A couple seasons back, I was at a game and Painter had a minor injury and so Joey Elliott (as a frosh or soph) had to come in for a series, and a guy sitting near us shouted, "Welcome to the Joey Elliott Experiment!" I always found that amusing and continue to use it.Why's it appropriate? Because we really don't know what Joey's capable of. He could be a very serviceable game-manager... or he might not be. He hasn't played enough for us to judge. But we do know that he wants to go into coach, as per this piece by the talented Adam Rittenberg.
Reading that and learning more about Elliott, I am cautiously optimistic about his chances. Sure, shoulder injuries are scary and one hard hit on it (like being driven into the turf) could shelve him, but putting injury aside, it sounds like he's going to work very hard to put on a respectable performance at QB this season.
And while there are no promises of him being the starter, he really should be. A team like this needs leadership and in the absence of experienced, talented playmakers, you have to turn to your seniors... especially if they act like a player-coach. Definitely a good thing.
Other tidbits from the story...
Joey Elliott wants to become the next Josh Heupel.
Sure, he wouldn't mind leading Purdue to a national title, winning the AP Player of the Year award and finishing second in Heisman Trophy voting. But Elliott is more interested in mirroring Heupel's rapid rise up the college coaching ranks.
Sure, we wouldn't mind that, either. Hells yeah! Elliott for Heisman '09! I assume his website is in the works."In my mind, he's the starter," Purdue offensive coordinator Gary Nord said. "At the same time, we haven't named anything, and anybody can beat anybody out. Nobody's guaranteed anything. The coaching staff doesn't know what the capabilities are, doesn't know the intangibles of them yet."
You know, "intangibles." Who's the best juggler? Who makes the best buttermilk pancakes after a night out with 19-year-old college girls? Who has the highest score on "Dance Dance Revoultion." That kind of thing.
Elliott even shares play-calling ideas with the coaching staff, almost like he's another graduate assistant.
"He's got everything you want in a quarterback, except experience," Nord said. "He hasn't played any."
Insert the wah-wahhhhh sound effect from The Price Is Right here. He's great! He's got everything you want! I mean, besides having played.
Elliott has appeared in only 10 games, completing 27 of 49 passes for 300 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
You know, this is interesting to me. If I was offered Joey Elliott going 27/49 for 300 yards and 2-and-2 every game, I'd sign up right now.
Wouldn't you?
8 comments:
I like this kid, hes not a jerk like Kirsch or a shy guy like Painter. Not to mention he's a redshirt senior who has seen our fall from top 10 preseason pick in '05 .
yes.
If he stays healthy, and the young receivers can catch, it could be a solid season.
I think Valetine and Smith should be respectable receivers. As long as Adams and Taylor can stay healthy, I think the offense will be able to move the ball against most teams. Elliot will just need to have good decision making to keep the chains moving, and not stall in the redzone every possession like Painter always did.
The thing I always liked about Joey, the few times that he was seen in the game, was that he never panicked and always seemed to keep the play alive. He seemed to have an instinct that Painter never had. I would've loved for Tiller to get off of Painter's bandwagon just long enough to give Joey a chance. I hope he gets his chance and proves Tiller wrong this season! Hope already seems to be building relationships with his guys, which is nice to see after the past years!
Gonna lead us to a 10 win season, calling it right now.
Just what part of Joey Elliott's anatomy is it "that he wants to go into coach" J Money? I'm assuming he's a topper?
LOL!!!
You have to love a guy with experience and a coaching mindset when you're entering a period of turmoil. An organization needs to have people that can clarify, simplify, and otherwise communicate a vision to others during a time like this. Sounds like he'll be a great springboard into whatever Coach Hope wants the offense to be.
Sorry for the snarky lead in, BTW. I just couldn't help it. Better that I draw it to your attention than a rainbow IU sympathizer. ;-)
Meh, yeah, well we do our best to self-proofread b/c our budget is thin. It's either a dozen donuts each morning or a proofreader... clearly, it's not even a choice.
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