Despite a reputation for being an intercept mark specialist and opportunity created by a LTI to Tom Doedee last season, Jake Kelly concentrated far more on spoils and one percenters in his third tall defender role. His fantasy score in basic formats hovered around the back baseline without rising consistently beyond it, though he was more startable in exotic scoring leagues. Kelly doesn't need to do much on the rebound as he has highly-credentialed half backs on either side to do that work, plus the battle for full back between Alex Keath and Kyle Hartigan was resolved without affecting his position. He should be left on the free agent pool for a possible one-week spot start when you're desperate, due to some unattractive variability.
Forget it, Jake
Despite a reputation for being an intercept mark specialist and opportunity created by a LTI to Tom Doedee last season, Jake Kelly concentrated far more on spoils and one percenters in his third tall defender role. His fantasy score in basic formats hovered around the back baseline without rising consistently beyond it, though he was more startable in exotic scoring leagues. Kelly doesn't need to do much on the rebound as he has highly-credentialed half backs on either side to do that work, plus the battle for full back between Alex Keath and Kyle Hartigan was resolved without affecting his position. He should be left on the free agent pool for a possible one-week spot start when you're desperate, due to some unattractive variability.
Are Kelly owners peed off?
The departure of Jake Lever did not change Jake Kelly's role appreciably, as he played third tall defender again without ever stringing startable scores together, such as in a mid-season run of scores of 41, 82, 46, 103 and 30. Like most key defenders, Kelly's fantasy value lies in him getting clear to take uncontested marks as the defence kicks across the last line. This happens in seemingly random patterns, making him a rather desperate free agent start at best.
Third tall role gels for Kelly
Adelaide made the decision early in 2017 to commit to Jake Kelly over Kyle Cheney in the seniors, and he was given some big jobs on talls and smalls. The game evolved to his liking as smaller leading forwards better suit his tween-sized stature. He is particularly well-matched on inside mids resting forward like Patrick Dangerfield, a trend that will continue in 2018. Don Pyke likes to use four talls in his defence, and Kelly is now secure as the third of those. The key to unlocking any fantasy potential he might have is in him working off his man to get uncontested marks, but the Crows tend not to stuff around with the ball on the rebound so it would be highly unlikely to happen on any sort of consistent basis.
