University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Holmes and Kelley Selected Saturday in NFL Draft
April 25, 2020 | Football
Defensive back Darnay Holmes and running back Joshua Kelley came off the board quickly on Day 3 of the NFL Draft and joined the UCLA 2020 Draft Class presented by The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Holmes was a fourth-round selection of the New York Giants, with pick 110, and Kelley followed two picks later, at 112, as the fourth-round choice of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Holmes was a starter at cornerback in each of the 10 games he played in 2019. He led the team for the third straight season in interceptions, with two, and was credited with six pass defenses. Holmes, an honorable mention All-Pac-12 selection by the league coaches, had multiple tackles in six games, with a season high of 10 stops at USC.
Over his collegiate career, Holmes made 33 starts in the secondary, recording eight career interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns (31 yards at Arizona State in 2018 and 30 yards vs. Hawai'i in 2017). He also returned kicks for the Bruins and totaled 38 career kickoff returns for a 23.1-yard average and one touchdown (vs. Stanford in 2018).ย
Kelley finished his Bruin career as the eighth running back in school history with back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons. He started 20 games the past two seasons and finished with 2,303 yards (14th on the UCLA career rushing list) on 454 attempts, while scoring 24 touchdowns on the ground. Kelley also caught a total of 38 passes the past two seasons. He had 10 100-yard rushing games overall (10th on all-time school list), including a series-record 289 rushing yards against USC in 2018 (2019 โ 127 yards at Arizona, 176 at Stanford, 164 vs. Arizona State, 126 vs. Colorado; 2018 โ 124 at Colorado, 125 vs. Washington, 157 at California, 136 vs. Arizona, 161 at Oregon, 289 vs. USC).
In 2019, Kelley finished second in the Pac-12 in rushing yards per game (96.4 -ย 27th in NCAA) and seventh in all-purpose yards (102.8). He was a first-team all-conference pick by the Associated Press and a second-team selection by PFF and the league coaches.
In 2018, Kelley ranked fourth in the Pac-12 and eighth in the NCAA in rushing yards/game (113.0). He was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection by Associated Press and ESPN.com, as well as an honorable mention all-conference pick by the league coaches.
The Saturday duo joined tight end Devin Asiasi, who heard his named called on Friday in theย third-round by New England, to give UCLA three selections in the 2020 NFL Draft which isย tied for third among Pac-12 teams. At draft slot No. 112, Kelley is the highest Bruin running back selection since Maruice Jones-Drew was a second-round choice of the Jaguars in 2006 (No. 60 overall).
2020 UCLA NFL Draft Class presented by Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
TE Devin Asiasi โ Round 3 to New England Patriots (pick 103)
DB Darnay Holmesย โ Round 4 to New York Giants (110)
RB Joshua Kelleyย โ Round 4 to Los Angeles Chargers (112)
