Actually no. Began the season as third string, but wound up getting a lot of playing time the second half of the season due to Hurd's dismissal and Kamara's injury. Started vs Tenn Tech and split time with Kamara the last 5 games of the season. He was actually our leading ball carrier 4 times last year and our second leading ball carrier a couple other times.
So no, he wasn't our "3rd string mop up guy". That being said, he's gonna open the eyes of some analysts and media guys this year imo. We all know what we have in Kelly, they don't seem to yet.
I'd have had more fun watching him if half his runs didn't wind up two yards or less or if he'd ever actually broken a decent run. On balance, he was pretty meh.
...Kelly not being on the radar at this point is not really a concern for me.
Good. Hope we're not preseason ranked either. Give the boys a chip on their shoulder. Butch needs to get boys playing like they have something to prove.
Heard Hurd was trying to come back to UT. Apologized to all the coaching staff willing to start from the bottom of the depth chart and give up scholarship.
There are other questions on the team. IMO, there are questions on the coaching staff. Kelly isn't much of a question mark. He had the 2nd highest yds/carry of any UT back in the last 10 years at least. The biggest question about Kelly is why he didn't get more touches earlier.
What was fun about watching him run into the backs of O linemen or getting caught from behind by DEs?