This Week's Player to Watch

I hate it when all of the sudden people want to have a new tradition. Here is my mom one random year before Christmas: "Our new family tradition is to watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation every year on Christmas Eve!" Lame. A tradition forms itself, it is not put together. In other words, you can't label something as a tradition when you first start out doing it. Let it evolve organically and before you know it, BAM!, a tradition is born. With that said, I am starting something new here on BroncoChase's Sports Plus; Each week before a Boise State football game, I will give you the name of a player to watch. Along with that name, I will quote a few stats and tell you why I think this individual is poised to have a big game and do a lot of good things for the team. Hopefully, the player does exactly what I say and doesn't make me look like an idiot! Good luck, Bronco Chase! Who knows, I may extend this into other sports or the NFL when college football is over. We will see how it goes.

Saturday vs. Wyoming player to watch (The weekly PTW, as we will call it): Defensive end Shea McClellin.



Let's start with some bio information first. Consider Mr. McClellin a hometown hero. Hailing from the small Nampa suburb of Marsing, Idaho (you have to pass Chicken Dinner Road to get there, which is some awesome random information), Shea was a man among boys on his football team. Marsing (as well as other small, farming towns in Idaho) is known for raising its corn-fed sons to be huge monstrous beasts. McClellin was by far the most talented individual to come out of that town for quite a while. At 6'3" and 262 pounds (he was obviously somewhat smaller in high school), he was a stand out on the field, making plays almost every down. He played both offense (running back) and defense (tackling a lot of poor boys and probably injuring a lot of them). Bronco coaches offered him a scholarship and McClellin has taken off from there.

Now some of you might say that this one is too easy or that he already had his big game against the Hokies on Labor Day. To that I say, get over it. I am basing this one on a lot of things. Number one, in fall camp McClellin terrorized any and all Boise State quarterbacks, regardless of what lineman/linemen were placed in his path. Number two, this trend continued as he became a recurring figure in the nightmares of one Tyrod Taylor. They probably look something like this;



Or perhaps this;



By nightmares I mean 4 tackles for loss, including 2 1/2 sacks, and he disrupted the offense almost every play he was on the field for and was a key component in shutting down Virginia Tech's outstanding running game. As a junior, a lot of big things are expected from McClellin, and if his play against the Hokies is any indication, then we are all in for a treat.

The Wyoming Cowboys are not a very good rushing team. With the exception of their quarterback, they are actually really crappy. Shea McClellin will play a huge part in keeping it that way. Also, he will get a couple more sacks of the QB Austyn Carta-Samuels. Mark my words. With the run game shut down (or non-existent to begin with), the defensive backs will ball-hock everything in the air and Shea and his buddies will be in the backfield more often than Reggie White. Carta-Samuels will have a long night and the crowd will stay quiet and leave early. McClellin and the Broncos dominate. Bad dreams for the Cowboys are in the works and Shea McClellin will make sure of it!

Shea McClellin, our weekly PTW.