New York Giants linebacker Jack Kelly arrived at training camp having managed the always respectable feat of being a late-round pick who generated significant buzz for the right reasons.
Critics, including The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, raved about the Kelly pick in April. Fans always rally around the thought of a scrappy Day 3 pick carving out a role and becoming a mainstay in the starting lineup.
It’s been so far, so good for Kelly in West Virginia. Giants writer Matt Citak reported that Kelly ran “step for step” with Calvin Austin III on a deep route on Saturday. Not only did Kelly break up the pass, but he nearly recorded the pick. Considering that Austin ran a 4.32 40-yard dash time at the 2022 combine, the fact that Kelly kept up is remarkable.
Giants rookie LB Jack Kelly is putting on a show in training camp
Kelly began his college career at FCS Weber State, then transferred to BYU after the 2023 season. He quickly validated the Cougars’ faith in him, recording 15 sacks and 23 ½ tackles for loss over two years. He was one of only 17 FBS players with at least 10 sacks last season.
“With his explosive speed and [competitive] skills, Kelly likely wasn’t a hard sell in the war room,” Brugler wrote in April. “He’ll be a special teams dynamo from day one and will push for defensive snaps early in his career.”
John Harbaugh’s history of maximizing the talents of late-round and undrafted picks in Baltimore speaks for itself. Michael Pierce and Patrick Ricard, the latter of whom joined the Giants this offseason, both became mainstays in the rotation despite going undrafted.
So if you bought some Kelly stock following the draft, now feels like a good time to start smiling. We’re less than two weeks out from the preseason officially kicking off, and all signs point to him seeing significant snaps during the three-game exhibition slate.
Even with social media, onsite reporters tend to only share the most meaningful numbers and situations from practice. It’s not college football, where some schools will name nearly every player who touched the ball during a scrimmage recap. The fact that Kelly earned recognition on the Giants’ official website, of all places, already speaks volumes about the impact and impressions he’s leaving.Â
At this rate, get ready to see constant Kelly updates on your social media feeds. He’s positioning himself to become the Giants’ most significant preseason fan favorite since Victor Cruz, and we know how that story turned out.Â
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