Former Pattonville quarterback Kaleb Eleby caught then-Illinois coach Lovie Smith’s eye during Eleby’s senior year in 2017, and he was offered a scholarship to the Big Ten school. Iowa State wanted to bring Eleby’s talent to the Big 12.
Bigger was not better for Eleby, who chose Western Michigan University. While he will never know how he would have progressed elsewhere, Eleby finds himself as a possible mid-round selection in the upcoming NFL Draft after two outstanding seasons.
Eleby’s mother, Kenyatte, helped put him on the road to a potential NFL career when she made him a CD for his fourth birthday. “I played that every day. From that point on, I felt like this is what I want to do…” – Quarterback Kaleb Eleby
“I wanted to go somewhere that was right for me,” Eleby told Sirius XM NFL Radio during last week’s NFL Combine in Indianapolis.
“I just felt at home. I knew it was the place I wanted to be.”
He arrived in Kalamazoo in 2017 and shot up the depth chart to No. 2 behind starter Jon Wassink, who sustained a foot injury at the season’s midway point.
Eleby started the Broncos’ final five games of the season, and the true freshman completed 62.6% of his passes for 1,092 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. Wassink returned, and remained healthy, during the 2019 season and Eleby sat out most of the season with a redshirt designation.
During a COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, Eleby threw 16 touchdown passes against one interception for 1,442 yards and the Broncos finished 4-2.
His 2021 season made him a potential pro quarterback. He threw for 3,277 yards, 23 touchdowns and just six interceptions. His stellar performance was in an upset victory over ACC champion Pitt when he tallied 337 passing yards and three scores.
While his size (6’-1’’ 210 pounds) and lack of speed as a runner are concerns, Pro Football Network’s scouting report says, “Eleby has a great arm.”
“[Eleby] has the arm strength to push the ball over defenders and maximize calculated risks. He has a crisp, quick-throwing motion and can generate easy velocity in the short and intermediate ranges. He’s very accurate hitting slants and crossers over the middle of the field. Eleby also actively manipulates ball placement to play to receiver leverage.”
Eleby’s mother, Kenyatte, helped put him on the road to a potential NFL career when she made him a CD for his fourth birthday.
“And now, starting quarterback from the St. Louis Rams, Kaleb Eleby,'” Eleby told the Detroit Free Press, recalling his mom’s words on the CD.
“I played that every day. From that point on, I felt like this is what I want to do. The game of football has done a lot for me. It’s provided me with an education, provided me with lifelong connections and friendships and it got me here. That’s something I value and something I don’t take for granted,” he said.
The Reid NCAA Roundup
The Big Ten does not deserve nine berths in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Especially infuriating is Michigan and troubled coach Juwan Howard gaining a bid…Shaka Smart has Marquette in the tournament, after leading VCU and Texas to bids in past years…Coach Drew Valentine and Missouri Valley Conference Tournament champion Loyola-Chicago will give Ohio State big time trouble…Providence coach Ed Cooley is my sentimental favorite to reach the Final Four…The opposite to Cooley is Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. He and the Blue Devils hopefully go out early…Kansas takes on the winner of the Texas Southern-Texas A&M Corpus Christi first-four game. Norfolk State, which plays East top seed Baylor, joins Texas Southern as the two HBCU representatives in the tournament…There was talk of firing Memphis coach Afernee “Penny” Hardaway last year. He now has the Tigers in the field of 64…Bold prediction 1: Coach Kelvin Sampson and the Houston Cougars will move to the Sweet 16 with a win over Illinois…Bold prediction 2: UCLA loses to Indiana in a second-round contest…Murray State (30-2) has won 20 consecutive games, could play Kentucky in the second-round, and then lose coach Matt McMahon to Missouri now that Cuonzo Martin has been dismissed…As for Martin, I could see him coaching a HBCU school next season…SLU coach Travis Ford to Mizzou? It could happen…I think Anthony Grant of Dayton could turn Mizzou around…Other Power 5 schools have been less successful than Martin was over the past five years, and respective fan bases have remained strong. Mizzou Athletic Director Desiree Reed-Francois must determine if Martin’s race was a factor with some students, fans, and financial supporters…Northern Iowa was set to play at SLU in a first-round NIT game on Wednesday night. I can almost guarantee it was a great game.
