May The Best Man Win

It's official. Danny Etling has enrolled early to be a student at Purdue University...and later tonight, Darrell Hazell will no longer be a part-time coach at Kent State...And with this, the quarterback competition begins.

RS Senior, Rob Henry is still a QB at this point...and he's made it very clear that he wants to play quarterback for Purdue.  Henry has thrown for about 1,200 yards, 11 TDs, 8 Ints and completed about 54% of his passes at QB at Purdue. He started a handful of games a few seasons ago, is a former captain of the team and by all accounts is a pretty good teammate. Henry is a dangerous runner, but has unusual throwing mechanics as he doesn't seem to follow all the way through. He will seek a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA as he tore his ACL after he had already redshirted.  It'd be shocking if the NCAA didn't give him a sixth year since he's a great student and a guy who's involved in the community.  BUT, they didn't give Keith Smith an extra year a few years ago...so never underestimate the NCAA's ineptitude.

Henry is 6'2" and weighs 200 pounds.

RS Freshman Austin Appleby was a Nike Elite 11 QB coming out of high school in Ohio. If you've watched him pass, you probably notice that he has a lively arm and, at least in my opinion, the best mechanics of the quarterbacks in the stable.  While he's a dropback passer, he's a pretty good athlete that can run as well.

Appleby is the biggest QB in Purdue's stable at a legit 6'5" 235 pounds.

RS Freshman Bilal Marshall was a dual-threat QB out of high school in Dade County, Florida.  Marshall ran quite a bit in high school and his throwing mechanics needed work (the last time I saw him throw)...but he can get out of trouble with his feet very quickly.  From what I've heard, he's been an apt pupil since coming onto campus.  Not a ton of people are giving him a shot to start next season, but I think he's a darkhorse because Hazell's Kent State team ran the option this season.

Marshall 6'3" and weighs 170...but has a frame that should be able to put on 10 pounds by next fall.

True Freshman Danny Etling is a four-star recruit out of Indiana whose team struggled during his Senior season.  Much like Appleby the year before a few key injuries might have helped keep his offense in check during his final season in high school...and Purdue benefitted from that.  I thought he would surely receive more offers, but a lackluster Senior year kept some away.  He was invited to the Elite 11 National contest, but didn't make the finals.  His cousin, Joe Holland, helped convince him to come to Purdue...and through the transition of Hope leaving and Hazell being hired, he stayed true.  He's a dropback passer with decent mechanics, but doesn't throw completely over the top.

Etling is 6'3" and weighs 200 pounds.

Walk-on (So) Parker, who saw limited action this season, will also compete for the starting job.

Competition is nothing but positive and having options with different skillsets is probably exactly what Hazell wants to see the first day in camp later this year.  The only downfall for Hazell is that there's probably not one guy who is the clear-cut favorite...at least at this point since none of them started last season. We're still about two months away...but workouts will start this week.

With Hazell's open practices, I'm hoping to get to see these guys with my very own LASIK-repaired eyes in March.

BS Readers Weigh In On Purdue QB Situation

A week or two back, B-dowd put up a poll asking you to give your pick for QB this fall in the black and old gold. The results are in and in our unscientific poll, it's clear -- we've swayed you all with our Marve-lous propaganda.

Robert Marve -- 60%
Rob Henry -- 27%
Caleb Terbush -- 12%

This might seem particularly unfair to Mr. TerBush, who -- let's be fair -- was the primary signal-caller in a season that saw the Boilermakers return to middling bowl game prominence.

Previous to that Rob Henry had captured the hearts and minds of the Boilermaker faithful as he gutted his way to victories despite being beat up along the way and having somewhat limited potential as a downfield passer.

And so here we are, a few months from entering the 2012 season and the public opinion has swayed to a guy who has repeatedly shown he wants nothing more than to play football for Purdue. It looks like he will finally, truly be healthy and let's hope he stays that way, regardless of how he plays. Or, knowing this coaching staff, if he plays.

Log Jam Ahead: Marve to Return

A few of our readers didn't want to read about this, but back in November, we looked ahead to the quarterback situation for 2012.  It was confusing then, it's probably more confusing now.

Marve stretches out for a sixth year of eligibility

Review:

Robert Marve transferred from Miami to Purdue.  While at Miami, he redshirted due to an injury to his non-throwing hand from a car wreck.  He started nearly a complete season as a RS Freshman.  After conflict with Shannon, Miami's coach, he moved on to West La La.  Due to NCAA transfer rules, he lost his Soph. year of eligibility. Shortly after announcing his transfer, he tore his ACL.  No sweat- he'd have the year that he was sitting out to recover.

