Smooty Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 He was hurt most of the season but is now starting to move up most mocks. Could be a risk but with his speed and strength he could be a star. With the 13th pick in the draft the Washington Redskins take Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GURU Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 I like Kelsay. He is often compared to Grant Wistrom. I think that's a good comparison. While both guys are better athletes than often given credit for, they are not quite in the elite status, especially as a pass rusher. But what they give you is very, very valuable. And that's a player with a non-stop motor who always gives you consistant effort. Players like this have contageous energy and help set the tone for the defense. At the #13 spot, it's very possible that Jerome McDougle or Michael Haynes, maybe both, will be available. They are both better prospects than Kelsay, in terms of talent and production. Kelsay is more of a late first rounder or early second rounder, in my opinion. Another guy I like better than Kelsay is Dewayne White. White is also a tier under McDougle and Haynes, but is a better athlete and has higher upside than Kelsay. White probably makes more plays against the run than ANY of the top DE prospects. In the same area, talent wise, I like Kelsay much better than Cory Redding, however. To me, Redding is simply too inconsistant, even though he might be as talented as anybody in this draft. The gamble with Redding is whether or not he can be coached to consistancy. It might just be a character flaw, and in that case, I go with a player like Kelsay, who never stops working, EVERY TIME. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yomar Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 TSN Summary Player evaluation: Chris Kelsay Height: 6-4 Weight: 260 40-yard dash: 4.75 War Room analysis Strengths: Is aggressive, and has great measurable skills. Has a great 40-yard time. Has bulked up, and should become more consistent against the run. Never stops hustling, and shows good toughness. Plays with solid leverage. Uses hands well to disengage blocks. Flashes nice power moves as a pass rusher. Is relentless, and chases down a lot of plays from behind. Has a great work ethic. Weaknesses: Has been somewhat of a disappointment as a pass rusher. Lacks initial quickness. Does not win enough battles with his first step. Rarely wins battles with initial quickness and speed -- must work hard to get to the quarterback. Lacks closing burst of a big-play pass rusher. Occasionally gets engulfed at the point of attack by big offensive tackles. Is better when on the move than when forced to hold his ground against the run. Bottom line: Kelsay has shown signs of becoming a dominating player but never has emerged as the consistent playmaker. He missed five games of senior season because of a hamstring injury. He is healthy now, but there are obvious concerns about his lack of bulk and durability. Kelsay has good, not great, speed. Few work harder than Kelsay, who uses hands well and is one of the toughest defenders in the nation to keep blocked because of explosive upper-body strength. If Kelsay can add some bulk and pass his physical, he likely will be selected early in the second round. TFY Summary Scouting Report: Chris Kelsay By Tony Pauline- TFY Draft Preview Date: Dec 11, 2002 Much in the mold of Kyle Vanden Bosch, Nebraska's Chris Kelsay in an explosive yet undersized pass rusher. There were high hopes for the Black Shirts rush end, but injury halted his campaign this year and now it may be an uphill battle for Kelsay. Ht:6-4.5 Wt: 265 40: 4.81 Stats/ Bio 2001: Second-team All-American while earning academic All-America District VII honors. Also claimed first-team All-Big 12 after starting all 12 games finishing with 52/17/5. 2000: Played in 11 games and started the last seven at left rush end, totaling 29/2/.5. 1999: Kelsay played in 11 games, rotating with Aaron Wills, starting one and totaling 16/1/.5. Scouting Report The Good: Pass rush specialist that wreaks havoc on opposing quarterbacks. Plays with excellent forward lean, low to the ground and uses his hands to keep blockers away. Rushes the edge with speed, quick altering his angle of attack, flattens and pursues, then catches the ball carrier from the back side. Does a terrific job stringing plays out laterally. Knifes his way through opponents up the field. The Bad: Handled at the point of attack when teams run at him or easily ridden out of his pass rush angle by ordinary opponents. Injured for most of the season in 2002. The Skinny: Needs a tremendous post-season if he's to jump back into the first sixty picks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJWatson3 Posted January 31, 2003 Share Posted January 31, 2003 i don't want to see redding on the team. all i have ever heard about the kid is that he is an incredible underachiever when he really has to work at something (football). in HS he was a beast and was so much more talented, physically, that noone could stop him. he gets to college where a lot of guys have to work their asses off to get scholarships and he had his handed to him. life was easy. he never performed up to expectations and dominated the position in college... imagine how shell-shocked he will be in the pros? i have also seen all the kelsay hype building the past few weeks. tough to judge someone when they have been injured. i