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Malcom Kelly


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Apparently and this is only rumor is that he was told he was going to run on one surface and ended up running on another. From what I hear he ran in the indoor facility which has a "spongy" feel thus produces slower times. He is also upset with the staff that they misdiagnosed his injury prior to the Fiesta Bowl. From what I hear, he was expecting to run a 4.49 where as he ran a 4.69 and a 4.75. The difference between a 4.49 & 4.69 is worth a lot of money. I still think he will be a first round pick and possibly the first reciever taken. He could go to the Bengals or the Bills.

 

Smoaky indicated he has an interview with him today on the show. I wonder if the interview was pre-recorded.

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Kelly not pleased with OU after pro day

 

By Jake Trotter

Staff Writer

 

NORMAN — Former Oklahoma wide receiver Malcolm Kelly didn't have the pro day performance Wednesday that he wanted.

 

And he's putting some of the blame on OU.

 

Kelly, who ran the 40-yard dash in 4.68 seconds, said he wasn't told by the OU strength staff until this morning that the location of the pro day had been moved from Astroturf in the Mosier Center to field turf inside the Everest Indoor Training Center.

 

"I had everything set up for where I wanted to do it at," Kelly said. "I get up here this morning and it's a whole different deal. This is my life. It's got to do with me and my family. This is what I do, play football, and I'm supposed to run as fast as I can. I was slipping all over the place during my drill work. I can't say I'm pleased with anything today."

 

Kelly said he had been preparing for the last month to test on Astroturf and was running the 40 in under 4.5 seconds on that surface.

 

"People want to say surface is surface, but it's a lot more to it than that," Kelly said. "You have to think about how much ground time you have running on this mushy surface here and how much ground time you have on Astroturf.

 

"Just a little bit of time could mean a whole lot of draft money."

 

Kelly, who measured in at 6-foot-4 and 227 pounds, reached 32 inches in the vertical jump and 9 feet, 9 inches in the long jump. He posted times of 4.24 in the short shuttle and 7.00 in the three-cone drill.

 

Kelly looked sharp running routes and catching the ball during receiver drills.

 

He is flying to Cincinnati to meet with Bengals personnel later today.

 

Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski was among the more than 30 coaches and scouts who attended OU's second pro day, which included former Sooner defensive back Reggie Smith, tight end Joe Jon Finley and cornerback Marcus Walker.

 

 

 

What Kelly is not saying is that the scouts not OU wanted him to run on the "mushy surface" instead of the Astroturf. I would think if it were my future, I would have trained on the slower surface. As an OU fan I am beginning to question his character.

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Just my opinion...but he is going to fall to the late first maybe early 2nd after that performance. That 40 time along with any questions about a knee spells trouble.

 

I think his attitude and tendancy to take plays off will hurt him more than the 40 time.

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You guys are really out of the loop and should be ashamed of yourselves for making such irresponsible, uninformed, and totally clueless assumptions about the character of guy as humble and committed as Malcolm Kelly. Tuning in to the red-river shootout every year or yelling Boomer Sooner does not give one the type of insight necessary to warrant making the type of rediculous statements I have read in this thread regarding Mr. Kelly.

 

Anyone who questions the "attitude" of a guy like Malcolm is so far off base that it is laughable. The only people who have any ill-will towards him or want to dog his "attitude" or work ethic are the ignorant OU fans who are disgruntled because he is entering the draft. These are the same fans who were celebrating when he committed to OU because he was such a huge talent and great kid off the field as well.

 

All the kid did was dominate defensive backs consistantly in high school, on the way to becoming one of the highest rated WR prospects in the entire nation. A 17 year old with scholarship offers from every school in the country, yet criminally under-utilized at Longview where running the football was priority. When everyone and their mother was questioning the coaching strategy for not taking advantage of the best reciever to ever come thru district 12-5A, Kelly simply went to class every day, never got into any trouble, and did exactly what the coaches asked him to do. SERIOUS ATTITUDE ISSUE, RIGHT??

