Kaleb Eleby

Sophomore quarterback for Western Michigan. 2021: 3,277 passing yards, 23 TD, 6 INT.

QB · Western Michigan · So. · #5

6′1″ · 210 lb · Maryland Heights, MO

CFB Index 61 · #38 of 126 QBsHigh confidenceAll-ConferenceWestern Michigan 2021 alumnus

The story

2 quarterback for Western Michigan. 2021: 3,277 passing yards, 23 TD, 6 INT.

The record fills in as he plays.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Western Michigan, 6,069 passing yards — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

20206 games

All-MACthird

202112 games

The role got bigger.

All-MACsecond

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

Western Michigan

2018–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

4 honors · 1 category

🎖

ALL-MAC · 2ND TEAM

All-MAC 2nd team (2021)

Coaching lineage · 2018–2021

1 coach

2018

Tim Lester

Western Michigan

2020–2021

Tim Lester

Western Michigan

Played his entire career under Tim Lester.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Tim Lester — 19-13 over that span.

2018Western Michigan7-6HC: Tim Lester · Run-leaning

2020Western Michigan4-2HC: Tim Lester · Run-leaning

2021Western Michigan8-5HC: Tim Lester · Run-heavy, fast tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

61Quality starter #38 of 126?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: explosive rate (98th percentile). Strength: epa / dropback (86th percentile). Concern: fumbles lost (2nd percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#4 / 167 · 98th pct

15.5%

EPA / dropback#24 / 167 · 86th pct

0.41

Interception rate#33 / 167 · 81st pct

1.3%

Success rate#38 / 167 · 78th pct

50.3%

Sack rate#110 / 167 · 34th pct

7.1%

Box-score rates (8)

Yards / att#11 / 169 · 93rd pct

9.1

Pass yards#21 / 169 · 88th pct

3277

Rush TDs#19 / 169 · 86th pct

Pass TDs#34 / 169 · 80th pct

Completion %#63 / 169 · 63rd pct

63.5%

Interceptions#63 / 169 · 56th pct

Rush yards#97 / 169 · 43rd pct

Fumbles lost#156 / 159 · 2nd pct

Season trend

EPA / dropback— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Success rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Explosive rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Sack rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Interception rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Passing profile

Pass Profile · Completions by yards gained (PBP)

Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from

218/345 (63.2%) · 23 TD · 6 INT

345 of 362 attempts matched to play-by-play

Adjusted ANY/A

8.7717 of 204 QBs

Sack rate

6.9%137 of 204 QBs

Sacked on 6.9% of dropbacks (137 of 204) — and still 17 of 204 in Adjusted ANY/A.

Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.

Short

0–9 yds

43%of completions

94 comp4.9 yds avg2 TD

Middle

10–19 yds

32%of completions

70 comp13.2 yds avg2 TD

Deep

20+ yds

25%of completions

54 comp29.7 yds avg12 TD

Overall 63.2% completion on 345 attempts · 54 deep completions averaging 29.7 yds.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Home6g	238	1.5	9.3	0.7
Road6g	281	2.0	9.2	0.2

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Weeks 1-77g	249	1.7	8.7	0.3
Weeks 8+5g	274	1.8	10.0	0.6

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Lance Taylor

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

All-Conference

Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

61 · #38 of 126 QBs

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Western Michigan	230	362	63.5%	3,277	9.1	23	6	157.2	66	--	--
2020	Western Michigan	97	151	64.2%	1,700	11.3	18	2	195.5	77	--	--
2018	Western Michigan	92	147	62.6%	1,092	7.4	4	3	129.9	--	--	--
Career		419	660	63.5%	6,069	9.2	45	11	159.9	70	--	--

Season	Team
2021	Western Michigan	87	64	0.7	6	--
2020	Western Michigan	34	38	1.1	4	--
2018	Western Michigan	29	-27	-0.9	3	--
Career		150	75	0.5	13	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2021

W 44–41

at Pittsburgh

337 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 85.5 · -20 rush yds (7 car)

Edged out Pittsburgh on the road in a shootout.

