Daniels: Chad Kelly – A Weapon Like None Other

Chad Kelly (Photo by Josh Bonner / Libertine Images)

Around the SEC, fall camps are underway as we are under twenty days away from football in the SEC. This year, the Rebels have a bit of an advantage heading into this season and that is the quarterback play with Chad Kelly. We have heard analysts speaking of Chad Kelly as a potential Heisman winner.

There is little argument that Chad Kelly is the best quarterback in the SEC. Kelly was given the preseason honor of offensive player of the year and the first-team All-SEC quarterback according to ESPN.

Last season, Kelly broke or tied 14 single-season school records and totaled for 4,551 years which is third most in the SEC record books. Kelly is the last 3,000-yard passer, the last 3,500-yard passer, and the last 4,000-yard passer for the Rebels and is the all-time leader in passing. Only four SEC schools have even had a 4,000-yard passer. He is also the first quarterback to lead Ole Miss to five wins over top-25 ranked teams.

At SEC Media Days, Kelly even called himself “the best quarterback in the nation.” One thing we have learned from Kelly is that you cannot doubt him. He has gone into Tuscaloosa and knocked off the eventual national champions and captured a Sugar Bowl win in a crushing defeat of the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Kelly will not have it easy this year either as he will have to begin the season in Orlando going up against the Florida State Seminoles. He will try to get the Rebels third straight win over the Crimson Tide in Oxford. He will also travel to Death Valley to face LSU, the SEC West favorite by many, and a much improved Texas A&M team in front of the 12th man.

The Rebels did lose a favorite target for Kelly last season in Laquon Treadwell. During the offseason, the Rebels racked up receivers like A.J. Brown, D.K. Metcalf, and Tre Nixon to try and even out the production that Treadwell gave last season. Quincy Adeboyejo and Damore’ea Stringfellow will more than likely be the two big targets for Kelly this season along with experienced, tight end Evan Engram who is expected to come back even stronger than last season.

The Rebels will have some tough obstacles to overcome this season but at the end of the day, they have the best quarterback in the SEC, possibly even the best in the country running the show for the offense. This looks to be another special season in store for the Ole Miss Rebels.

Grant Daniels, a student at Oxford High School, is a sports correspondent for HottyToddy.com. Email him at hottytoddynews@gmail.com

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