This is the same kid who grew up idolizing former UT standout Roy Williams, to the point that he wore his #4 jersey as a tribute. But his passion for sucess, and desire to win at the ultimate team game led him to the OU program, who at that time had a stranglehold on the OU-Texas rivalry and were regularly competing for BCS bowl games or National Championships. This despite having the opportunity to attend the school in his home state that he grew up loving and would undoubtedly become the heir to the throne of his idol who was heading to the NFL.

 

Lets put aside the fact that it is pretty much common knowledge that the kid WILL catch anything you throw in his general direction. All the big time grabs he made as a freshman and the leadership he showed among a young receiver corps, that doesn't mean anything either right? The fact that he was always positive and never bailed out on the OU program even in the midst of their scandals and failures doesn't get the kid the benefit of the doubt? Do any of you that are concerned about his attitude realize that the other teams in the Big 12 were also scratching their heads wondering why Bobby Stoops did not make better use of one of the most explosive TD threats in the country over the past few years? There were entirely too many games where he was used more as a run blocker than a pass catcher. After Colorado put out the so-called "blueprint" for shutting him down, he could have easily dogged the coaches saying..."HELLO OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR....It's 2007, EVERYONE USES THE FREAKING COVER TWO DEFENSE....GET ME THE DAMN BALL!!" Had he done that, THEN I would understand some of the comments regarding his character or attitude, or taking plays off.

 

Don't overlook the fact that he has sat tall in the saddle at OU during some very turbulent times, and never once wavered or bailed out on the team. THIS KID HAS PLAYED WITH 3 DIFFERENT QUARTERBACKS IN HIS 3 YEARS AS A SOONER!!! Think about that for a second. Many more players would have pouted and complained about this lack of consistancy in the QB position, and guess what...they would not be out of line.

One could argue that had he been catching passes from the same QB his entire career, we might have been talking about a Heisman Trophy candidate at the least. But, Kelly is too big a man for that---never heard one negative word regarding this situation. Rhett Bomar being kicked off the team after his true freshman year was enough in itself to have most athletes of his caliber contemplating a tranfer as so often is the case these days. Then Paul Thompson takes over (who literally could not hit the broad side of a barn) and Kelly makes him look like Dan Marino.

 

So this past year, you start training camp off being one of the most well rounded receivers in the Nation, and what do you have to look foward to? A 3-way battle for the starting quarterback position amongst a group of freshman with no game experience. Yet, every interview, after every practice, regardless to what conventional wisdom says, Malcolm Kelly is quoted as saying how excited he is to be playing with such a talented group of guys, he has their back, they are going to be great...etc. And you repay this type of loyalty and commitment by berating him when he informs you he is going to declare for the draft? You thank him by giving him a misdiagnosis of an injury so that he would be more apt to suit up for a bowl game? It is quite possible that the "attitude" and "character" that needs to be questioned is that of those adults who are behaving so spitefully and immaturely..not a class act like MR. Kelly.

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Tuning in to the red-river shootout every year or yelling Boomer Sooner does not give one the type of insight necessary to warrant making the type of rediculous statements I have read in this thread regarding Mr. Kelly.

 

 

Well, I have been to every OU/UT game except for one in the last 10 years. I average 3 or 4 games a year. I have been to last 2 Fiesta Bowls and the Sugar Bowl loss to LSU. Does this make me an expert? No, but I am allowed to have an opinion just as you are allowed to have an opinion. Did you watch KLTV's segment on him last night? If you didn't, I suggest you check it out.

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Well, I have been to every OU/UT game except for one in the last 10 years. I average 3 or 4 games a year. I have been to last 2 Fiesta Bowls and the Sugar Bowl loss to LSU. Does this make me an expert? No, but I am allowed to have an opinion just as you are allowed to have an opinion. Did you watch KLTV's segment on him last night? If you didn't, I suggest you check it out.

 

I missed Smoaky's interview with him yesterday, if he had it at all. I did catch Kelly's interview on KLTV. I must say that I was not impressed either. I am aware of Kelly's participation in charity work and all and that he is an humble guy. But for those that may not have been exposed to his "positive qualities" then I must admit that his actions the last few days will cast doubt. Perhaps his words are a result of the stress that he is under though that should not give him a "free pass".

