Joshua Kelley, UCLA
Player was taken at Pick 112 in Round 4 by the Los Angeles and was the tenth running back off the board. He spent 5 years in college with his last 2 at UCLA where he ran for 1060 yards on 229 carries (4.6 yards per carry) and caught 11 passes for 71 yards with 13 total touchdowns during his last year in college.
Athletic Profile
Film Analysis
Running: Joshua Kelley loves chaos. He is at his best when the play breaks down and he uses high risk moves to create space. However, he may go off-script a little too early and often. In the NFL, he may have trouble putting multiple defenders in quicksand and then beating them to the outside. His acceleration from standing still is great though and it’s what helped him get out of many jams in college as he set up defenders at the second level and then outran them. Kelley is very athletic with multiple hurdle attempts in his film. He is a decisive runner and once he picks his lane, he puts his head down and attacks whoever gets in his way.
Receiving: Kelley displayed quick hands on tape, being able to snatch high throws as he was running. His route running is okay, but he will be able to be utilized on a lot of arrow routes over the middle of the field.
Pass Blocking: Kelley was overmatched by some of the bigger linebackers in college, but he does a good job squaring up the incoming blitzer. He needs to work on some different techniques to take on some of the bigger competition in the NFL, but he has good vision and speed to get to the defender.
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Landing Spot Reaction
Joshua Kelley profiles as a three-down running back that needs to work on pass protection. I think his skill-level is that of a do-it-all backup. He is the kind of guy you would have faith in coming in if your top option got hurt. Kelley going to the Chargers provides him an opportunity to play a good amount of snaps. Austin Ekeler is the incumbent with the most experience, and should still take on most of the workload, but the Chargers have loved using two running backs in the past. We could see an intense camp battle between Kelley and Justin Jackson. The Chargers had the 13th best run blocking offensive line in the NFL, but threw the ball less than 27 other teams. With Tyrod Taylor at quarterback or the rookie Justin Herbert coming in, I believe that number will go way up. There will be enough carries going around for fantasy relevance if Kelley can take hold of the number two role, but he has his work cut out for him because Justin Jackson has produced more than a seventh round pick.
Austin Ekeler remains projected to lead the Chargers backfield in carries and targets. This was an ideal scenario for Ekeler because some people believed the Chargers might take one of the top backs in the draft to keep Ekeler in the number two role. Now, the backfield is his to lead.The real test comes for Justin Jackson who will be battling it out for the backup role. Kelley is a do-it-all back who fell because of his age and the pick used was a high fourth. I’d be concerned that Jackson is being replaced long-term as he only has a year remaining on his contract.
Dynasty Draft Projection
Joshua Kelley is a top 12 running back in this class and should fit in nicely as a backup. His battle with Justin Jackson will be fun to watch, but with no guarantee to win the backup job. With Austin Ekeler taking the lead role, he’s not going to be worth a high pick. If you’re an Ekeler owner and don’t own Justin Jackson, Kelley could be worth a third round pick in rookie drafts. If you do own both, I don’t think it’s important to own the entire backfield. I would probably try to wait until round four to grab him if he’s there, knowing there should be other players with upside on the board.
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