was wondering if anybody remembers patrick kerney in college at UVA. i am thinking that they could prove to be similarly styled players and that it would be a good move to go after kelsay in the second round of the draft. don't think he'll last until the third... sorry about the length, but is good to read: Chris Kelsay Defensive End Nebraska collected by draftbook.com Status: Senior 6-4/265 40: 4.70 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pro Football Weekly collected by draftbook.com 1-18-03 Buzz: Rush end who gets upfield fast with quick reaction off the ball and a non-stop motor. Stock has risen for his hustle. Will add energy to a defense. Started slow but seemed to gain confidence and get better as the week went on. Has faced some of the toughest competition in the country and was able to excel, as he did against some of the Senior Bowl’s best linemen. Is able to rip past offensive tackles by getting a strong lean and staying low. Is not great with his hands and may rely too heavily on his outside move, but does a good job setting up blockers to the outside and ripping to the inside. Has room to improve as a bull-rusher and against the run. He can struggle against blockers with long arms at times, as he did early in the week, but can have a long career because he is a smart, overachiever-type. May be slightly quicker and more intense than Colts DE Brad Scioli. Background: Team captain who endured a frustrating 2002 season, missing five games late in the year with a right hamstring injury, but still led the team in sacks (7), tackles for loss (13 for 58 yards) and QB hurries (18) despite seeing a lot of double-teams. Had most productive season in 2001, when he started all 12 games, recording 52 tackles, 17 tackles for loss and five sacks. Started seven games in 2000 and one in 1999 but played in all 11 as a redshirt freshman. High school linebacker and hoops star whose older brother, Chad, also wore No. 57, was a team captain and started at rush end for the Huskers. Chris earned first-team academic all-conference honors in four seasons and became one of 14 college football players to earn a $18,000 postgraduate scholarship from the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete. Graduated on Dec. 21 with a finance degree. 1-17-03 Nebraska DL Chris Kelsay, who has been quick off the ball and giving offensive linemen nightmares in one-on-one passing drills, continued to fly around on Thursday in a non-contact practice with just helmets. His high motor and hustle have boosted his stock this week. 1-16-03 Emotions were running high during one-on-one drills between the offensive and defensive linemen in the North practice, when the defensive linemen dominated the day. One telling incident occurred when Nebraska DL Chris Kelsay drilled Marshall OL Steve Sciullo, knocking him on his back before tapping a lineman standing seven yards deep in place of a quarterback. Sciullo, who has been slow off the ball the last two days, traded pushes with Kelsay as the tussling match continued beyond the whistle, which ended with Kelsay walking away, saying, “You don’t want to get your *** kicked twice,” That drew chuckles from the large gathering of scouts, coaches, media and agents circling the drills. He got a few more laughs when he said, “You’ve been getting your *** kicked all week.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Matthew Gambill collected by draftbook.com 1-17-03 Chris Kelsay was inconsistent all week. he was man-handled by Tony Pashos and was so frustrated, he threw a punch at the RT. He showed flashes of being an effective edge rusher, but he needs work on his hands, as they were stationary and didn't appear strong. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TFY collected by draftbook.com 12-26-02 NU had a horrid campaign and unlike most year's, the off season will not be kind to its' seniors in the draft. Their top pro-prospect, defensive end Chris Kelsay, has been on crutches most of the season with a bad hamstring and will tumble down draft boards next April. 12-11-02 Much in the mold of Kyle Vanden Bosch, Nebraska's Chris Kelsay in an explosive yet undersized pass rusher. There were high hopes for the Black Shirts rush end, but injury halted his campaign this year and now it may be an uphill battle for Kelsay. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rob "Boomer" Rangcollected by draftbook.com 12-03-02 Best natural athlete on the Nebraska defensive line since Grant Wistrom. Comparisons to former #6 overall choice, Wistrom are valid. Slips through blocks with a combination of quickness, technique, and tenacity. Does play too high on occasion, and has good, but not great strength at the point of attack. Great change of direction skills. Breaks down in space to make the one on one tackle like a 220 pound linebacker. Unselfish and disciplined - will take on the pulling guard head on to string out the play and allow his teammates to make the tackle. Flashed his ability already this 2002 season - taking the game over, at times, against Arizona State and finishing with 2 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and another 4 QB hurries... