Pre-Season Luncheon

Every year prior to the first kickoff, the pre-season luncheon occurs...and I know we're getting close to the official beginning of the season.

No, no, I'm not talking about some stuffy banquet-style lunch with a bunch of finely-tuned athletes and a few well-respected alums and fans...I'm talking about the bi-yearly LJS tradition.

A few pals of mine and I have been taking a deep-fried adventure just prior to football season and right before the NCAA playoffs for a few years now...Both get me greased up in anticipation of what's coming.

I'm told the Purdue football team will be having their version of the LJS Luncheon in the Union tomorrow...it'll probably be OK, but I bet they don't get chicken planks and fish filets.

Actually, one of my fondest childhood Purdue memories was in the early/mid-80s- My Dad busted my brothers and I out of school so we could go to the yearly event in West Lafayette. We got to meet Jim Everett, Rod Woodson, Ray Wallace...and while walking down the hall in the union, some skinny Frosh DB came up to us and said- "You want my autograph?" We obliged, not having any clue who the guy was. Turns out, he'd later become All Big Ten...and eventually a multi-year Pro Bowler. Chris Dishman was his name...I'm positive there's a Dishman (or two) on this year's roster...there's gotta be.

Much of last-year's recruiting class wasn't hyped by the recruiting virtual-rags...but all met a need, according to Hope. I see a few of Purdue's virtual-unknowns doing some big things...based on hunches.

Kevin Pamphile and Josh Johnson are my two picks of this class to surprise a lot of people by the time they leave West Lafayette...While I probably won't be right, it's fun to guess.

So kids, tomorrow when you go to the event, don't forget to get Najee Tyler's autograph as you pursue Robert Marves...cause you never know what's going to happen. That's what makes sport so great.

Wednesday Gumbo

If you're like my brothers and I, you're chomping at the bit for football season. We all watched the Purdue practice tonight together as if it was a big game...and on Friday night, we're going to watch a high school football game...just because the jones is getting stronger- the end of the tunnel is nigh!

Watching the Boilers' practice on BTN, I took away a few noteworthy things-

-The offensive line and specifically, Ken Plue looks impressive and crisp.

-The interior defensive lineman seem to be the largest group of tackles that I can remember at Purdue

-Many of Purdue's receivers were struggling to cleanly-catch the ball. Even the guys that caught it bobbled an awful lot and used their bodies to gather the rock. Plus, so many of these young guys are just rail-thin. The lack of strength might be tough when Purdue plays bump coverage...Oregon's corners usually do; we'll know a lot early.

All that said, Keith Smith looked precise, strong and sure-handed and Valentin should be good as well. This coupled with the tight ends should help Purdue move the ball through the air, at least underneath.

-A lot of people in the program are excited about Elliott's leadership ability. In your opinion, when was the last time Purdue had a real field general leading the offense? That attitude alone might help the offense's level of success.

-I have a stronger and stronger feeling that ATM is not grasping the offense, and in spite of his talent, might not be too effective until mid-season, or after. The very good thing is that the other four backs should give him plenty of time to understand his role.

-While I really like the potential of Rob Henry, I'm worried about his throwing motion...it's reminiscent of Billy Dicken's. That worked out fine for both Purdue...and Dicken who made money playing in the AFL. But, for those of us who were hoping he was the next Drew Brees, think again...but Brees could never, and still can't run as fast or jump as high as Henry.

-Mike Neal benches 510. From the perspective of a guy that squats about 150-less pounds...that's perplexing. I didn't even know they made bench racks that could hold that much weight.


Jerks
If you believe Brett Favre came back to football to make his daughter happy or because the Vike's owner pleaded with him 48 hours ago to come...then, aw schucks! You're as simple as those who believe Usain Bolt is just a naturally-freakish athlete.

SEC Domination
I hear the SEC has banned students posting to Twitter and Facebook while at SEC games. AWESOME!!

There are so many stupid aspects to this policy...but I guess this idea is supposed to keep people focused on TV instead of the interwebnet during the games...or something. Regardless of the redonkilous reasoning, doesn't this seem nearly-unenforceable? I'm pretty sure every SEC student should send a Tweet to the SEC letting them know how little they appreciate this jack-arsed policy...during their first game.

The really good news is that Jim Delaney and Co. aren't following suit just because the SEC is so awesome and fast.

State of Emergency
I was watching UM on BTN's practice tour and noted that they have more indoor practice area than any other entity, professional or amateur, in America.

So, how do you think Aggie fans take to that kind of news as their AD panhandles the boosters for snack money for roadies later in the season? Alright guys, let's just shut this down- if you can't pay for a banana and bottle of water for each player, you should probably shut it down.

Other Junk
EsPN's new show "Sportsnation" fits perfectly on that network. It's awful. While the show has been on for a while (I guess) I always turned it because it looked like a commercial or a joke, to me. Turns out, it is...but the joke is on me I guess- I'll never get that hour back.

Thoughts to begin week 2 of Camp

Some of the biggest question marks that we all had coming into camp are slowly being answered.

