{"id":84177,"date":"2020-04-02T11:00:41","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T15:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/?p=84177"},"modified":"2020-04-02T19:27:21","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T23:27:21","slug":"joshua-kelley-2020-nfl-draft-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2020\/04\/02\/joshua-kelley-2020-nfl-draft-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"Joshua Kelley 2020 NFL Draft Profile"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Position<\/strong>: Running Back<br \/>\n<strong>Height<\/strong>: 5&#8217;11&#8221;<br \/>\n<strong>Weight<\/strong>: 212 pounds<br \/>\n<strong>School<\/strong>: UCLA Bruins<\/p>\n<p><strong>Combine Performance Data<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>40-yard dash<\/strong>: 4.49 seconds<br \/>\n<strong>Bench press<\/strong>: 23 reps (tied for fifth-best among running backs)<br \/>\n<strong>Vertical jump<\/strong>: 31 inches<br \/>\n<strong>Broad jump<\/strong>: 10 feet, 1 inch<br \/>\n<strong>Three-cone drill<\/strong>: 6.95 seconds (best among running backs)<br \/>\n<strong>20-yard shuttle<\/strong>: 4.28 seconds<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Joshua Kelley 2020 NFL Draft Profile<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The scholarship offers were few and far between for <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/joshua-kelley-1.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joshua Kelley<\/a><\/strong>, a function of the fact he didn&#8217;t really see much production at running back until his senior year of high school. In fact, he only received a single offer from UC Davis in FCS. During his two seasons with the Aggies, Kelley accounted for a combined 1,139 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 193 carries. After this, he returned to his native southern California, transferring to UCLA and sitting out the 2017 season.<\/p>\n<p>Suffice it to say that Kelley made the most of his two years of eligibility with the Bruins. He rushed for 12 touchdowns both seasons, good enough for second-best in the Pac-12 each year (that total was tied with four other players in 2018). From a yardage standpoint, his 2018 campaign was a tad more prolific than last year as he rushed for 1,243 yards compared to 1,060 as a senior. He subsequently became the eighth running back in school history to register consecutive seasons of 1,000+ rushing yards. As a result, he won the Henry R. Red Sanders Award (team most valuable player) during both of his seasons with the program.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Strengths<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>impressive production both yardage and touchdown-wise during two years at UCLA;<\/li>\n<li>a downhill battering ram who can jolt tacklers backward for yards after contact;<\/li>\n<li>a decisive runner with a sense of urgency when hitting the gaps;<\/li>\n<li>initial burst and extra gear makes him hard to bring down once he&#8217;s in the second and third level;<\/li>\n<li>punishes arm tacklers with a powerful lower body;<\/li>\n<li>took on a massive workload and stayed healthy;<\/li>\n<li>a release valve on screen passes;<\/li>\n<li>willing and able to take on defenders in pass protection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Weaknesses<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>scouts will have concerns regarding him holding up given physical running style;<\/li>\n<li>struggles to make guys miss when juking laterally;<\/li>\n<li>fairly limited as a pass-catcher;<\/li>\n<li>relies too much on raw speed rather than lateral athleticism;<\/li>\n<li>struggles to anticipate and attack downfield gaps;<\/li>\n<li>already has quite a bit of mileage on his legs &#8211; 647 carries over college career.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>NFL Comparison<\/strong>: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/MillLa01.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lamar Miller<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Teams With Need at Position<\/strong>: <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/cardinals\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Arizona Cardinals<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/falcons\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Atlanta Falcons<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/texans\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Houston Texans<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/chiefs\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kansas City Chiefs<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/rams\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Los Angeles Rams<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/dolphins\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miami Dolphins<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/nfl-teams\/buccaneers\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Projection<\/strong>: Fifth to sixth round<\/p>\n<h3>Bottom Line<\/h3>\n<p>Joshua Kelley certainly seemed to be a man on a mission once he arrived at UCLA. He was out to prove many doubters wrong because to say he was lightly recruited out of high school is a massive understatement. After two years, mission accomplished. Kelley garnered team MVP honors both years after he ran for a combined 2,303 yards during his time with the Bruins. He went on to impress at the Senior Bowl, leading all running backs with 105 yards rushing. Making it all the more impressive was his seven yards per carry average.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps Kelley&#8217;s biggest strength is his gritty downhill style of running. At the next level, though, it could become a weakness as it will make him susceptible to injury when going up against NFL-level physicality. His raw speed is above-average which he demonstrated at the Combine as he was one of seven running backs to run a sub 4.50 40. But that will only get you so far in the pros if you&#8217;re not the most adept lateral mover. That could be an issue for Kelley as it will make it tough for him to elude the best wrap-up tacklers at the next level. In summary, Kelley has the makings of a day three selection for a team looking to bolster their depth chart with a reliable running back with a track record of success.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"lfaHeZRgRlJabeioyK_WYA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1189685713\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'lfaHeZRgRlJabeioyK_WYA',sig:'K9xvy0U8_Jj_adnqc8_3sFoqa5-_PQxZ8UZaI-hhmcg=',w:'594px',h:'419px',items:'1189685713',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joshua Kelley began his college career at FCS-level UC Davis but upon transferring to UCLA, he emerged as one of the Pac-12&#8217;s best running backs. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":742,"featured_media":84180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1647],"tags":[5273,61,6073,40],"class_list":["post-84177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-draft","tag-2020-nfl-draft","tag-football","tag-joshua-kelley","tag-nfl"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/742"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}