UCLA Football: Top 4 targets for 2019 National Signing Day

I mentioned early on in this piece how Joshua Kelley impacted the 2018 season and will impact the 2019 season as he looks to build his draft stock. Filling the void after Kelley is gone is important, especially if Dorian Thompson-Robinson can’t progress throughout the season.

Chip Kelly running backs have looked relatively the same throughout his coaching career. He likes one-cut backs that can take off up the middle or towards the outside that can make guys miss while also having the ability to catch passes out of the backfield. Kelley makes players miss often, Kenjon Barner did it, De’Anthony Thomas could do it and Jordan Wilmore can do it.

Wilmore looks the part of a Kelly-esque back and hails from the state of California. He likes to run between the tackles and has good top speed. Blair Angulo of 247Sports compares his skill set to that of former Tampa Bay Buccaneers back Doug Martin who had a similar one-cut style. Wilmore has gone for over 2,000 yards on the ground in each of the last three seasons in high school while averaging over 10 yards per carry for his career.

Wilmore decommitted from USC a few weeks ago and appears to want to go elsewhere. The race for the coveted four-star back appears to be between UCLA and Utah going into National Signing Day. Utah has a long list of capable running backs but who does better at cranking out 1,000-yard backs than Chip Kelly.