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Heaven forbid a 21-year-old kid gets frustrated. His only mistake was venting to Jake Trotter.

 

We all have bad days, and Kelly has had his share lately with an injury, etc. He's a fantastic person with a lot of talent.

 

If he falls in the draft, I'll hope he falls right down to No. 22 or 28. :thumbsup:

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Stoops says Kelly's words are unfair

 

By Jake Trotter

Staff Writer

 

NORMAN — Wednesday was supposed to be former Oklahoma wide receiver Malcolm Kelly's opportunity to impress NFL scouts.

 

Instead, the morning's focus veered toward Kelly's budding acrimony with the Sooner coaching staff.

 

"Certain people have tried to hold me down, and they know who they are,” Kelly said after the workout. "I wouldn't say the whole OU coaching staff, but certain people, I would say that.”

 

Kelly was upset after running a pedestrian 4.68 seconds in the 40-yard dash. He placed blame on the OU strength staff and accused them of failing to notify him ahead of time that the testing was going to be on the Everest Indoor Training Center's field turf instead of the Mosier Center's AstroTurf, a surface on which Kelly had been training the last month.

 

OU strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt said the location was decided on Wednesday morning by scouts, who felt the field turf at the Everest Center would be more comparable to the surface run on at the NFL Scouting Combine.

 

Kelly also accused OU of "misdiagnosing” a December thigh injury, which kept him from participating in the Fiesta Bowl and from training for the NFL Draft until last month.

 

Kelly said he was told by OU doctors that he had a deep thigh bruise, though a February MRI revealed he had suffered a partial quadriceps tear.

 

Kelly charged that he could've played in the Fiesta Bowl had he been diagnosed correctly in the beginning and that the OU staff risked his pro career by encouraging him to play through the pain without properly treating the injury.

 

"They told me it was a thigh bruise and to try and play through it. A deep thigh bruise hurts, you're in lot of pain, but it doesn't feel like someone is pulling at it or stabbing you in the leg,” Kelly said. "I tried to tell everybody it was worse than a thigh bruise. They told me it wasn't that bad, to go out there and run, that it was all in my mind. If I had gone out there in the bowl game and run full speed, where would I be? Nowhere. I'd be sitting at home right now rehabbing. Then people say, trust in what they say, they're not going to steer you wrong.

 

"If I had sat out from the time I messed it up, I would've been ready a week before the bowl game and could've played. It frustrates me a whole lot, the fact that I could've played and the fact that I knew it was something else and I was being told differently. I sat out the game. People were mad. But I wasn't going to injure myself or go out there and run half-speed and mess up the team.”

 

Sooner coach Bob Stoops said Kelly never practiced after suffering the thigh injury and took issue with Kelly's accusations that OU's doctors erred.

 

"I don't think that is fair,” Stoops said. "A lot of deep tissue injuries take a while to figure out. Our doctors do as good a job as anybody in the country. Regardless of what his injury was, misdiagnosed or not, it was a deep tissue injury. He never played. It isn't like he played a game and re-hurt it. He would not have done anything different than he's done, which is rest it for a long period of time, which he did, and rehab it.”

 

Stoops said Kelly's assertion that he would've been able to play had the tear been found earlier is off-base.

 

"He didn't do anything the whole time before we went to the Fiesta Bowl. He didn't practice once,” Stoops said. "He didn't practice at the Fiesta Bowl, even though we tried to warm him up. It's not realistic for that injury to heal that fast.”

 

Wednesday, OU spokesman Kenny Mossman conferred with members of the Sooner training staff, who said that Kelly was initially diagnosed with a bruise, but that the injury was later upgraded to a strain within 48 hours.

 

According to Mossman, OU's treatment of a partial quadriceps tear and a quadriceps strain is virtually the same: inactivity.

 

Kelly, who declared early for the NFL Draft days after the Fiesta Bowl, caught 49 passes for 821 yards and nine touchdowns last season, a drop-off from his sophomore total in 2006 when he reeled in 62 catches for 993 yards and 10 touchdowns.

 

Kelly's relationship with the Sooner coaches appeared to take a wrong turn midway through last season when he failed to register a catch in a 27-24 loss at Colorado.

