Baltimore Ravens select Kyu Blu Kelly in fifth round of 2023 NFL Draft

Kyu Blu Kelly made a name for himself in the Pac-12 at Stanford, specifically as an upperclassman. Now, the next step of his career is now upon him after the Baltimore Ravens selected the senior Cardinal corner in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft with the No. 157 overall pick.

Kelly finished his four-year career at Stanford with 148 tackles. He also added a sack and a forced fumble while, in the secondary, he posted 23 pass deflections and three interceptions with one going for a touchdown.

He was specifically impactful as a junior and senior. Those two seasons are where Kelly posted 93 of his tackles, his forced fumbles, and two of his picks, including his pick-six. He started to get noticed around the league too as a Defensive Player of the Week in 2021 and an All Pac-12 selection by PFF and Phil Steele in those two seasons.

Kelly was rated as a three-star prospect in the 2019 class per On3’s Industry Ranking. He was a top-five prospect out of the state of Nevada at Bishop Gorman High School. He was also a Top-75 CB in the class and ranked among the Top-750 recruits overall.

Kelly put his best foot forward over his final two seasons at Stanford. From here, he’ll try to keep that trajectory heading upward as he now heads off to (INSERT CITY) to continue his football career in the pros.

What NFL Draft analysts are saying about Kelly

For Lance Zierlein, he sees some concerns when it comes to Kelly, specifically speed and aggression at points. He has the ability to make things happen when positioned right but, in general, his evaluation leans more towards a back up role at the moment coming in as a rookie.

“Defender with good size, length and NFL bloodlines, but a concerning lack of recovery speed and coverage stickiness against quality route runners,” Zierlein wrote. “When in position, Kelly possesses the ball skills and competitiveness to contest catches. He’s patient and efficient from press, but he could struggle to stay in phase with vertical route threats in man-to-man coverage. Kelly might be best suited for a backup role in a zone scheme, but the aggression will need to be cranked up in run support.”