Five schools in five years. That will be the college football journey for defensive lineman Eddie Kelly Jr., who announced on Tuesday that he will be signing with Mississippi State.
Kelly exhausted his eligibility at the end of the 2025 season, so West Virginia moved into the offseason thinking he was done. They added several pieces to the defensive line through the high school ranks and the transfer portal, bringing in over 80 players in total.
This has left West Virginia with just a couple of roster spots, and while Kelly did have interest in returning to the Mountaineers, the staff likely felt that adding him back would alter the plan for those currently on the roster who have worked their tails off all offseason long.
Sure, having a guy like Kelly would help the overall depth, but he would have to get caught back up to speed for one and two, you don’t want to take snaps away from a youngster who is trying to turn the corner for someone you didn’t plan on having and would only be back for a year. The only scenario you would be open to doing that is if it were a legitimate star player, and if we’re being real, that’s never going to happen because if they were that good, they would be playing in the NFL.
Kelly appeared in six games for the Mountaineers in 2025, registering 25 tackles, three passes defended, 1.5 tackles for loss, and 0.5 sacks in an average of 32.7 snaps per game. He also logged five pressures and five hurries, with two of those each coming in the overtime win over Pitt in the Backyard Brawl.
The Brawl was without question the game he made the most impact, but he played extremely well against BYU as well. In that game, he had three tackles, two of which went down as stops, aka tackles that constitute a “failure” for the offense. Outside of the Colorado game, in which he played okay, Kelly really struggled in the final month of the season. He did have a couple of pressures in the blowout loss to Texas Tech, but that was pretty much it.
Prior to West Virginia, Kelly made stops at South Florida, Georgia Tech, and Missouri. He has played in 49 career games and has collected 102 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, and three sacks.
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