By John Shinn
Transcript Sports Writer
In Oklahoma’s locker room, Malcolm Kelly has some admirers. Run down the Sooners’ roster and nearly every player has a story of one of Kelly’s feats you had to see to believe.
“He’s a monster,” Sooner cornerback Marcus Walker said.
Walker should know. He’s had to go up against Kelly most days in practice. He gets a better view than anyone of all those leaping grabs, even while sandwiched between a pair of defenders.
But why is Kelly, entering his junior season, still trying to crack into the short list of college football’s elite wide receivers?
He’s had the best numbers of any two-year receiver in OU history. Kelly’s already caught 95 passes for 1,464 yards with 12 going for touchdowns. By any standard, he’s the kind of weapon an offensive can be built around.
Last season, he was a dominant player on a Sooner team that went 11-3 and a won a Big 12 Championship.
Yet he finds himself looking up at Oklahoma State’s Adarius Bowman and Texas’ Limas Sweed as the conference’s top pass catchers.
Perhaps it’s because receivers build their reputations as part of a tandem. Mark Clayton, OU’s last All-American receiver, had Jason White flinging passes to him for two full seasons and parts of a third.
Continuity has been fleeting in OU’s passing attack since White left campus. Kelly will be trying to establish a connection with a third starting quarterback when OU opens practice this week.
“It’s kind of crazy,” Kelly said. “You’d never think that would happen, but you just have to take it and run with it. I sit down and think about that some times. Three years, three different quarterbacks.”
Back in 2005, it looked like that would never be the case. Kelly, as a true freshman, broke into the starting lineup and established a connection with Rhett Bomar.
Many believed they were the future of OU’s passing game and the future wasn’t just bright, but white hot.
It didn’t work out that way.
Last season was spent getting synchronized with Paul Thompson. The same is the case this year with Sam Bradford, Joey Halzle and Keith Nichol.
However, Kelly expresses no frustration over the revolving door he’s caught passes from.
“Those years I’ve had with those quarterbacks have been pretty successful years,” he said. “I don’t see a reason why we can’t this year.”
It’s not surprising he doesn’t dwell on the situation. His attitude has always been one of his best attributes.
“He always has a great attitude about working and he’s an exceptional player,” OU coach Bob Stoops said. “Last year everyone knew he was our guy and that’s who we were going to and he was still hard to stop. He does a great job of being the kind of leader that you want.”
It’s a new role for Kelly. He’s never been the guy to rally the troops. When big plays were called for, he was there. When big words were necessary, he deferred to someone else.
“I’ve never had to consider myself that,” Kelly said of the leadership role. “I’ve always been the young guy. As long I’ve been here that’s what I’ve been. I’ve never been the vocal guy either.”
But that, too, has changed.
Tight end Joe Jon Finley believes Kelly became more comfortable with being an elder statesmen after the season.
“Since the offseason and everything, he’s kind of spoken up a little bit more,” Finley said. “But he’s mainly been a leader by example. He works hard in every drill we do and plays hard in every football game.”
This could be the season Kelly becomes a household name outside of Oklahoma. No matter who wins OU’s quarterback competition, Kelly will likely become his favorite target.
He only has one basic goal when it comes to the upcoming season.
“When they throw me the ball, I catch it,” he said. “That’s all that really matters.”
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
Kelly taking a leadership turn?
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