Ryan Kelly (American football)

Ryan Kelly (born May 30, 1993) is an American football center for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, and was drafted by the Colts in first round (18th overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft.^[1]

Early years

Kelly attended Lakota West High School in West Chester, Ohio, where he was teammates with Jordan Hicks.^[2] As a junior in 2009, he was a first team all-conference and all-city selection on the offensive line. During his senior season, he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) which significantly shortened his season, yet he still was named third-team Division I All-Ohio. Although selected, he was unable to play at the Under Armour All-America Game coming off of his knee injury.

Rated as a three-star recruit by ESPN, Kelly was ranked as the No. 4 center prospect in his class.^[3] He collected numerous scholarship offers from major programs, including Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Michigan and Tennessee, but none from his home-state Ohio State Buckeyes who signed the third-ranked center, Brian Bobek from Palatine, Illinois, instead.^[4] Kelly verbally committed to Alabama in July 2010.^[4]

College career

After redshirting his initial year in Tuscaloosa, Kelly came off the bench to play in 10 games of the 2012 season at center, backing up All-American senior Barrett Jones. Kelly was named to the SEC All-Freshman team, alongside Amari Cooper and T. J. Yeldon.^[5] In his sophomore year, Kelly took over starting duties from Jones, making the calls on an offensive line that ranked 23rd nationally and fourth in the SEC for fewest sacks allowed per game (1.31).

As a junior, Kelly was named to the Rimington Trophy watch list and started 12 games at center. A highly reliable anchor on the offensive line, he missed just seven assignments in 806 snaps on the year for a 99.1 percent success rate and did not allow a quarterback sack. After wins at Tennessee and against Western Carolina he was named Alabama's Offensive Player of the Week. In his senior season, Kelly missed only eight assignments in 1,012 snaps for a success rate of 99.2 percent on the season, and committed just one penalty in 1,012 snaps with no holding calls. He was a consensus first team All-America selection, earning first-team honors from Walter Camp, USA Today, Sporting News, the FWAA and the AFCA, and won the Rimington Trophy in 2015.^[6]

Professional career

Kelly was drafted in the first round (18th overall) of the 2016 NFL draft by the Indianapolis Colts, with the expectation of becoming “the first solid center for the franchise since Jeff Saturday.”^[8] He was the Alabama's first interior offensive lineman selected in the first round since Chance Warmack in 2013.^[9] Kelly signed with the Colts on May 4.^[10]

References

External links

• Indianapolis Colts bio
• "Alabama Crimson Tide bio". Archived from the original on May 2, 2016.