Spotlight #1: Boise State QB Kellen Moore
Spotlight #2: Boise State DE Shea McClellin
14:29: Inaccurate short throw by Moore.
13:43: Moore gets the pass off in time against the rush, but it’s dropped by the receiver. As with the first throw, it’s not a great spiral, but this one should have been caught.
13:27: McClellin lines up at linebacker on the audible. He drops into coverage, but isn’t tested. Coverage skills will be important for him at 255ish pounds.
11:22: Moore pressured, throws screen play complete off his bad foot.
10:04: Moore throws off his back foot again, short pass sails high, running back Doug Martin has to make a nice leaping catch on the run for the completion and the first.
9:04: Kellen Moore with a nice running pass on a play action rollout for a 7 yard completion.
8:00: Moore takes a snap from under center. He’s taken a few of those, always a positive for a college quarterback.
6:56: Moore with a passing touchdown for 26 yards. His passing motion doesn’t look fluid though, though that may be because he’s a 6 foot tall lefty.
4:35: Not McClellin, but an excellent pass rush for the sack by Tyrone Crawford. The 6-4 276 Crawford had 7.5 sacks last year and now has 2.5 on this season with an excellent play there.
4:10: Moore’s pass batted down by a pass rusher at the line of scrimmage. That’s the problem with being just 6 feet tall.
4:03: Accurate short throw over the middle by Moore.
2:49: Smart move by Moore to indentify the blitz and find the open man on a screen and Doug Martin is able to score it for 71 yards on a phenomenal run. He’ll be spotlighted on a later date, but I’m very impressed with this kid so far tonight. Nice poise by Moore as well.
0:33: McClellin pass rushes from a 2 point stance and gets completely man handled.
2nd quarter
13:46: Moore finds a wide open man for a first down.
13:18: Limp pass completed for a first down by Moore.
7:48: McClellin hasn’t had much of an impact as a pass rusher at all, but he’s starting in a two point stance and dropping into coverage frequently. He looks fluid.
6:45: Quick pass, one read, and a first down throw by Kellen Moore.
5:33: Moore with another smooth play action and a completion. He’s extremely cool and calm in the pocket and has great decision making.
3:20: Another batted ball at the line of scrimmage against Moore. This is going to happen to him all the time at the NFL level because of his height and his delivery point. This might be a deal breaker with him.
0:17: Moore throws the jump ball to a big receiver for a goal line touchdown.
3rd quarter
13:16: Very wobbly throw by Kellen Moore.
8:46: Toledo tries the same type of screen play they scored a touchdown earlier on. McClellin was not fooled. He batted the ball up in the air for an interception. A very athletic, fluid, instinctive play.
6:30: Another touchdown for Kellen Moore, another unnecessary back foot throw. This stuff isn’t going to work at the next level.
3:09: Another quick throw for Moore, another completion and another first down on a short throw. He’ll need to be able to do something other than check down at the next level.
1:52: Moore makes a bad decision and it’s returned almost for a pick six. With how wobbly some of his throws are, he leaves no room for error. He can’t consistently throw into coverage like that without getting consistently picked off. That only works when someone’s wide open.
0:00: Moore has been checking down a lot and Doug Martin has made him look very good.
4th quarter
13:27: Moore’s first really impressive throw of the night. It had good velocity and he threw a guy open deep. This is the type of thing he needs to do more of, high velocity throws and throwing guys open.
10:25: Shea McClellin with a tackle for loss.
5:58: Another nice throw. This one goes for a touchdown, his 5th of the night.
0:00: I think I’ve seen all I need to see of Kellen Moore. This was, by all indications, one of his best games in college. He was playing a weak defense and threw for 455 yards and 5 scores. And I still wasn’t impressed. He threw a lot of screens and didn’t throw downfield often. Running back Doug Martin caught 5 passes for 122 yards, all on screens, making Moore look a lot better than his stats would say. More on Martin later.
Moore has the terrible combination of a small frame and a low release point. Drew Brees and Michael Vick have made it in the NFL at 6 foot tall, but they’re exceptions not the rule and neither of them have the low release point Moore has. Making it in the NFL is going to be borderline impossible for someone like that because defensive linemen can way too easily bat the passes down at the line. It’s a shame because Moore is one of the smartest and most accurate college quarterbacks of the decade.
He also lacks a big NFL arm. He’ll have to throw downfield at the NFL level. It’s going to be necessary. However, his deep balls come out very wobbly. That fine if someone is wide open, but very rarely will someone be wide open deep in the NFL. Throwing that type of deep ball into any kind of coverage is going to lead to picks. He also throws off his back foot unnecessarily and doesn’t have the most fluid delivery. He doesn’t throw the ball with a lot of velocity and height and he doesn’t throw a lot of guys open.
If he has any chance in the NFL, it’s in a West Coast offense where he can make quick decisions, get the ball out early, before the pass rush can get to him and try to knock the ball down, and not have to make a lot of deep throws. Still, it’s a long shot. I’m probably not going to have anything higher than a 5th round grade on him when it’s all said and done and that’s just on the slight chance he falls into the right scheme or is able to develop the ability to put more velocity and height on his passes.
As for his running back Doug Martin, I was very impressed with him, specifically as a pass catcher. He caught 5 passes for 122 yards. He didn’t have a great day on the ground with 60 yards on 19 carries, but he breaks a lot of tackles and is a ferocious bowling ball of a runner. He rushed for 1260 yards and 12 touchdowns on 201 carries in 2010 and also caught 28 passes. Unless he continues to struggle on the ground, he looks like a 3rd round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.
As for the other spotlight, Shea McClellin. McClellin had a few nice plays, a tackle for a loss and a batted ball that got intercepted, but he didn’t come close to having the type of 2.5 sack performance he had in the opener. He’s got a nice motor, however, and I’m not knocking him too far down as a pass rusher after one game because he has a track record. It was nice for me to see his ability to drop into coverage and rush the passer from a two point stance. He’s only about 255, 257 pounds so he’s probably a 3-4 rush linebacker at the next level. He’s looks nimble and athletic and able to do the type of things he’ll have to do as a rush linebacker. He’s probably an early day 3 pick at this point, but it’s a long season. He’s definitely a candidate to be a senior year riser.
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