ProFootballCentral.com

The 2008 draft is upon us and there are quite a few teams that are looking for the next great receiver to make the big plays heading into December. The 2008 draft class does not have great depth similar to other years but they do have a great talent by the name of Malcolm Kelly out of Oklahoma.

Kelly was an instant contributor as a freshman, leading Oklahoma with 33 receptions and 471 yards in 2005. He played 11 games (six starts), scoring two touchdowns. In 2006, he again led the Sooners in catches (62) and receiving yards (993) and had 10 TDs. Paired with Juaquin Iglesias in a more balanced passing attack last season, Kelly wasn’t able to match his sophomore numbers. But his 49 receptions, 821 yards and nine scores left him ranked No. 2 in touchdown receptions (21) and receiving yards (2,285) at OU. Kelly is a big (6-4, 219) and fluid wide receiver with arguably the strongest hands in the 2008 class.

A huge set back for Kelly was the fact that his production as I stated dropped due to teams putting double coverage on him. In order to succeed in the NFL corners and safeties will do whatever they can to stop a receiver especially a 6’4 receiver and Kelly needs to work on his double coverage skills.  The only other flaw that Kelly may have is that he sustained a few injuries in college and needs to do his best staying injury free in the NFL.

The comparisons with last year’s rookie Calvin Johnson are also there. Kelly has great field awareness and at times you can see him making unbelievable one handed catches on the fly. When you have a receiver who has great field awareness, great speed and also incredible strength such as bench pressing 300 pounds, you have a great receiver who should be the first wide out taken in the 2008 draft.