 

"The opportunity was there,” Kelly said then after the game. "I guess that's just the way the dice rolled.”

 

Wednesday, he finally erupted.

 

"I had everything set up for where I wanted to (run) at,” said Kelly, who had a heated argument with Schmidt after the workout, at one point even throwing his cleats into the turf. "I get up here this morning and it's a whole different deal. I was slipping all over the place during my drill work. I can't say I'm pleased with anything today.”

 

Kelly's trainer, Chip Smith, said he was disappointed Kelly wasn't informed ahead of time that testing was going to be conducted on the field turf.

 

"Malcolm had been mentally prepared to run on the (AstroTurf), which a lot of universities do, so to change that when you walk in not knowing, I think there should've at least been a courtesy call to him to tell him they were going to change it,” said Smith, who has helped prepare more than 800 players for the draft over the years. "On a fast surface, he's probably a 4.4. We didn't even have the right shoes for him to run in. We had to make adjustments.”

 

Kelly — who wasn't cleared until March 20 for full training because of the quadriceps tear — said he had been preparing for the three weeks in Atlanta to test on AstroTurf, on which he said he had been running the 40 in under 4.50 seconds.

 

Schmidt said he had both the Mosier and Everest centers ready for testing, but that the scouts requested in the morning the workout be held on the field turf.

 

OU held its first pro day last month on the same field turf in the Everest Center.

 

"Malcolm can run anywhere he wants, but the NFL people wanted it on the closest to a surface that they play on,” Schmidt said. "That's like a track surface in (the Mosier Center) and they're going to adjust the times, which is not fair to the kid.”

 

According to Mossman, Gil Brandt of NFL.com phoned OU athletic director Joe Castiglione on Wednesday afternoon and said that he and the other scouts would've added time to Kelly's 40 had he run on AstroTurf to account for the faster surface.

 

Wednesday was an important day for Kelly, who had more than 35 NFL scouts and coaches in town to watch him, including Buffalo Bills Vice President of College Scouting Tom Modrak, Bills offensive coordinator Turk Schonert and Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski.

 

Kelly measured in at 6-feet, 3 7/10 -inches and 227 pounds. He reached 32 inches in the vertical jump and 9-feet, 11-inches in the broad jump.

 

He posted times of 4.17 in the short shuttle, 11.85 in the long shuttle and 7.11 in the three-cone drill.

 

Kelly looked especially sharp during receiving drills while catching passes from former Nebraska quarterback and 2001 Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch.

 

"I did real good in that area,” Kelly said. "I knew I was going to do good in that, that's natural.”

 

It remains to be seen if Kelly's 4.68 40-time will lower his stock in the April 26-27 draft, but it didn't help him with other potential first round receivers running faster times.

 

Limas Sweed recently posted a 4.50 in the 40 at Texas' pro day, held on field turf.

 

Michigan State's Devin Thomas ran a 4.38 at the NFL Combine.

 

After visiting with the Bills coaches, who have the No. 11 overall pick in the draft, Kelly ruled out running the 40 again.

 

"They told me they saw all they needed to see, that they saw the game film,” Kelly said, "and that I never got caught from behind.”

 

Kelly flew to Cincinnati immediately after the workout Wednesday along with Bratkowski to meet with Bengals officials.

 

He already visited Buffalo, and over the next week he's scheduled to meet with personnel from the Minnesota Vikings, Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys.

 

Kelly's criticism of OU overshadowed former Sooner defensive back Reggie Smith, who also tested in front of scouts for the first time.

 

Smith, who had been recovering from a broken big toe he suffered in the Big 12 Championship, leaped 39.5 inches in the vertical jump and ran a 4.65 in the 40.

 

"I could've done a lot better,” Smith said. "The surface was a little slower than I thought it was.

 

"I've seen a lot better times from myself and Kelly.”

 

 

 

If Kelly is going to be ####, he should be #### at his agent for not verifying what the scouts wanted him to run on. On the exact same surface his freshman year he ran a 4.54.

