With Matt Jones out with a knee injury, Robert Kelley had an opportunity to be utilized more as the Redskins’ featured back against the Cincinnati Bengals in London, and the rookie flourished — running the ball 21 times for 87 yards and a touchdown.
Watching Kelley take advantage of his opportunities is something the Redskins have like to see more of.
Originally expected to be the unit’s third back, behind Jones and Chris Thompson, Kelley has made big plays in his limited time on the field. On 38 total carries, he has 190 yards, good for a 5 yards per carry average. That carry total doesn’t qualify to be compared to the NFL’s top ball rushers, but in yards per carry, he’s on par with Dallas Cowboys back Ezekiel Elliott, who is leading the NFL with 891 rushing yards.
Kelley’s production against the Bengals forced Washington to give him more carries. Coach Jay Gruden said Kelley will be the starting running back against the Minnesota Vikings, even with Jones likely coming back from injury.
That’s fine for Kelley, but even if the new role doesn’t stick, he will always look for ways to help.
“If they need me, I’ll go,” Kelley said. “If they don’t, I’ll just sit back and encourage the other guys. I don’t really try to do their job for them. I’ll let them do their job.”
That’s the attitude of a guy that was a long shot to even make it to the NFL. Affectionately nicknamed “Fat Rob” at Tulane because of his big heart, the Redskins picked up Kelley as an undrafted free agent in August. Though he certainly had the size at 6-foot and 228 pounds, Kelley didn’t have the pedigree of an NFL back. In four years at Tulane, Kelley averaged just 6.5 carries per game.
In his young NFL career, Kelley has proven that he can run the ball. But, as it is with every rookie, there are other aspects of his game that he needs to fine tune before he can be completely relied on as an every down back.
“Where the growth happens is mentally — being able to see, ’OK, what is my blitz protection pickups on this play-action pass?’ And even just technique, you know, blocking a blitzer in college is different than blocking a Pro Bowl blitzer at the NFL level,” quarterback Kirk Cousins said of Kelley. “So just having the fundamentals to know how to pick those guys up in protection and consistently do it, you see how Chris Thompson has gotten much, much better from his rookie year to now in terms of being a complete player. So that’s where Rob’s going to continue to grow and get better.
“But as far as running the football, very talented runner, and we knew that coming in.”
Offensive coordinator Sean McVay agrees that Kelley is just a naturally talented runner.
“He’s a strong downhill runner,” McVay said. “[He] does a great job when he puts his foot in the ground leveling runs off and finishing falling forward. He’s really tough. He’s a mature young back too. You can see he’s just kind of got a nice way about himself where nothing is too big for him and we expect to see him just improve as the season goes along.”
If Kelley is truly given the majority of the carries, he will face a stiff opponent in the Vikings. The Vikings rank 8th in rushing yards allowed, giving up just 93.1 yards per game. Minnesota’s defense is also fifth in rushing fumbles (six total) and third in rushing touchdowns allowed (four).
Kelley and the rest of his offense will still treat the Vikings as they would any other opponent. After all, NFL teams are generally pretty good.
“I think we prepare the same way every week,” Kelley said of the upcoming game. “It’s the NFL. I feel like every team is tough. Everything you do in the NFL, it’s the best of the best. I feel like we are staying on the same type of game plan, but we put more emphasis on, like, the schemes on defense. stuff like that.”
Kelley isn’t allowing his recent success get to his head. He has a modest football career and just six total games in which he touched the ball to his name.
But Kelley does allow himself to occasionally sit back and think of how incredible it is for him to be in this position. Below average collegiate career turned undrafted free agent turned random player fighting for a spot on an NFL team turned starting NFL running back.
“I think, coming from being undrafted, it’s always something that you have to sit back and think about and bring yourself back down to earth and try not to get ahead of yourself,” Kelley said.
“I’m happy with how far I came.”
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