Chicago Bears Draft Profile: Stanford CB Kyu Blu Kelly
By Dakota Wayne
While the argument could be made that the Chicago Bears don’t need to focus on their defensive backfield this offseason, there’s reason to believe the group could get better as a whole.
After his week at the Senior Bowl under the supervision of Luke Getsy and other Chicago Bears staff in attendance, this player could be driving up their draft board.
BREAKING: Stanford’s Kyu Blu Kelly (@Kbk1Kyu) has been voted National team’s CB Practice Player-of-Week by vote from his peers in National WR group.#TheDraftStartsInMOBILE™️ pic.twitter.com/ryYqEPDDq7
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) February 3, 2023
That player is Kyu Blu Kelly from Stanford.
Kelly has good size at corner, standing 6-foot-1 and weighing 186 pounds.
Could the Chicago Bears deepen their defensive backfield by drafting Kyu Blu Kelly?
Based on his play, he would fit in excellently with the Chicago Bears’ defensive backfield.
During his time with Stanford, it’s hard to say he wasn’t tested, as Kyu Blu Kelly was often tasked to cover Jordan Addison whenever Stanford and USC matched up against each other. During those matchups, Kelly frequently found himself as the winner.
Considering Addison is one of the top route-runners in this draft, that’s impressive for a corner that had his name become more relevant during the Senior Bowl.
| Tackles | Def Int | Fumbles | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Solo | Ast | Tot | Loss | Sk | Int | Yds | Avg | TD | PD | FR | Yds | TD | FF |
| 2019 | Stanford | Pac-12 | FR | CB | 11 | 28 | 6 | 34 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2020 | Stanford | Pac-12 | SO | CB | 5 | 15 | 5 | 20 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2021 | Stanford | Pac-12 | JR | CB | 11 | 42 | 16 | 58 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2 | 31 | 15.5 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2022 | Stanford | Pac-12 | SR | CB | 10 | 26 | 9 | 35 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Career | Stanford | 111 | 36 | 147 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 3 | 31 | 10.3 | 1 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
As mentioned prior, the Chicago Bears don’t necessarily need a defensive back. Still, if their free agency plans involve obtaining guys mostly in the trenches, it opens up the draft more for other positions. Kyu Blu Kelly was an exceptional corner with Stanford, so bringing him to the Windy City wouldn’t be a bad idea regardless.
Kelly has really fluid hips, enough speed to keep up with some of the best, and an overall great eye for the ball. He might not be a Day 1 guy, but that shouldn’t discredit what Kyu Blu Kelly can do on the field.
As I’ve mentioned in the past, the NFC North has an incredibly talented group of receivers, outside the Chicago Bears right now, so getting a top-end defensive backfield shouldn’t be seen as a bad idea.
Along with that, Luke Getsy had plenty of time to observe Kyu Blu Kelly, as he was an opposing corner of his American Team during the Senior Bowl. In fact, he had some incredibly impressive plays against Getsy’s quarterbacks over the week.
Getsy having that closer eye on him could give the Bears an upper hand when scouting him on whether he fits their scheme or not.