Former American Alliance football player, Kameron Kelly, is getting noticed. He now stands a very good chance at making the Steelers in 2019.
If I would have told you before training camp that a former undrafted free agent American Alliance Football player would make the Pittsburgh Steelers 53-man roster, you probably wouldn’t have believed me.
However, that is exactly what safety Kameron Kelly is on track to do.
Though we are still very early in the process and haven’t even played the first preseason game, Kelly has given us reason to believe that he stands a great shot at making the roster in 2019.
When Sean Davis went down with a finger injury, it was AAF defensive back Kameron Kelly who filled the void. Kelly has taken more first team reps at free safety than any of the other backups, and set to see significant time there during Friday’s preseason opener against the Buccaneers.
2018 5th round draft choice, Marcus Allen, is listed as the primary backup to Sean Davis on the Steelers initial depth chart (with Kelly as the 3rd string free safety). However, that doesn’t seem to be the case in practice.
Kameron Kelly is listed as third-team free safety even though he's taken every rep with the first-team defense with Sean Davis out. Marcus Allen is listed as the backup free safety, but he hasn't played with the first-team defense.
— Ray Fittipaldo (@rayfitt1) August 6, 2019
The Steelers have a team full of ‘strong safety’ types outside of Sean Davis, but Kameron Kelly is the exception. Though his stint in the AAF was short, he played all over the secondary.
In college, Kelly played cornerback, safety, and even wide receiver. He offers more position flexibility than players like Marcus Allen and Jordan Dangerfield – who are both closer to box safeties than ranging free safeties.
Kelly has even seen some single high looks in training camp. Though he hasn’t made a lot of splash plays, he’s shown a good ability to break on the ball and come down hard against the run.
Recently, P.J. Locke took starting reps at free safety for the first time since Sean Davis went down.
But Devin Bush blows up the first two live running plays. And UDFA PJ Locke getting first-team free safety reps today instead of Kameron Kelly. First change there since Sean Davis went down. I like Locke.
— Brian Batko (@BrianBatko) August 7, 2019
This doesn’t mean that Kelly is being replaced, rather the Steelers are testing the waters. There are a lot of young, unproven safeties on Pittsburgh’s roster, and it will take some time to sort themselves out.
Ultimately, Kelly seeing so many first team reps is a great sign for him. Preseason will be huge in determining which safeties will land on the roster and perhaps be included in the rotation this season.