Post by boilermakerd on Aug 15, 2021 6:11:10 GMT -8
Not sure how much you guys are like Purdue, but at Purdue the next guy up who is supposed to be more talented rarely busts out early and is better than the veteran.
Kinda like gus Hartwig .. the 4* center who Ohio state wanted bad. He played guard some last year as a true freshman then center when walk on sam Garvin went down. This year the center job is his. Could he be an all star at this level next year and beyond? Absolutely.. it’s expected. Do I expect that against Oregon state despite the fact that everyone on the national rivals side of things told us “this guy is a HUGE get” the day he committed? Not at all …
Marvin grant is the most talented SS we’ve had since Bernard pollard. But even if he stays healthy there are going to be growing pains. At tight end Garrett Miller, who has already made some plays, has talent along the lines of brycen Hopkins and Dustin Keller. And while he may be an all big ten force, am I expecting that on September 4th if Payne Durham gets nicked up early? No.
David bell, rondale moore and George karlaftis are the only players I’ve seen bust out from day one in a long time. Take two other four star receivers who showed up with bell… Milton Wright and mershawn rice. Wright had a priority offer from alabama.. not to come there and be A guy, but be THE guy. He’s made some big plays his first two years but he still hasn’t put together the veteran tools in all the little ways that veterans accumulate them. I don’t know if he will ever be as savvy as David Bell, John standeford or Taylor stubblefield. Mershawn rice is supposed to finally play against Oregon state three years after the fact and I’ve been told not to expect him to just come out lighting it up.
So I guess I’m curious.. when you guys have guys go down, do young guys with the rivals/247 resume just come in and you don’t miss a beat? Because it sure ain’t like that for us
We usually don't really have guys that are big time recruits on rivals. These guys have played but haven't played nearly as much as Hodgins because this would be his fourth year starting. In limited snaps Rawls has played well and he's put on about 20lbs this off-season so he could be poised for a breakout season. Will he who knows? Rrports from camp have been promising and he was graded highly in his minutes by PFF last year. Shippen hasn't shown much yet but he is 1 that was highly touted so we'll see. Anderson has played a lot in the rotation but has only been serviceable. He has a high motor and never lacks effort. Sandberg will probably start at RE. I think he will breakout this year. He's put on a lot of weight as well and he was starting to break out last season. He's from Sweden and has only been playing football for about 4 years. Has all of the physical tools to be good. There is Lolohea who is a freshman and it's starting to seem like they're not going to be able to keep him off the field.
What the recruiting services are actually grading is the likelihood that a player will contribute early. They admittedly can’t pretend to know who will be good or not good long term. So it made sense that karlaftis was good as a true freshman playing in the trenches, because he was a five star on 247. It made sense that Gus Hartwig was decent at center last year as a true freshman because he was a highly rated four star.
If we had your roster and I was trying to sell other Purdue fans on the idea that Lolohea at 265 could get on the field against a big ten team and not get exposed? That would be a tough sell to fellow boilers. I’m hoping Lawrence Johnson and Branson Deen are GOOD solid football players in what will be their fourth year in the program. Deen has been passed by Demarje Lewis and Johnson will be passed by Bryce Austin if he’s not careful. We have some redshirt sophomores who were good recruits on the OL and if I tried to tell someone “oh yeah this guy will play” they’d say he’s not ready.
Shippen, Rawls, sandberg, Anderson and Sio seem like who we can expect to see along with the Minnesota transfer.
But our main problem is gonna be holding down your offense. Marvin grant is nicked up again so redshirt freshman sanoussi kane will likely get his first action at SS. and the corner opposite trice, dedrick Mackey.. to me .. has never been good. This is as bad vs a pac 12 offense as your DL sounds vs a big ten offense.