With N. Mihalic — 1 TOT · 46 AVG · 2 IN 20 · C. Crooms — 8 rec · 161 yds · 1 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 6 · Ball State · 4&14 · Q4 · EPA +7.36Kaleb Eleby run for 1 yd for a TD (Jake Chanove KICK)
Week 1 · Nevada · 3&10 · Q1 · EPA +7.11Kaleb Eleby pass complete to Corey Crooms for 74 yds for a TD, (Parker Sampson KICK)
Week 12 · Eastern Michigan · 3&4 · Q2 · EPA +6.81Skyy Moore 74 Yd pass from Kaleb Eleby (Parker Sampson Kick)
Week 7 · Kent State · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +5.52Kaleb Eleby pass complete to Jaylen Hall for 68 yds for a TD, (Nick Mihalic KICK)
Week 5 · Buffalo · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +5.15Kaleb Eleby pass complete to Skyy Moore for 64 yds for a TD (Nick Mihalic KICK)
Week 4 · San José State · 4&4 · Q2 · EPA +5.07Kaleb Eleby pass complete to Corey Crooms for 37 yds for a TD (Parker Sampson KICK)
Week 3 · Pittsburgh · 2&8 · Q3 · EPA +5.05Corey Crooms 54 Yd pass from Kaleb Eleby (Parker Sampson Kick)
Week 13 · Northern Illinois · 4&4 · Q2 · EPA +4.31Kaleb Eleby pass complete to Skyy Moore for 29 yds for a TD, (Parker Sampson KICK)
Week 5 · Buffalo · 4&2 · Q2 · EPA -4.15Kaleb Eleby sacked for 0 yards to the Buff 18
Week 10 · Central Michigan · 2&15 · Q3 · EPA +4.08Kaleb Eleby pass complete to Jaylen Hall for 47 yds to the CMich 18 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CMP/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	YPA	QBR	Note
Wk 1	L 14-47@ Michigan	20/37	191	1	0	5.2	59.6
Wk 2	W 28-0vs Illinois State	15/21	174	1	0	8.3	65.9
Wk 3	W 44-41@ Pittsburgh	23/34	337	3	0	9.9	85.5	3 TD passes
Wk 4	W 23-3vs San José State	17/28	200	2	0	7.1	40.5
Wk 5	W 24-17@ Buffalo	21/33	279	2	0	8.5	55.0	Clean 2-TD game
Wk 6	L 20-45vs Ball State	19/33	257	0	2	7.8	12.2
Wk 7	W 64-31vs Kent State	15/22	307	3	0	14.0	90.5	3 TD passes
Wk 8	L 15-34@ Toledo	15/29	232	0	0	8.0	70.3
Wk 10	L 30-42vs Central Michigan	22/36	276	1	1	7.7	30.4
Wk 11	W 45-40vs Akron	12/20	217	2	1	10.9	40.9
Wk 12	L 21-22@ Eastern Michigan	22/29	307	1	1	10.6	57.7
Wk 13	W 42-21@ Northern Illinois	21/26	338	5	0	13.0	96.3	Season-high 338 yds
Total		222/348	3115	21	5	9.2	58.7

How he plays

Play style

Elite arm talent, pushing downfield. Completion rate is the variable.

CFB Index positional classification

Checkdown vs gunslinger · 3rd-and-long

Where the completions actually land

fact

54.8%Completion %

26.1%Conversion/dropback

47.8%Land short of sticks

0INTs

54.8% completion on 3rd-and-8+, but only 26.1% conversion-per-dropback — 47.8% of completions land short of the sticks.

Where completions land is fact — whether incompletions were aimed deep is intent, not recorded here, so this card counts completions only. ~ our read: checkdown by design