#16

Grady Kelly

Senior defensive lineman for Michigan State. 2025: 1 sack, 3.5 tackles for loss, 25 tackles.

DL · Michigan State · Sr. · #16

6′2″ · 295 lb · Navarre, FL

CFB Index 61 · #112 of 330 interior linemenLow confidenceReturning to Michigan State for 2026

How he plays

Wins his gap play after play.

Tackles for loss: 69th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

sack · 2025

3.5 TFL · 25 tackles · 1 hurries

Best game: 0.5 sacks, 0.5 TFL, 6 tackles, vs Penn State

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for Michigan State. 2025: 1 sack, 3.5 tackles for loss, 25 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Colorado State in 2021.
Transferred from Florida State to Michigan State in 2025.

His career, year by year

Grady Kelly

DL · Michigan State · Sr · #16

Wins his gap play after play. Grady Kelly has played for four head coaches across five seasons and three programs. The receipt on tape: 6 tackles, 0.5 TFL against Penn State, Week 12, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Colorado State3-9HC: Steve Addazio · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2022Colorado State3-9HC: Jay Norvell · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2023Colorado State5-7HC: Jay Norvell · Pass-leaning

2024Florida State2-10HC: Mike Norvell · Balanced, slow tempo

2025Michigan State4-8HC: Jonathan Smith · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

61Quality starter #112 of 330?

Low confidenceAscending7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: solo tackles (17th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Tackles for loss#866 / 2975 · 69th pct

3.5

Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct

Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct

1.0

QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct

Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct

Tackles#1667 / 2975 · 43rd pct

Solo tackles#2397 / 2975 · 17th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	3.0	0.4	0.1	0.1
Road3g	1.3	0.2	0.0	0.3

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	2.2	0.5	0.1	0.2
Weeks 8+5g	2.8	0.2	0.1	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Pat Fitzgerald

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

61 · #112 of 330 interior linemen

Three-star recruit. Now #112 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big Ten

Based on 2025: #27 of 69 Big Ten DLs

How the All-Big Ten estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Michigan State	25	7	3.5	1.0	2	--	--
2024	Florida State	15	5	2.5	1.0	1	--	--
2023	Colorado State	35	10	6.5	1.5	--	--	--
2022	Colorado State	43	13	2.5	1.0	2	--	--
2021	Colorado State	1	--	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		119	35	15.0	4.5	5	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2025

W 41–24

vs Youngstown State

3 TOT · 0 TFL

With A. Chiles — 270 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 76.6 · 76 rush yds (8 car) · O. Kelly — 4 rec · 49 yds

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 23-6vs Western Michigan	2	0	0.5	0.0	—	1
Wk 2	W 42-40vs Boston College	2	2	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 41-24vs Youngstown State	3	0	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 31-45@ USC	—	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 7	L 13-38vs UCLA	4	0	0.5	0.5	—	0
Wk 9	L 20-31vs Michigan	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	L 20-23@ Minnesota	2	1	0.5	0.0	—	1
Wk 12	L 10-28vs Penn State	6	0	0.5	0.5	—	0	Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 13	L 17-20@ Iowa	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	W 38-28vs Maryland	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		25	7	3.5	1.0	—	2

How he plays

Play style

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

9 games

25Tackles

7Solo

3.5TFL

1Sacks

2Pass def.

0INT

25 tackles. 2 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 3.5 TFL.

Week 11 PD
Week 70.5 sacks
Week 101 PD
Week 120.5 sacks

Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.

2026 Outlook

Michigan State

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Michigan State

Returning around him

2 Michigan State players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -18 net (28 in / 46 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Michigan State · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #61 · 2026 recruiting class #45

DNA match

Player DNA

Two-Gap Base

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Dasean Dixon’s 2025 season.

Dasean Dixon

94%match

Northern Illinois · 2025

Damian Ilalio

Kansas State · 2025

89%

Anthony Hawkins

Bowling Green · 2022

88%

Jordan Guerad

Florida International · 2023

All-Conference USA

88%

Izeya Floyd

Rice · 2021

87%

Matches Dasean on

Class year

Hurry rate

Sack rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Dezmond Tell's graduate season at Louisville (2024).

Dezmond Tell

84%match

Louisville · 2024

D'Anta Johnson

East Carolina · 2024

All-AAC

84%

Dvon J-Thomas

Penn State · 2024

82%

Anthony Franklin

Stanford · 2025

82%

Denzel Lowry

Louisville · 2025

All-Sun Belt

80%

Matches Dezmond on

Class year

Sack rate

TFL rate

Player DNA

Players who play like Grady Kelly

Dasean Dixon

Northern Illinois · 2025

94%

Dion Washington

Boise State · 2025

93%

D'Anta Johnson

East Carolina · 2022

92%

Kyler Baugh

Minnesota · 2022

90%

Brodarius Lewis

Southern Miss · 2025

90%

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Grady Kelly

2021

20249 games

202510 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Two-Gap Base

Players who play like Grady Kelly