid opening his hips too early. Once the receiver releases to the outside, Kelly opens toward the sideline and uses his inside hand to help get a...
