Dane Key, Kentucky: 2025 NFL Draft Profile & Scouting Report

Key was a four-star recruit from Frederick Douglass High School in Lexington, Ky. in the class of 2022

Everyone is familiar with Kentucky’s Barion Brown, but his teammate Dane Key is also a legitimate prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft. Key projects as a Day 3 pick who will benefit from a quarterback with more velocity and willingness to challenge tight coverages than Devin Leary was in 2023.

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Dane Key, WR Kentucky: 2025 NFL Draft Profile

Classification: Junior wide receiver from Lexington, Ky.

Background: Key was a four-star recruit from Frederick Douglass High School in Lexington, Ky. in the class of 2022. He was the No. 235 recruit according to 247Sports and No. 266 for On3.com. Key was an unranked four-star for Rivals. ESPN ranked him 215th in the nation with an 82 grade out of 100. He led Frederick Douglass to a 34-5 record during his final three seasons, including Class 5A State Finals appearances as a sophomore and senior. As a senior, Key produced 959 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. He was the Class 5A Player of the Year and was the Paul Hornung Award winner, which goes to the Kentucky Player of the Year. He made 37 receptions for 625 yards and 11 touchdowns as a junior, not including a kick return touchdown. Key finished high school with First Team All-State selections for the Associated Press as a junior and senior. He also played centerfield on the baseball team for three seasons. Key’s father, Donte’, played linebacker and edge rusher at Kentucky from 1992-95. His brother, Devon, was an All-Conference defensive back at Western Kentucky before going undrafted and spending time with several NFL teams.

Injuries & Off-Field: Suffered a minor right hand injury vs. South Carolina (2022)

Awards: 2022 Honorable Mention Freshman All-American (CFN)

Pros: Primarily plays out wide but some slot experience, nice juice off the line for a player with his size, speed can surprise defenders in off-man coverage, footwork helps to freeze DBs, willing to scrap mid-route, good job working back across the corner’s face mid-route, presses leverage outside to widen DB before breaking inside, looks off the DB at the top of the stem, sudden feet allow for quick COD at the stem’s peak, uses hands to subtly push off at the top of the stem, comebacks and curls are generally sharp and create or maintain separation, good quickness on stick routes, breaks into space giving his QB a wide open target, finds and sits in space vs. zone coverage, long arms expand catch radius, generally a natural hands catcher despite charted drops, strong hands to pluck the ball out of the air, comfortable high pointing and catching through contact, solid one-cut ability for YAC, loves to trash talk CBs

Cons: Four penalties committed in each of the past two seasons, minimal special teams experience, six drops in 2023, one fumble in each of the past two seasons, disrupted by Kamari Lassiter’s physicality throughout the route (2023), limited hip sink at stem, must improve route fakes, in-breaking routes are rounded and allow DB to close quickly, a few too many steps to turn around on some comeback routes, unable to separate from Kamari Lassiter vertically (2023), struggles to separate vs. sticky corners, separation vs. NFL-caliber man coverage is limited, tracked down from behind after the catch

Overview: Key has fewer than 100 career snaps in the slot and fewer than 30 career special teams snaps. He primarily aligns out wide. The Kentucky native showcases some nice speed off the line for a player with his height. He overtakes defenders in off-man coverage and uses his footwork to hold or freeze defensive backs early in the route. Key doesn’t mind playing through or initiating contact mid-route. He has little issue working across the corner’s face mid-route. Key stems his route outside to drag the corner wide before breaking inside to space. He does a good job using leverage despite his inexperience compared to upperclassmen. Key uses his head and eyes to fake out cornerbacks at the top of the stem and uses his sudden feet to quickly change directions. He also uses his hands to subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) push off at the stem’s peak. There’s still room for the former four-star recruit to cut down on the number of gather steps in his comeback routes, but his comebacks and curls are usually sharp enough to maintain or create separation. His movements are quick on stick routes. Key recognizes space well, breaking into it to give his quarterback an option versus zone and when the play breaks down. The junior struggled against Kamari Lassiter in 2023. Lassiter’s physicality disrupted Key’s route running and concentration at the catch point. Key failed to generate significant separation against the Georgia product vertically. Key’s route running has several pathways to improve. He needs to sink his hips more at the top of the stem and improve his route fake salesmanship. His in-breaking routes are rounded and open opportunities for defensive backs to close quickly and undercut them. Key is a good athlete but might not have the physical tools to create separation against sticky NFL corners at a high level. Despite these concerns, Key is still a notably better route runner and pure receiver than his more famous teammate, Barion Brown. Key’s long arms expand his catch radius, and he has the strong hands to pluck the ball out of the air. He is comfortable high pointing the ball and completing catches through contact. Key was charted with six drops in 2023 but appears to be a natural hands catcher. He lacks elite speed to create after the catch but has good one-cut ability to make the initial defender miss. Key loves to compete and trash talk corners, but this sometimes crosses the line and leads to penalties.

Overall, Key is a hyper-competitive receiver who maximizes his frame with his route running and skills at the catch point. He is a well-rounded prospect but doesn’t have a single dominant area in his game. Key needs to improve as a natural separator and refine certain elements of his route tree to move up draft boards.

Role & Scheme Fit: X or Z receiver in an 11 personnel scheme

Round Grade: Late Fourth to Mid Fifth Round

Size: 6'3", 195 lbs. (Unofficial)

Submitted: 05-12-24