Who's going to play WR?

We all knew Keith Smith was rock solid...and Aaron Valentin appeared to be as well at the end of the spring...but the drop-off was dramatic after those two.

Now, some other names and newcomers are emerging. JuCo transfers, Keith Carlos and Cortez Smith have both shown they are dangerous with the ball in their hands...but Carlos is still not-quite up to speed on the offensive system. After those two older new faces, true Freshmen, Gary Bush and Coach Hope's newbie favorite, Antavian Edison have been consistent contributors in practice and scrimmages alike.

Two guys I thought would make some noise (Eric Williams & Xavier Reese) now appear to be on a collision course with a redshirt for '09...this is surprising to me because both seemed to be shoe-ins for early playing time in this depleted corps.

A few young vets in the mix are Tommie Thomas, Royce Adams & Waynelle Gravesande. Hope's talked about Adams' physical nature and how he's been able to effectively transition to receiver...but neither Thomas or Gravesande has received a ton of attention; at least in public.

So at this point these guys seem to be on or sniffing around the two-deep:
Keith Smith
Aaron Valentin
Antavian Edison
Cortez Smith
Waynell Gravesande
Keith Carlos
Royce Adams
Gary Bush

Will Jaycen Taylor be ready by the Toledo game?

It would seem so.

Coach Hope and Taylor alike just days ago were downplaying optimism about Taylor's surgically-repaired knee and both decided to focus on Jaycen as a leader or a tough guy, but not a running back. That's taken a dramatic turn in the last two days as Hope says Taylor might be the #1 RB in just days...and Taylor is talking less like a guy who's doubting and more like a guy who's starting to believe.

Will ATM have immediate impact?

This one's pretty gray so far to me.

McBurse's vision and quick first step have both been complimented by players and coaches alike, but it sounds like he might be having a tough time at grasping the offense, at least thus far...this might not be the end of the world. RBs get banged up during a season...and if McBurse can come along as the season progresses, he'll surely have a role. But, it appears a few guys have a leg up to play RB.

Jaycen Taylor/Ralph Bolden (co #1)
Frank Halliburton

How different will Camp Hope be?

Publicly, Danny Hope has a lot of visible differences from Tiller. For one thing- he's extremely positive...almost ad nauseum. Perhaps this is part of his plan, but it's pretty difficult to get a ton of info from the man because everybody's doing so great...at least at something. If a guy's not picking up on the system, Hope seems to compliment his athleticism...if a guy's a half-step slow, he thinks the game really well.

Personally, I like this. I've always thought it is generally smarter to talk up the guys who bleed for you and work their arses off for a team/school in public and air grievances behind closed doors.

Is the defensive backfield ready to dominate?

Who knows...but as of now it doesn't appear that way.

Pender and King have both been held out of multiple practices and scrimmages and Mclean might not even be a starter. What looked like a rock solid unit has been pushed by a bunch of guys who have barely broken in their vegas gold helmets...and, by Hope's admission, the thin defensive backfield has been gassed on more than one occasion. Even if the starters are as good as any defensive backfield in America, is the drop-off going to be so dramatic that the ones are forced to stay out on the field for too many plays? Perhaps. One thing that's shocked me a bit out of camp is that really only one newcomer seems to be edging his way onto the depth chart. Josh Johnson has impressed the coaches and might be backing up King by the time Toledo comes to Ross Ade.

Some other questions I hope are answered in the next month:

-Will Rob Henry prove to be as promising as many believe he can be?
(we have yet to hear a word about him from Coach Hope)

-Will Najee Tyler stay at QB?

-Will these coordinators struggle in their first season at Purdue?

-Will Mondek earn his way back into the starting defensive line?

Dilemma

Every year this comes around- you don't really want to see either team (defense or offense) lose during a scrimmage because of what that might mean in the long run. But, in Wednesday and yesterday's limited scrimmages, the offense beat the defense both times. It wasn't a standard game, it was situational scoring competition, but the offense just edged the defense both times. Hope said the defense was battling through injuries, so some of the defensive backfield was held out. I don't really know what to think about the defense getting beaten by this young offense, especially this early...even with a few guys sidelined. We'll see how things progress in the next scrimmage, Saturday afternoon.

Hope talked about the Wednesday morning session of two-a-days saying it was the best practice he's had since he's been back at Purdue; including last season. That's a big positive, no doubt...especially in the wake of some of his reports about the lack of crisp play thus far. Other noteworthy snigbits* include the fact that Jaycen Taylor is playing well and is getting used to contact- Hope says his progress is starting to pick up...and he likes the way the entire team is hustling during the end-of-practice conditioning drills, but they're not leaving it all out there during scrimmages.

I'm pretty positive that Hope rides these guys when effort is in question- I think that might prove to be the biggest improvement from the Tiller era. Plus, Hope is excited for the fans to "meet" Coach Nord as an OC...he thinks we'll be very pleased with the variety of play-calling. I think we're all ready for variety and excitement once-again in the offense.

