BIOGRAPHY
Joshua Kelley was born November 20, 1997, in Inglewood, California. He is a running back for the Los Angeles Chargers in the NFL. Kelley signed as a walk-on with the Bruins of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and served on the scout team in 2017 while sitting out the year as a redshirt due to transfer rules. Leading up to the 2018 season, he encountered another coaching change when UCLA replaced Jim L. Mora with Chip Kelly. The new coach awarded a scholarship to Kelley. A redshirt junior, Kelley did not play much until Week 4 at Colorado. He was benched and did not play a week earlier against Fresno State after being outperformed during practice. In the first two weeks, he had just 11 carries for 27 yards. Following an open week in UCLA's schedule, he regrouped and ran for 124 yards in 12 carries against Colorado after being the team's best player in training sessions leading up to the game. Kelley became one of the nation's top running backs over the final two months of the season. He emerged as the Bruins' top offensive player with six 100-yard games, and UCLA's scoring increased as well. On the road in Week 6 against California, UCLA earned their first win of the season as Kelley ran for 157 yards and three touchdowns in a 37–7 victory. Against USC, Kelley had a career-high 289 yards rushing on 40 carries to help the Bruins earn their first win in four years in their crosstown rivalry with the Trojans. It was the most rushing yards for a player on either team in the history of the rivalry. He scored two touchdowns, including one on a career-long 61-yard run.
Kelley ended the season with 1,243 yards rushing, the 10th-highest single-season total in UCLA history, and his 113 rushing yards per game ranked fourth-highest in the Pac-12 Conference and ninth in the nation. He ran for at least one touchdown in each of the final eight games and finished with 12 touchdowns to rank second in the conference. Kelley earned an honorable mention in All-Pac-12 voting by conference coaches, while the Associated Press named him to their first team. He was named the Bruins' most valuable player. Kelley was selected by the Los Angeles Chargers in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft with the 112th overall pick. He competed with Justin Jackson to be the backup behind Chargers featured back Austin Ekeler. In his NFL debut in the 2020 season opener, Kelley had 60 rushing yards on 12 carries and scored the team's only touchdown on a five-yard run in the fourth quarter in a 16–13 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. He again ran for over 60 yards the following week, when he had 113 yards from scrimmage (64 rushing, 49 receiving) in a loss against the Kansas City Chiefs.