Alabama Football: Alabama to Hear Today from Top Quarterback Prospect Chad Kelly

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer)—Gunner Kiel, perhaps the nation's top quarterback prospect and subject of an article earlier this week, may have put off announcing his decision to come to Alabama so he could wait and hear what Buffalo, New York native Chad Kelly is going to do.

Kelly, nephew of NFL Hall of Fame and former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly, will announce his decision today as to his college of choice, and many think Nick Saban will pull this quarterback, one of the nation's top-rated at this position, to Tuscaloosa.

Could Kiel be scared of a little competition and be waiting to hear if Kelly pulls the trigger for the Tide first before he announces?

Kelly is a big 6'3", 210-pound quarterback who is considered by all scouts to be a true dual-threat quarterback. He is considered the country's eighth-best quarterback right now and would be a great catch for any team. He's got a very strong arm and running back speed to go along with that big 6'3" frame. He's not a quarterback that will be sacked easily or with an arm tackle.

Last season, in his junior year, Kelly passed for 2,159 yards (25 TDs) and ran for 1,057 (14 TDs). You can see why everyone considers him such a dual-threat quarterback. In fact, every time he lines up behind center, you have a potential wildcat play.

Some have called him the second coming of Tim Tebow, and the comparisons are certainly warranted, even though scouts say Kelly has a much smoother throwing motion than Tebow did at this stage of development.

Why haven't you heard more about this quarterback? He plays in Buffalo, for one thing, at a stadium that has about the same number of people show up for a game as there are peanut vendors at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Despite great numbers and an impressive pedigree, it wasn't until Jimbo Fisher happened across a Facebook link to Kelly's highlights that he was "discovered." Soon after, all the big colleges sat up and starting notice.

Without a highlight reel and the Internet, the only offers he had received were from Buffalo and Western Michigan. With his highlight reel now having made the rounds, besides the schools already mentioned, you can throw in teams like Ohio State, Wisconsin, Georgia, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, North Carolina, UConn, Rutgers and many more who have all offered him.

Like all top prospects, many top schools have gone after him, but some of the schools that insiders say are in the mix with Alabama at his top tier are Clemson and Florida State. Syracuse has also been mentioned, but not as much as the others.

Kelly is scheduled to announce his decision at his school on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. He recently listed Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Michigan State, Purdue, Syracuse and his hometown Buffalo as his top schools, but friends and insiders have said he's been a Crimson Tide lean since his last visit.

We will see today who the lucky winner is.

********  Late Submission to This Story ***********

Kelly chose Clemson over Alabama and Florida State.