In his fourth start of '10 versus Toledo, Marve faked a pitch and tore the same ACL again in a non-contact play.  He used the remainder of 2010 and spring/summer of '11 to recover from the second knee injury.  Rob Henry was thrust into the starting role as a RS Freshman due to Caleb TerBush being academically ineligible in that same season.  When Henry's finger was crushed v. aOSU, True Freshman Sean Robinson was forced out of a redshirt season and into the starting line-up for a game.  Henry returned to the starting role wearing a glove on his throwing hand...and his accuracy suffered because of the injury...but most of his work was with his feet at that point.

In the summer coming into last fall, Robert Marve and Rob Henry had put themselves as 1 and 1A for the starting job. Caleb TerBush was behind them. But, Marve's knee recovered slowly, so he couldn't take contact in August of '11...and Henry was made the starter.  As Marve was fighting to return to form, he was named in the scandal at the University of Miami as one of the guys that received improper benefits while being recruited to the school. Marve never lost eligibility at Purdue and many believe it's because of his cooperation with the NCAA during their investigation.

As the clear starter heading toward September, Henry blew out his ACL...and TerBush was named the starter.  He started most of last season, but after game three, Robert Marve was worked into action and the dreaded two-QB system became a reality.

With TerBush and Marve splitting snaps, not many Purdue fans were happy, and the results were mediocre. TerBush was criticized for his slow decision making and taking costly sacks.  He managed the game well, and didn't seem to overreach.  Marve was criticized for making poor decisions and trying to force the ball into double and triple coverage. He plays with fire and is a gunslinger and the coaching staff didn't like that he regularly abandoned the script for the game. During the handful of starts in the previous season, he played much more conservatively and his completion percentage showed it.  Justin Siller was also used from time-to-time in the Wildcat; which was effective.  All of the guys who played QB last season were very supportive of one another and positive; I've heard nothing from people on the team or close to the program to counter this.

With Marve and TerBush splitting snaps, Robinson was able to take the redshirt that he couldn't take in '10.  Robinson will be a RS Sophomore in the fall of '12.

Marve petitioned the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility.  Many thought that since Marve was named in the investigation (above) that the NCAA wouldn't grant him another year to play.  I always thought that his willingness to talk actually helped him and it showed that he was trying to turn over a new leaf.   Last night, it was announced by the NCAA that Marve will have one final year of eligibility to play college football.

When we posted our thoughts back in late-November, we knew that Elite 11 Finalist, Austin Appleby would be coming to Purdue.  Appleby (of course) tore his ACL at the end of his Junior season, but started his entire Senior season in HS. The season wasn't a great one for him or his team...and that's probably why his star rating didn't get higher than 3 in spite of his impressive showing on ESPN U's Elite 11 camp last summer.  Appleby is a drop back passer with decent mobility and good size...his game is like a poor man's Andrew Luck out of HS.

Hope has also received two additional verbals for the QB position: Aloyis Gray and Bilal Marshall- both are top-25 dual threat QBs.  Gray (from the Indy area), ranks 23rd, has offers from Cincy, Illinois, IU and Purdue's vanquished Pizza Pizza Bowl opponent (and others). Marshall (from Hialeah, FL) ranks 17th.  He has an impressive list of offers including Baylor, Northwestern and GTech.

Just last week, Hope got the news that Erich Berzinskas would join the crowded stable as a preferred walk-on. Berzinskas threw passes to future Boiler, Carlos Carvajal at Milford Academy last season.  He's a drop-back passer with good size, 6'5", 215lbs and has a lively arm.  Berzinskas decided to go to Milford to try to garner more schollie offers.

We made no bones about our feelings about the two QB system- we don't like it.  We understand that it's good to have guys prepared in case injuries put you in a bind, but coming into '12, Purdue will have four quarterbacks that have started at least one game in college...and three that have started at least six. So, there shouldn't be any need to split QBs just to be ready.  Hope now has the difficult task of evaluating and making the call.  The candidates have workouts, Spring football and Fall camp to make their case that they should be the starter.

During Hope's first season at HC, Joey Elliott* ran an offense that resembled Tiller's offenses at times- "The Duke" wasn't called on to run the ball with regularity, but passed quite a bit...and was solid while doing it.  Last year, we saw Henry run an offense that ran the ball about 70% of the time.  And finally in '11, the offense was extremely balanced...but to me, it looked like it should have been an offense that ran the ball even more since the running backs were having tremendous success.  With a lot of talent back at RB, I would think the balanced paradigm will return in '12.

Let's pretend for a moment that every single candidate for the quarterback position in '12 goes the entire off-season without getting injured...and all of the verbals get to campus without a hiccup.  Here's the what Hope/Nord have at the QB position (as of now):

Robert Marve (6th year Sr, fmr starter)
Caleb TerBush (5th year Sr, fmr starter)
Rob Henry (RS Jr, fmr starter)
Sean Robinson (RS So, fmr starter)

Austin Appleby (Fr)
Bilal Marshall (Fr)
Aloyis Gray (Fr)

Austin Parker (So Walk-On)
Dalapo Macarthy (So Walk-On)
Erich Berzinskas (Fr Walk-On)

Now is the part where I speculate based on what I've heard and read.