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I used to know Malcom along time ago. I was bestfriend with His cousin and they used to come over and play sports with me and my little brother. Malcom is a great player from his time at LHS to OU he has made and impact. If the Bengels pass him up they will be sorry becuase they just lost chris Henry and Chad Johnson is acting like a fool right now. Either way good Luck to "TruckStop" in the draft.

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Well, I have been to every OU/UT game except for one in the last 10 years. I average 3 or 4 games a year. I have been to last 2 Fiesta Bowls and the Sugar Bowl loss to LSU. Does this make me an expert? No, but I am allowed to have an opinion just as you are allowed to have an opinion. Did you watch KLTV's segment on him last night? If you didn't, I suggest you check it out.

 

Certainly did catch the segment on local news last night. Also know that there is way more to the story than what has been reported. There has been a rift between Malcolm and certain members of the coaching staff since the injury took place. And following the Sooners as you have stated, there is no way you can honestly say that Kelly was used to the best of his ability while at OU. But you can say that you never heard reports of him throwing temper tantrums and calling the coaches out about it.

 

Maybe Smoak can get an interview with Bob Stoops and ask him about his growing reputation for being uncooperative with players who come to him looking for advice when considering leaving school early. Lets ask Adrian Peterson what Stoops reaction was this time last year. I guarantee you he was given the "F-U" treatment Malcolm, Lofton, and Smith ALL received--only AD's draft stock was pretty much cemented, giving him more room to go "F-U back".

 

Sorry if my feathers seem to be ruffled here guys, it just kills me to watch a guy like Malcolm getting slammed all over the media as if he were a Chad Johnson or T.O. type guy in the locker room. Alot of people are missing the point of the interview and the source of his frustration. It is not as if he voluntarily skipped the combine, went out and ran a bad 40, and said-- this is OU's fault that I just sucked. But that is how it is being interpretted. Actually, this guy bled OU crimson and was a class act for 3 wonderful seasons with NO incidents at all. He took a beating, never had a stable QB situation, and was all but ignored as a deep threat in most games. His mother has been battling Lupus for years, and he wants to take the best opportunity he's got to turn pro. A misdiagnosis of a thigh injury causes him to have to sit out his last bowl game, where he takes even more heat from the coaches and fans. He had to skip the NFL combine in order to have any shot at fully recovering and performing well. Keep in mind that the NFL scouts have already told him that if he can run in the 4.6's he will be the 1st/2nd WR taken. He then trains in Atlanta with a well renown NFL combine coach and bulks up while registering only 4% body fat. Every day you train on the 40's and you come back to Oklahoma ready to attack the surface with cleats specifically designed for the Astroturf. It'd probably ###### you off too having to settle for that type of time because you were'nt given a heads up so you could make the necessary adjustments.

 

Some lucky NFL team is going to have a game changing, class guy land in their laps in a couple of weeks.

 

 

 

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OU did not choose which surface he ran on, it was the scouts choice. Malcom was and is a clutch reciever. I think that he did not meet his own expectations yesterday thus shed blame elsewhere. If Malcom is in fact a quality young man, he should issue a statement that he was wrong for the way he acted yesterday. The only people he should blame are his agent, his trainer and himself. I wish Smitty's father-in-law, who is a Tyler resident would weigh in on this. For every player that leaves OU with an attitude there are a dozen more that come back to train and be apart of the program.

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The majority of nfl stadiums are natural grass or field turf. It only makes sense that they would want to see him run on that surface instead of hard as a brick astroturf.

 

 

I don't think the source of his frustration is that he ran on field turf, but the fact that any football player will tell you there are different shoes for different surfaces, and the change of venue did not accomodate the cleats he had available to wear. Malcolm is a good enough athlete and person to be able to prove any NFL team wrong that lets him fall too far, maybe now he will still be around when the Boys pick.

 

BTW...there are at least a few rational people on Soonerfans.com who are willing to admit that the OU S&C team/ medical staff have earned a rep for shenanigans such as this incident over the years. Getting the diagnosis wrong, and suggesting players play thru injuries seems to be their M.O..

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Well, he probably didn't help his case by saying some of the things he did.

