Now that the NFL Draft is over Go Joe Bruin looks ahead one year and predicts that 10 UCLA football players will be taken in 2020.
As far as the 2019 NFL Draft goes, it was somewhat disappointing for the UCLA football team. The Bruins only had one player drafted as TE Caleb Wilson was Mr. Irrelevant as he was the very last player drafted.
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Although, a total of five former Bruins made the jump to the pros as four were picked up as undrafted free agents. That is a better result, but looking toward next year, we can see up to ten Bruins not just making it to the pros, but being selected via the 2020 NFL Draft.
Joshua Kelley, RB
This fall, Kelley will embark on his senior season, and many expect him to have a better year than he did in 2018. Last year, he emerged as UCLA’s go-to running back in the fourth game of the season against Colorado when he ran for 124 yards. It was the first of six 100-yard rushing games Kelley would produce which culminated with 289 against USC (the most any Bruin or Trojan has put up in the history of the rivalry). He ended the season with 1,243 yards and 11 touchdowns. Those numbers should increase in 2019 as he becomes one of the best backs in the Pac-12 which will help him to become one of the highest drafted RBs in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Josh Woods, LB
Woods was expected to have a solid 2018 season, but that was cut short when he sustained a knee injury in fall camp. Though he was still sidelined for the spring, the expectations for him remain sky high. Woods was a very aggressive linebacker before Jerry Azzinaro, and Don Pellum got to town so, under their tutelage, he should be an even fiercer competitor. In 2017, he was able to get 30 total tackles, 3.5 TFLs, and one sack. In 2019, those numbers will go up dramatically and so will his draft stock.