Kelly, the Rimington Trophy winner as the nation’s top center, is projected to go in the first or second round.
“It’s a stressful day for the players, so he wanted to keep it low-key with family and friends,” his dad, Dave Kelly, said Wednesday. “The opportunity to be drafted, that’s a special thing to occur, so we’re excited for him but a little nervous at the same time.”
The 6-foot-4, 311-pound center has been working out at Alabama since the NFL combine, which he trained for in Pensacola, Fla., for six weeks following the Crimson Tide’s national championship — Kelly’s third in five years.
Over the past several weeks, he’s been hearing from and meeting with several NFL teams, according to Dave Kelly, and the last few days leading up to the draft his phone has been “ringing off non-stop” with calls from his agent, team representatives, media members and former teammates checking in and wishing him well.
Dave Kelly said his son seems to be handling the pressure well. Ryan Kelly could not be reached for an interview, but told the Journal-News in January the whole process leading up to the draft is a whirlwind of activity.
“It’s just a whole different chapter in your life,” he said. “You have a structure for five years at Alabama, and now you’re kind of your own enterprise. There’s a lot of uncertainty at the next level, but ultimately, you’ve got to make it count because you only get this chance once.”
Dave Kelly said Ryan’s agent, Creative Artist Agency’s Jimmy Sexton, and staff from the University of Alabama have his son well-prepared for the draft, but there is really no telling where he will land.
Many mock drafts project him to go either No. 26 to the Seahawks or No. 29 to the Cardinals.
“He hears from different teams all the time,” Dave Kelly said. “We will see things put on the Internet as well, and I will ask him if he’s heard from those teams, and some he says, ‘Yeah,’ others ‘No, not really.’
“One of the advantages of playing at Alabama, where they have a lot of players go to the NFL, is we’ve gotten to talk to a lot of the parents that have been through this, and what we’ve learned is to expect the unexpected.”
Kelly, who was the Southeastern Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year, is widely regarded as NFL-ready, but it just comes down to teams’ needs and who is available on the board.
A three-year starter responsible for all signal calls and line adjustments, Kelly didn’t allow a sack in his final two seasons and was a key part in run blocking for Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry. He also played 1,032 snaps in 2015 without a single penalty.
“There are not many more highly respected or well-liked players, overall, in this draft than Kelly,” Sports Illustrated’s Peter King wrote this week in his mock draft. “He seems like as much of a lock to be good for several years as anyone in this draft, and that’s not an exaggeration.”
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