I've heard from multiple sources that the receivers, as a unit, had some real issues catching the ball in the first few days of this week. It has continued for a couple of the Freshman who were thought to be instant-impact guys (though I don't know which ones)...hopefully that just proves to be nerves and the receiving corps works it out in a hurry; time will tell.

One very-noteworthy, un-Tiller-like situation that's developing is the fact that no quarterbacks have been moved to the defensive backfield yet. It seemed that Nyjee Tyler, specifically, was an ideal candidate for moving from behind center...but if Hope's conferences are any indicator, there's not even a hint in the air that Tyler's time as field general is short. Granted, the info we're receiving is heavily-filtered...so there's a lot going on that we don't know about. Regardless of what's going on behind closed-doors and net-covered fences, let's hope the team is maturing in a hurry and buying into the systems that are being put in place.

*snigbits is a made-up word coined by Joey Elliott during media day

New Names, New Faces

Not a ton to report from the multiple sources I read this evening...Press day revealed that the Boilers will don names on the back of the jerseys. I'm not a big fan of it- the first thing I think of, when it comes to Purdue and names on the jerseys are some pretty dark days in Ross Ade- days when J Money had healthy knees, Tim shot the basketball incessantly at the Co-Rec, I had hair and was thin, all three of us were students at Purdue, and the football team was awful. Granted, the names had nothing to do with the lack of success for our Boilers, but I'm a traditionalist when it comes to uniforms. That's about the only change I can notice on the unis this season.

One thing I've heard a lot from Coach Hope in the interviews is that he's doing a lot by committee- Running back by committee (makes a lot of sense with the depth at the position), a ton of receivers will get looks (again, I like this because we need to see who can make an impact) and Elliott and TerBush will both play a lot of downs during the season (this one I don't like).

Dan Dierking (one of the many RBs in the stable) looks like a throwback to the 60s...but not many guys from that era had pipes like 25

The reason I'm bothered by the last of the three is because that sounds to me like he's not completely convinced that Elliott is the guy. Hopefully one of them proves to be a clear-cut, successful leader in the huddle and behind the center, or it could be a long season for this offense. I've never been much of a proponent of two-quarterback systems.

According to Hope, today was a bit more crisp...that's a very good thing. One thing I still haven't heard a lot about is how tough this secondary is to throw against so far in practice- hopefully, very. If not, once again, this could be a long season for Purdue faithful.

Monroe Brooks was moved from DT to the offensive line...and Trevor Foy probably will be next to do the same. I think that will spell redshirt for Foy...but, I think he'll be a very good offensive lineman in the coming seasons. I also look for Kevin Pamphile to make the same move and be get a redshirt as well...Granted, I have nothing concrete as info on this subject, just a hunch.

Day 3 from Camp Hope

I've read the J&C and GBI over the last few days along with the help of purduebuzztap on Twitter in an effort to glean info, perhaps connect a few dots and assess the state of Hope's team just days into his tenure as head coach...Here's what I've gathered thus far:

-Lack of crisp play is a theme, now. I think we all knew it was going to happen...but let's hope this doesn't continue. Whether it's over-zealous receivers dropping passes, a ton of guys throwing up on the brand-new turf, RB/QBs struggling with exchanges or minor fights breaking out, this team is clearly going through growing pains. Hopefully these frustrating drills in the early stages of the season lead to a team that play with purpose when it counts.

-I'm bothered by this, but it seems Purdue's morale-leader might not be on the field as often as many had hoped and is still far-from-confident in his surgically-repaired knee. Hope has been slow to speak glowingly on Jaycen Taylor's progress and today came right out and mentioned Taylor's importance to special teams and his role in specific situations. The good news is, from everything I hear from players, Taylor will be nothing but positive as he helps Bolden, McBurse and others prepare for more carries as he tries to get himself back to being confident in his lower body. More telling that Hopes words, or lack thereof are those of Taylor when he talks to the press.

-Jason Werner is still not completely-confident in his oft-injured back...but, he's practicing with the ones. I'll admit it as I have before- I love this guy...and have talked to him on multiple occasions, so I'm rooting hard for his success and even moreso for his health in the long-term. I'm glad he's not pushing through the little tweaks and tightening and is coming back slowly. I hope and pray he makes it through this season healthy and in a football uniform. Much like Taylor, the young guys on the team will greatly benefit from Werner's leadership on the field and on the sidelines.

-While Keith Carlos may be wearing #1 this season, it looks to me like he won't even be a starter at WR. Granted, we haven't seen the new receivers in a scrimmage situation yet, but if the head coach likes someone, they'll probably end up on the field...The guy that Hope continually showers with compliments is Antavian Edison. While there is no official depth chart that has been published, he's a "one" at this point.

'09 Camp Underway

Coach Hope's first camp as HC began today at 4:25...and the new roster, with 100 number fives is up and running on GBI. Now, if Comcast would stop sucking, perhaps my new TV will allow me to get further in the mood for football by watching some bad pre-season football tomorrow.

#15, Rob Henry at practice at the new facility next to Mollenkopf