Los Angeles Rams resting Todd Gurley in Week 3 preseason means more John Kelly

The Los Angeles Rams resting Todd Gurley in Week 3 of preseason against the Houston Texans means John Kelly should benefit from additional carries.

After resting their starters for the first two games of preseason, the Los Angeles Rams were expected to see most of their key players suit up for Saturday’s game against the Houston Texans.

This time of year can be just as much of a blessing for teams as much of a curse when looking at some of major injuries that take place, so it’s easy to understand why Sean McVay wanted to take the safe approach by resting the starters against the Baltimore Ravens and Oakland Raiders.

However, for the sake of wanting to make sure his players aren’t rusty and ready to go for that key Week 1 matchup against the Raiders come September, it seems best to give the Rams starters some action on Saturday against the Texans, just to be safe.

With that being said, it looks like McVay has already made the decision to rest one of his key star players in Todd Gurley, who will be looking to capitalize off last year’s success after finishing second in the MVP voting to Tom Brady.

Another key note by Rams insider Myles Simmons is the possibility that Jared Goff may end up sitting out as well as a result of some offensive lineman not playing, which is actually a very smart approach since McVay wants to avoid any risk of injuries.

There may be some concern over the fact that Gurley will go the entire preseason without playing a single game since McVay clearly isn’t going to use him for the finale, but at least his absence opens up the way for other youngsters to receive additional playing time.

That’s where John Kelly comes into play, as the rookie running back has been one of the biggest surprise stars in the preseason after leading the team in rushing so far in each game. And if the former Tennessee star leads the team in rushing once again when facing the Texans, it’s only going to make a stronger case for Kelly to land the No. 2 job at running back behind Gurley.

Originally, Malcolm Brown was the early favorite to land the job, and while it seems like he’s still going to be part of the mix, the Rams may end up going with Kelly instead.

Gurley with his workhorse mentality will do everything in his power to remain on the football field as much as possible once the regular season arrives, but even the best of running backs need a break from time to time.

So with McVay making the decision to rest Gurley once again, don’t be surprised if Kelly takes full advantage of this situation to help build his case for playing time once the more meaningful games get underway in a few weeks from now.