Aloyis Gray had a similar high school career as Rob Henry- he played a lot of WR before playing QB his Senior year.  Plus, he was recruited as an athlete by many schools because of his ability at WR.  I think he'd be very likely to see the field, after a redshirt season, at WR. Edison is a Senior and Bush and Ross are both Juniors.

The next candidate to petition for a sixth year of eligibility might be Rob Henry. That would effectively make the coming season his Sophomore year...but I believe they do not tell a player if he's received the additional year until prior to that sixth season..which would be in 2014.

Dalapo Macarthy would seem to be a pretty good candidate to take the Keith Smith, Justin Siller role and shift to the slot receiver position.  He's similarly-sized and is a good athlete...and I see no scenario in which he'll play QB...but we've seen an odd thing or two happen in the past few years for Purdue QBs, haven't we?

There's a lot that can and will happen during this Spring and fall for Purdue QBs...we'll keep an eye on what goes down.


*I saw "The Duke" at the Purdue v. Wisconsin game- he looked much leaner than the last time I saw him...for those of you who don't know, Elliott plays in the CFL...and blew out his knee shortly after graduation. 

A Quick Look Ahead at the QB Log Jam of 2012

Danny Hope seems to be loyal and legitimately loves the guys he coaches.  But, he also struggles mightily with making difficult personnel decisions-

"Should Carson or Cody punt here?"
"Who will play QB today...and for how long?"
"Who is going to return kicks & punts?"
"Who will be the featured RB?"
"How can I find a way to play 30 receivers in today's game?"

When it gets right down to it, making tough decisions might be one of the most-important roles of a head coach in college football...and these tough decisions are clearly Hope's achilles heel- from timeouts, play-calling after time-outs, adjustments at halftime and who to play, Purdue's third-year head coach struggles when making large decisions.

Next year, Hope might have his hardest personnel decisions while at Purdue in front of him, depending on a few variables.

At quarterback, many believe Robert Marve will be granted a sixth year by the NCAA (I'm not in agreement with that assessment). If that's the case, the stable will be absolutely busting at the seams with horses.

A completely healthy Robert Marve, Caleb TerBush and Sean Robinson would all be available for the Spring game in this scenario...and in the fall, it gets more confusing.

Former starters and fellow Seniors, Marve and TerBush will both be available and chomping at the bit to play. RS Sophomores and former starters, Sean Robinson and Rob Henry will both be available...and let's not forget, Henry was called the future at QB and was a team captain, prior to going down to a busted ACL.  On top of four good, experienced options, Austin Appleby will be coming in.  Appleby seems to be the best true drop-back option of all of them.  Sure, Appleby should be a no-brainer redshirt candidate.

But...

If Marve isn't granted the extra year of eligibility and Henry's knee has minor setbacks, I can definitely see a scenario in which Appleby burns his redshirt early in the season as Hope gets nervous about being in the situation he was in back in 2010.

One would think this is the best problem to have.  But if the adage of having two quarterbacks really meaning you have zero.  What does it mean to have three...or four that play???

I think every coach in the nation wants this type of problem. But, my fear is that without choosing one starter, the quality of play will be watered down. As a result, Hope's Boilers might once again be left with an offense, that while balanced, is not great nor overpowering in any one aspect of the game.  And if the past few defenses are any indicator, Purdue's offense will need to put up points to be anything more than a soundly-mediocre program.

QB Camparo

Brees was worse in every category in his first year at Purdue than the two below

Here's a comparison of two Purdue QBs in their first year under center in God's country:

Henry:

86/162 996 yards 53.1% comp. 8TD 7Int 112.4 rating

Orton:

69/142 686 yards 48.6% comp. 2TD 3Int 89.6 rating

These two are pretty comprable since neither started an entire season and both looked pretty anxious at times being thrown into their roles. They're also comprable in the fact that the guys around them really liked playing with them. That's about where it ends though. Orton always had a pretty good throwing motion and his stature allowed him to look over the line...but he ran a bit like a wounded animal. Henry kind of slings the ball and tends to throw through lanes as he doesn't stand as tall in the pocket. But, Henry's ability to run and overall athleticism is unlike any quarterback we've seen at Purdue.

The main reason I posted this was to remind all of us that players develop when given the time and tools to do that...Henry needs some guys to come along around him, but it's not out of the realm of possibility to have Henry become a QB in the upper third of the league this season and even more in his Junior and Senior years.

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.

Now we know why.

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.

Cradle Alums

Reader Jason sends along the above screen grab and says "I seem to remember two of those guys at Purdue."

It's always cute, though, when Purdue is called "irrelevant" or "boring," especially by "fans" of a program who produces this.