Thursday, August 26, 2010

Now we know the answer


A week ago or so we heard about how Rob Henry wasn't taking any snaps with the special teams units. Anyone who's been keeping tabs with Hope's squad since the spring probably thought that to be pretty odd.

Henry runs a sub-4.4 40...has an unusual throwing motion, was mentioned in the spring as a guy who would get on the field in a number of ways due to his athleticism...but in August, he was firmly in the rotation as a QB...but no where else.


Hope knew that TerBush might be in trouble academically a few weeks ago. He hinted that two guys on the team were close to not qualifying...but didn't tell us who was in danger. Since Bolden's injury, this is really the first sizable bad news from the football team...and Hope says it's not that bad.

He likes the two-deeps at QB much more this season than last year. Of course, Marve has a ton to do with that, but, if you read between the lines, you might see things the way I do- TerBush isn't quite the QB that Hope was thinking he'd be at this point in his career.

TerBush ran the option in high school, but isn't the athlete that many of the QBs in the stable seem to be- Marve, Henry are both very quick and Robinson is a fluid runner...and Bellomy who should sign in February, seems to be athletically-similar to Marve & Henry.

So what does 19's (potentially) temporary departure mean for the team? Hopefully not much this season. If Marve stays healthy, none of this talk matters...if not, things get a bit more interesting.

In 2010, the depth chart looks like this (after today's news).
Marve (Jr.)
Henry (RS Fr.)
Robinson (potential RS)
Titus/Siller

Sure, Siller hasn't taken a snap as a QB in camp...but I'd think Hope might think about moving the former starter back behind center if Marve couldn't play. The receiving corps is pretty talent-rich and, in that scenario, he'd be the only QB on the roster with any previous playing time at the position.

In 2011, TerBush will hopefully return to the team. But, here's how I see the QB depth chart emerging:
Marve (Sr.)
Robinson (RS Fr.)
Henry (So.)
Bellomy (potential RS)

Panfil, Lindsay and Adams will all be gone, so the TE corps will desperately-need bolstering. It seems that it'd make great sense to have TerBush take a similar path as Siller did, when he rejoins the team...that better-suits his skillset.

I know there are a ton of variables in this equation- injuries, recruiting and academics are all involved. But, my gut tells me that we might have seen our last of Caleb TerBush at QB...and like Siller two years ago, he might not have anyone to blame but himself.

Regardless if I'm correct about his future position or not, I hope to see TerBush back in a Boiler uniform in '11 and graduating shortly after.

5 comments:

Damacles said...

Always sad to see players get academically DQed.

I'd wager that in 2011 Terbush would still have some stiff competition judging by how high the coaches are on fr. TE Gabe Holmes. If he lives up to the hype he could be a monster.

Still, hopefully Terbush can get his grades up and find a way to contribute.

Mommatried said...

My first concern is the health of this squad. We seem awfully banged up for not having played a game.

Sad to see TerBush in this scenario....but Purdue is about strong academics. When it comes down to it, likely the vast majority of anyone who attends Purdue attends for this reason. There are only a few hundred athletes and some...I have no idea what enrollment is these days but suffice it to say a VERY small percentage of attendees are athletes.

zlionsfan said...

It is a very small percentage. From the NCAA's 2009 report on graduation rates, in 2008-09, there were 30,684 undergrads enrolled for the fall and about 343 receiving athletics aid (for some reason, they don't bother to total the student-athlete columns).

Unfortunately the graduation rate for football has consistently trailed both the overall graduation rate, the student-athlete graduation rate, and the Graduation Success Rate for all student-athletes. (This is probably some of the source of Hope's frustration over the summer ... seems as though there are always some guys on the team that simply don't listen to the coaches and don't take advantage of the assistance that is available to them. They end up not qualifying and the coaches have to explain why.)

Andrew Mizener said...

Tutoring is free to athletes. I know, I'm a tutor for the Athletics Department. Pays pretty well, too.

zlionsfan said...

I also did a little tutoring for a couple of athletes when I was at Purdue ... unfortunately back then, the going rate was less than what I was making tutoring other students on campus. It's good to know that's changed!