Kaleb Eleby: QB · Western Michigan · #5.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Kaleb Eleby
Pushes it downfield on every look. Three seasons in the Western Michigan quarterback room to date. Named All-MAC two seasons running, most recently in 2021. One game to point at: 338 passing yards and 5 passing TD against Northern Illinois — Week 13, 2021.
Play style
Elite arm talent, pushing downfield. Completion rate is the variable.
Checkdown vs gunslinger · 3rd-and-long
Where the completions actually land
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. checkdown by design
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
7 of the team's 46 inside-the-5 carries (15.2%).
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| 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 | 53 |
| Career | 419 | 660 | 63.5% | 6,069 | 9.2 | 45 | 11 | 159.9 | 66 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Western Michigan | 87 | 64 | 0.7 | 6 | 25 |
| 2020 | Western Michigan | 34 | 38 | 1.1 | 4 | 13 |
| 2018 | Western Michigan | 29 | −27 | −0.9 | 3 | 12 |
| Career | 150 | 75 | 0.5 | 13 | 25 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2021 season · 12 games
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| 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 | 9.0 | — |
Week 3 · 2021
W 44-41
at Pittsburgh
337 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 85.5
Edged out Pittsburgh on the road in a shootout.
With N. Mihalic — 46 yards per punt · 5 punts · 2 inside the 20 · C. Crooms — 8 rec · 161 yds · 1 TD
The plays that mattered most
Pass Profile · Completions by yards gained (PBP)
Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from
Totals here are the box score's. Play-by-play lists 345 passing plays (218 completions) against the box score's 362 attempts (230 completions), and the depth buckets use play-by-play.
Adjusted ANY/A
8.7717 of 204 QBsSack rate
6.9%137 of 204 QBsSacked 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 ydsMiddle
10–19 ydsDeep
20+ ydsOverall 63.5% completion on 362 attempts · 54 deep completions averaging 29.7 yds.
3 seasons under Tim Lester — 19-13 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2021 season · 12 games
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
Head Coach
Tim Lester
Pass share
38.7%
368 pass / 583 run
Plays / game
79.2
12 games
Scheme: Run-heavy, fast tempo.
Player standing · 2021
Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
How it ended
Three seasons at Western Michigan, 6,069 passing yards — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 23 games over three seasons.
The role got bigger.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-MAC · 2ND TEAM
All-MAC 2nd team (2021)
Coaching lineage · 2017–2021
1 coachPlayed every college season under Tim Lester.
