Grade

EDGE

7th Round - UDFA

2026 Draft Class

Nyjalik Kelly

Status

UDFAGreen Bay Packers

UCF

6'5 3/8"

256lbs

Age 22

Jul 15, 2026

Executive Summary

Nyjalik Kelly is a long, instinctive edge defender whose length, pursuit, and run-defense tools provide an intriguing developmental foundation.

Strengths

Tackling / Wrap Up, Versatility, and Frame

Weaknesses

Agility and Strength / Balance / Leverage

Full Scouting Report

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Processing / Game IQ

Pros:

•Gets his eyes in the backfield very quickly

•Does a pretty solid job feeling out screens and reacting quickly

•Does a great job getting his long arms and paws up to get pass deflections

•Always punching at the ball

Cons:

•Can get suctioned inside and give up outside gap

•Plays too far off the LOS at times

•Doesn’t diagnose the pass too well

Athleticism / Frame

Pros:

•Great height and frame at 6’5”

•37” vertical is really good, 84th percentile at the position

•9.92 broad jump is decent ~64th percentile

•Insanely long arms at over 35” which is beyond elite

•Big hands at over 10”

Cons:

•Underweight

•4.88 40 is not good enough, placing him in the 31st percentile

•0 5.79 RAS Score

•Extremely poor agility

Tackling / Wrap Up

Pros:

•Finds ankles and gets guys down decently efficiently

•Wraps up very well and does a good job consistently bringing down ball carriers

Cons:

•Can tackle too high at times

Pursuit / Bend

Pros:

•Gets out in space and pursues well

•Solid effort on the backside and throughout the whole play

•Finds the ball carrier and pursues them very hard

Cons:

•None

Hand Usage

Pros:

•Nice pulldown move to throw defenders to the ground and get off the LOS quickly

•Has a really solid long-arm move

•Gets his hands inside the shoulders and up close to create leverage for himself

Cons:

•Hands aren’t super quick

•Hand timing can be late

Versatility

Pros:

•Can play in a 3-point stance and a 2-point stance

•He can drop back, play a QB spy role, or zone coverage and be effective

Cons:

•None

Strength / Balance / Leverage

Pros:

•Solid at the POA and away from the POA in the run game

•Can blow up a block with a big initial hit

•Has some solid leg drive to sustain bull rushes

Cons:

•Upright playstyle can lead to him getting out leveraged

•Definitely isn’t the best at anchoring down on double teams

Explosiveness / Twitch / Agility

Pros:

•Sets up his spin move decently well

•Has a decent dip move

•Pretty solid first step, explosiveness, and acceleration off the LOS

•Has flashed some twitch to his game

•Shown some quick moves off the LOS to make blockers whiff

Cons:

•Doesn’t quite have the hip torque to execute an elite spin move

•His agility testing at the combine was atrocious

•His twitch is definitely far from elite on the occasion he shows any

Games Watched

•Week 3 vs UNC, Week 8 vs BAY, Week 10 vs TTU, Week 12 vs BYU

Ideal Situation

•Nyjalik Kelly projects as a rotation edge defender. He processes plays very quickly and does a good job using his height to get his eyes in the backfield. Kelly moves pretty well for his length. He has incredibly long arms, big hands, and plenty of height. While Kelly did have a slight down year in his tackling success rate, I still saw someone who tackles low to the ground and hunts ankles very well. Kelly has plenty of bend and pursuit speed to consistently clean up plays. His hand usage is solid, but if he mistimes his initial move, he can really struggle to get his hands off him. He possesses decent versatility and plays well as a QB spy, dropping back into coverage at times. Kelly can also sustain a bull rush and is decent at the POA in one-on-one scenarios. While Kelly has some decent first-step explosiveness off the LOS for his size, it is far from elite. Kelly does have plenty of weaknesses in his game that made him an undrafted signing. His agility on tape is okay, but his testing agility at the combine was also in the 11th and 3rd percentile in the 3-cone and shuttle drill. Sometimes Kelly can get sucked in and give up the outside gap. I would like to see Kelly be more physical and use his frame against ball carriers instead of tackling like a DB. His tackling statistics also dipped. Nyjalik Kelly, while he has good pursuit and bend for his size, it is definitely not elite. Kelly is versatile, but not the most versatile rusher by any means. While he is decent at the POA in one-on-ones, he does struggle with double teams and can still be washed out while also playing at a high pad level. Nyjalik Kelly found himself undrafted after the weekend and was later signed by the Green Bay Packers. Kelly also projects as the 4th-string WLB on the Packers and will have to battle with others to earn a spot on the active roster. I do believe he can earn the 3rd-string spot because of his natural size for the position, although I do not project him to get much playing time unless someone gets injured or has a significant drop-off. The Packers could definitely use a better OLB/EDGE opposite of Micah Parsons, as 1st-round pick in 2023 Luke Van Ness has yet to have a significant, productive season and suffered a major injury last season. Kelly is still very young and only 21. Kelly, while with the Hurricanes in 2023, did have a season-ending knee injury. However, in the last 2 seasons, he has been healthy with UCF. I will be curious to see if Kelly can develop into a rotational edge for the Packers.

Rating:

•Processing / Game IQ – 7.4/10

•Athleticism / Frame – 7.4/10

•Tackling / Wrap Up – 8.5/10

•Pursuit / Bend – 7.0/10

•Hand Usage – 6.2/10

•Versatility – 7.6/10

•Strength / Balance / Leverage – 7.0/10

•Explosiveness / Twitch / Agility – 5.9/10

Total = 66.9/100 (D) Mid 5th Round

Combine Testing

Height

6'5"

Weight

256lbs

28thBelow Average

40-Yard Dash

4.88s

31thBelow Average

Vertical

37.0in

84thVery Good

Bench

—

Broad Jump

119in

64thAbove Average

Three-Cone

7.62s

11thPoor

Shuttle

4.76s

3thPoor

DPH Proprietary Scores

Frame Score

Measures a prospect's physical build and size relative to historical NFL positional standards.

DPH Athlete

Diamond Prospects' proprietary athletic score that evaluates a player's overall athletic profile using combine testing and positional percentiles.

Total Score

The combined athletic evaluation generated from Frame Score and DPH Athlete Score.

Combine Year: 2026 • Data from DPH Combine Database

Andrés Griñe

Founder of DiamondProspects and Head NFL Scout View Full Bio

I am an Assistant in Player Personnel/Scouting for Washington State Football with over six years of experience scouting NFL prospects and evaluating talent. I previously covered high school baseball as a writer for NMPreps and now run DiamondProspects, where I publish scouting reports, prospect evaluations, and draft analysis. I am currently a junior pursuing a degree in Sports Management and am originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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