On Tuesday, the Pac-12 announced their All-Pac-12 Conference Team for football and two Stanford players made the cut: Junior cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly and senior defensive end Thomas Booker. Both Kelly and Booker were named to the Second Team Defense.
This past season, Kelly totaled 58 tackles (42 solo), 11 pass deflections, 1 fumble recovery, 1 forced fumble, and 2 interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown at USC. Following the USC win, Kelly was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week. As for Booker, he totaled 59 tackles (28 solo), 5.0 tackles for a loss, 1.0 sack, and 1 pass deflection.
Booker is a graduating senior who is expected to declare for the 2022 NFL Draft while Kelly has a senior year to come back to, though there is some speculation that he too might leave for the NFL. It’ll be interesting to see what decision he makes. Both guys had really solid years on defense and made an impact even though the wins-loss record doesn’t reflect it.
Kelly and Booker weren’t the only Stanford players to pick up All-Conference honors: Junior guard Branson Bragg, sophomore quarterback Tanner McKee, junior center Drake Nugent, and sophomore tight end Benjamin Yurosek picked up All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention honors.