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Murphy collected by draftbook.com 10-30-02 Nebraska senior defensive end Chris Kelsay will have his right hamstring tested later this week, as he will try to return to action this weekend against Texas... he has not played in several weeks... but would like to finish off the Cornhuskers regular season and be at 100% of the post-season all-star games and combine... currently is at about 90%... but has kept in good shape off the field, while adding some much-needed veteran leadership during the games and behind the scenes... he was also one of 14 players awarded the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame Scholarship... he is a first-class kid with Top-50 draft potential... 9-29-02 Pre-season Vince Lombardi and Bronko Nagurski award nominee and All-Big 12 candidate. In 2001 was Second Team All-American and First Team All-Big 12. Academic honors include First Team-Verizon CoSIDA Academic-District VII and three-time First Team Academic All-Big 12. He had 52 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 12 QB hurries, five sacks and one forced fumble in 2001. 7-12-02 Senior defensive end Chris Kelsay is carrying his family tradition of excellence both on and off the field at Nebraska. His older brother, Chad, was a standout linebacker that went on to play in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers and St. Louis Rams. The younger Kelsay has been a three-time Academic All-Big 12 selection, and enters his senior campaign as a pre-season All-Big 12 and All-American candidate. "(I) think I have a real advantage having seen it all before with my brother (Chad)... he has helped me out in terms of balancing academics, football and dealing with some of the pressure that comes with this type of schedule", said Kelsay. His fine junior season included: 52 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 12 QB hurries, five sacks and one forced fumble. That kind of all-around effort has easily gained the attention of NFL Scouts, but it has done little to change the way Kelsay is preparing for this season. "(My) goals are all team oriented first... winning the Big 12 title and getting another shot at the National Championship are the focus of my attention", said Kelsay, who missed the Cornhuskers' spring practice sessions, while recovering from off-season shoulder surgery. However, the surgery has been sort of a blessing in disguise, as the 265-pound defender was able to lose a lot of bad weight before working his way back up to his current size, while dropping his total body fat to 6%.He is versatile enough on the field to play either defensive end position, although he will primarily work at LDE this season. His work ethic, motor and leadership skills are three of the first points of his game that you will notice on film. The other is his quick first step, which rivals that of former Cornhuskers' standout defensive end Grant Wistrom (St. Louis), who many scouts have compared to the younger Kelsay. Kelsay also adds the fact that he is a diligent worker off the field, watching game film and already preparing for the Cornhuskers' Week One opponents (Arizona State)."(I) love the quality opponents that we face week in and week out... it really helps me get better and have to play my best every week in order for us to win", explained Kelsay. His quickness off the ball, use of secondary pass rush moves and ability to get off blockers are what make him such a solid two-way defender. When asked to name a few teammates that could come on strong this season he responded by saying, "Strong-side linebacker Scott Shanle... he does a great job every week, but does not get noticed, and (I) really think that split end Wilson Thomas will see a lot more passes come his way... his size, speed and ability to catch the ball in a crowd are really impressive."Kelsay's play helped the Cornhuskers' defense hold opponents to 3.4 yards rushing per carry, 16 points per game, while recording 39 sacks. Meanwhile, he is also one of the best workout performers in college football. He set a school record in the 10-yard dash for defensive linemen with 1.63 and the short shuttle with 3.90. To put those numbers in perspective a short shuttle time of 3.90 would be excellent for a receiver or defensive back, so imagine what means for a defensive end. On top of that he has the ability to eventually add on 10-15 pounds and play at 275-280 pounds without losing any of his speed or quickness. Kelsay consistently tops 30 reps of 225 pounds, and has run in the 4.65-4.70 range.His size, speed, production and experience will help make him one of the Top-20 prospects in next year's draft, but there is a lot more to Kelsay than just being a football player. He faced a very tragic personal issue during his time at Nebraska, but has come through a stronger and better person for it. On top of that one former teammate of his that we spoke to at one of last year's all-star games had this to say about Kelsay when asked to describe him: "As good of a player and teammate that Chris is... he is a better friend and person... you really want to play hard and win with that guy."In other words, although Chris Kelsay will have to wait until next April to be a first-round pick in the NFL... he is already a first-round selection when it comes to the game of life. 7-6-02Kelsay, the younger brother of former Cornhuskers' linebacker Chad, is developing into a solid two-way defender, who can play either LDE or RDE in a mold similar to that of former Nebraska standout Grant Wistrom (St. Louis). He has an excellent work ethic and seems ready to lead this squad to another title run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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