In a young Raiders’ cornerback room, Kyu Blu Kelly has a shot

With preferred height and length, roster climb will be challenge in Las Vegas

Standing 6-foot-1 with 32-inch arm length, Kyu Blu Kelly fits the preferred traits Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll has historically sought from his cornerbacks.

The 24-year-old defender is part of a young cornerback room in the desert and, after being a practice squader who was elevated and reverted to the taxi squad, Kelly is again trying to make an impression for roster considerations in Las Vegas.

A fifth-round pick (157th overall) by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2023 NFL Draft, this former Stanford Cardinal found himself on a trio of teams that season — Ravens, Seattle Seahawks (with Carroll) and the Washington Commanders. Last year, Kelly was inked by the Raiders in early September as a street free agent.

From there, he played in four total games for Las Vegas totaling meager numbers (below) in 14 defensive snaps and 12 special teams snaps.

By The Numbers
Kyu Blu Kelly, Cornerback

• 2024: 4 games (0 starts), 2 total tackles (1 solo)
• Career: 12 games (0 starts), 10 total tackles (9 solo), 1 tackle for loss

With the Raiders set for training camp later this week and next, Kelly is one of 10 cornerbacks on the current 90-man limit. He’s also one of seven under the age of 25 with veteran nickel corner Darnay Holmes the oldest at 27, Sam Webb also 27, and veteran Eric Stokes at 26.

Flip it and the youngest cornerbacks are: Rookies Mello Dotson, Greedy Vance, and John Humphrey (all undrafted) and 23 years old.

Las Vegas’ 2025 draft pick — Darien Porter, third round (68th overall) — is an “older” prospect at age 24 while fellow youngsters Jakorian Bennett (24) and Decamerion Richardson (24) rounding out the cornerback room.

The pecking order at the position group has yet to be decided and that helps Kelly and the other hopefuls when Las Vegas reconvenes for training camp.

That’ll be the period where the team can put on pads and get physical. And that often provides the demarcation line for coaching staffs and front office alike to make roster decisions that span from starters, backups, and depth to the jarring cutdown from the 90- to 53-man roster before the regular season.

In order for Kelly to make an impression, however, he’ll need to outshine a hungry cornerback room and showcase the talent and production he exhibited during his collegiate career at Stanford.

Kelly used his size and length, along with instincts to be a nuisance in coverage (three total interceptions (one pick six) and 23 total pass deflections in four seasons for the Cardinal) over the course of his collegiate career.

When Kelly was in prime position, he made plays on the ball that you’d expect.

But where he struggles is stickiness in man-to-man as his recovery speed wasn’t ideal. While his size and length helps tighten throwing areas when he’s in coverage and he can jam a receiver with the best of them with his long arms, the lack of explosive burst was apparent and savvy route runners with top end speed got the best of Kelly. And if he whiffs on in press or match coverage, he doesn’t have the jets to make up lost round.

Kelly is more well-suited for zone schemes — which Carroll and Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham prefer — but there are times where man coverage is dialed up and unless Kelly shows he can hang, that’ll be an area of opportunity. Which dampens his roster climb amongst a group of cornerbacks with fleet-feet (4.25 40-yard dash time for Stokes; 4.30-flat for both Bennett and Porter; 4.34 for Richardson).

A deep reserve/special teamer appears to be Kelly’s ceiling as he heads into 2025. Unless he puts together standout effort in upcoming camp and preseason action. But familiarity with Carroll and having the desired physical traits does give him a shot — a longshot one at that.