
EJ Kelly brings four-star juice to SMU’s backfield
EJ Kelly is a freshman running back at SMU in the 2026 season, and the selling point is obvious: he arrived as a four-star prospect with track-speed pop and a huge high-school résumé, including 2,138 rushing yards, 25 rushing touchdowns, and 3,088 all-purpose yards as a senior in 2025. Reports and roster listings frame him as a high-upside athlete with legitimate big-play ability and return-game value, but he entered 2026 dealing with an undisclosed injury and was ruled out for Week 1. If you want explosiveness and ceiling, he’s intriguing; if you need an immediate durable workhorse, the answer is still developing.