 

Regardless, pro days and this and that are a joke. If a kid can play the game, he'll get drafted high (or low) and do well. Malcom Kelly can play the game. Akili Smith had a great workout at pro day. Oops. Ryan Leaf had a great workout at pro day. Oops. KiJana Carter looked great at pro day. Oops.

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I don't think pro days are a joke. Now...you could say that guys who get invited to the combine should probably not run drills again. But pro days are good for those other guys who have nfl talent and don't get the invite or other guys who were invited but injured at the time and even small school talent. Derek Lokey of UT is a good example. He blew up the bench press and looked good in positional drills. If not for a pro day he might not have been able to showcase himself in front of 30 teams one of which might take a flyer on him late on day 2.

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http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/NFLDr.../wwhi041008.htm

 

 

Sooners' injured juniors disappoint; Otah recovers; Top prospects invited to draft

 

By Nolan Nawrocki

April 10, 2008

 

More from PFW

• Donovan McNabb chats with PFW about myriad things, 4/11/2008 1:27:18 PM

• About the player rankings, 4/11/2008 8:55:03 AM

• Carr likely to play multiple roles, 4/11/2008 8:55:03 AM

• Mock draft: Chris Long drops out of the top five, 4/2/2008 9:41:14 AM

• Q&A with Kansas CB Aqib Talib, 3/18/2008 8:47:15 AM

 

Related Topics

 

• Oklahoma Sooners

• Big 12 Conference

• Malcolm Kelly

• National Football League

• Jeff Otah

• Pittsburgh

• Dwayne Jarrett

• Darren McFadden

• Nolan Nawrocki

• Carolina Panthers

 

 

 

 

PFW personnel analyst Nolan Nawrocki will post "The Way We Hear It — draft edition" Tuesday through Thursday every week preceding the NFL draft.

 

A strong contingent of NFL personnel showed up in Norman, Okla., to watch a pair of Sooners juniors, WR Malcolm Kelly and CB Reggie Smith, work out, including four members of the Buffalo Bills' organization who were watching closely.

 

 

 

 

Oklahoma WR Malcolm Kelly

 

The way we hear it, Kelly could slide as far as the third round after a very disappointing performance. According to two evaluators in attendance, Kelly was clocked between 4.69 and 4.75 at 222 pounds, roughly five pounds heavier than the weight at which he played during the season and probably at least 10 pounds heavier than he needs to play at in the pros to maximize his ability.

“He’s a 4.6 guy on tape,” one evaluator in attendance said. “(Defenders) don’t catch him. He’s 6-4 with long arms, great hands and impressive tape. He just does not run fast.”

 

There have been a lot of good NFL receivers who did not time fast on the clock but consistently showed up big on tape, including Larry Fitzgerald, Braylon Edwards, Anquan Boldin and Michael Irvin. However, a poor showing in the 40 often has proven it could drop prospects a round, if not more, on Draft Day, equating to the loss of millions of dollars.

 

Kelly’s workout in many ways compares to that of former USC WR Dwayne Jarrett, who was stacked in the third round on many draft boards a year ago prior to being drafted in the middle of the second round by the Carolina Panthers. Jarrett struggled to get on the field as a rookie, and his immaturity frequently was apparent.

 

The way we hear it, the immaturity Kelly displayed following his poor workout, when he openly criticized the Sooners’ coaching staff and got into a heated discussion with Sooners strength coach Jerry Schmidt regarding the FieldTurf surface, which he blamed for creating his poor times, was even more disappointing than the workout itself.

 

“He could be a headache,” a veteran scout said. “He showed up out of shape and made a lot of excuses. He was pointing blame at everyone but himself. He needs to grow up. We would not even think about (drafting) him.”

 

Kelly's 32-inch vertical jump and average performance in agility drills also did little to impress scouts. He said following the workout that he had private visits scheduled this week with Cincinnati, Minnesota and Pittsburgh, all of which could use additional help at the WR position.

 

 

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In case no one caught the Malcolm interview on SportsTalk yesterday it is available on KTBB.com/nfldraft. Just click on the NFL Draft interviews link on the right. He should be right under Southern Cal TE Fred Davis and Kansas State WR Jordy Nelson.

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