Boise State Broncos : Is QB Kellen Moore Big On Talent, Short On Height?
To say that Boise State Broncos quarterback Kellen Moore is a winner may be a major understatement. The Prosser,Washington native is 40-2 in his career and has thrown for 11,583 yards, 107 touchdowns and 21 interceptions and has a career QB rating of 157.1
Among the many accomplishments by the 22-year-old Moore include being named WAC Freshman of the Year in 2008 and leading the Broncos to the 2008 Poinsettia Bowl, the Broncos would lose 17-16 to the Horned Frogs of Texas Christian University. Moore would lead the Broncos to three straight WAC championships and be named WAC Offensive Player of The Year in 2009 and 2010.
Moore was named First-Team All American in 2009 by major media outlets, Sports Illustrated, ESPN and CBSSportsline. Moore would also be named to the Football Writers of America All-America team in 2010 and finish fourth in voting for the Heisman Trophy.
In 2011, Moore was named by The Sporting News as the #1 player in their annual list of top 25 players in the nation, ahead of Heisman Trophy front-runners Andrew Luck of Stanford and LeMichael James of Oregon.
For all of his lofty accomplishments and headline-worthy honors, there seems to be one stat that may impede Moore’s path to the NFL. 6’0—Moore’s height.
While the 2012 NFL Draft is seven months away, the main thing that will be highly scrutinized from now till April will be Moore’s height and his weight of only 197 pounds. Is it fair to judge a quarterback who is on pace to surpass Colt McCoy as the all-time leader in wins by a QB in NCAA history? Is it fair to nit-pick a player—who is also a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate—that has completed 70.9% of his passes in his career?
Did I fail to mention this about Moore—that he threw for three touchdowns and completed 82.4% of his passes in a “road” game against a SEC defense against Georgia in a 35-21 win?
To say and think that Moore is not a legitimate NFL QB propect is not only bias, but very unfair considering that some of the all-time great quarterbacks have been at or under the six-feet mark.
Joe Montana was 6’2 when he came out of Notre Dame, Doug Flutie was 5’10 when he won the Heisman Trophy for Boston College, Aaron Rodgers is 6’2 and has won a Super Bowl for the Green Bay Packers and Drew Brees is also only 6’0 and has led the New Orleans Saints to a Super Bowl.
With the NFL becoming more of a passing league, the age of big and tall quarterbacks may be coming to an end and smaller more dual-threat mobile and accurate West Coast offense style quarterbacks such as Rodgers, McCoy and eventually Moore will inevitably become the norm.
When the 2012 NFL Draft does come in April, teams such as Washington, Seattle, Miami and possibly Oakland may be looking for a QB prospect to groom as their starter of the future.
With Moore’s combination of accuracy, leadership and a knack for winning, Moore would be a great fit for a team that plays in the West Coast offense. NFL teams will soon come to discover that Moore may be short by NFL standards but he is truly big where it counts—on the field—and prove to every critic that height is truly overrated.
Follow me on Twitter, @RobertCobb_NFL
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