Denver Broncos: Potential diamonds in the rough on the roster

Quarterback: Chad Kelly

The choice for quarterback was not simply made by default. If the Broncos didn’t have a player that I felt could be considered a ‘diamond in the rough’, they were not considered for the purposes of this post.

Any of you who have been reading this site for any real length of time know much I like the upside of Chad Kelly, and the kind of player I think he’s capable of being.

When I evaluated Kelly at Ole Miss, I saw a player with plenty of arm talent for the NFL, the moxie to perform his best in the biggest games, accuracy on the move, mobility…Essentially, he showed all the traits on tape that I would expect to see in a quarterback that is selected on day one or two.

Some would disagree with me, but others — like me — felt like the primary reasons Kelly fell in the draft were character concerns and injury issues. Those have nothing to do with his abilities as a quarterback and to me, this guy has big upside.

The unfortunate thing with his situation is that the Broncos are so desperate for a quick fix at the position after two years of Trevor Siemian (primarily) that Kelly won’t get a shot to start this year.

That doesn’t diminish his potential, to me. I’m excited to see and hear about how well he’s performing in OTAs, training camp, and this coming pre-season. I think the Broncos have a good one on their hands.