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20 IllustrateD volume 25, issue 1 f rookie by confusing him with coverages and battering him with blitzes. This year, he is much more well-versed to combat the pressure, using the extra hour in the offseason to cling to Shoop, getting lost in endless film sessions shrewd- ly dissecting past mistakes, latching onto junior center Robert Kugler to pore over protections and bulking up an already solid frame to continue to withstand any more potential beatings. "People are good and they're going to make plays, (but) a great quarterback is somehow going to make a play re- gardless of what happens up front," Etling said. "There are going to be times you can't block someone. There were times last year, they would bring someone, and I should have known we couldn't get that guy. That's something I know this year and will be a big improvement. "Every single sack, I always think, 'What could I have changed?' Sometimes it is your fault and sometimes there's nothing you could have done. You just have to distinguish between those two. Don't beat yourself up but beat yourself up enough that you make a change. Really, a lot of the sacks are on the quarterback and I al- ways see it that way. How could I have not gotten sacked? There's always a way out. That's how I'm pushing myself to get better." Last year, Etling held the ball too long, contributing to some of those sacks. He says he couldn't just snap the ball and take the let's-just-go-make-things-happen approach. He was too robotic about being precise with plays, and that often meant overthinking and not playing fast enough. This year, he expects to be better at "getting outside of my own head" and trusting his teammates. He is real- izing they grew up, too, last year, so many of them fellow underclassmen — DeAngelo Yancey, B.J. Knauf, Danny Anthrop, Cameron Posey — who also saw rapidly in- creased snaps. He knows he needs to start allowing them to make the plays, trying to take the onus off himself, just getting the ball out quickly and watching them zip around, evade tacklers and produce big gains. "He really understands that he just needs to relax and just play ball and trust what he sees and make the throws we all know he can make," senior tight end Justin Sinz said. "We've obviously seen him from where he began last year to the end of the year, then even in the offsea- son, we've seen him mature quite a bit and take more of a leadership role. (The quar- terback) needs to be the leader of the offense and get the best out of the people around him." Last year, Etling didn't ex- actly exemplify that complete leadership role. He didn't speak up much in the huddle, admit- tedly finding it tough to take command of an offense as a 19-year-old surrounded by older, more experienced players. He isn't generally comfortable being vocal. He would never de- scribe himself as a "rah rah" guy. This year, he knows leading by example just isn't enough. He must be more outspoken. Tight end Dolapo Macarthy tried to convey that to Etling over camp when the two were paired as roommates in the dorm. Macarthy had a common experience with Etling from the previous year: Seeing a guy nervous to embrace the true power of the position. So Macarthy got Etling to open up a bit, and by the end of camp, "I can't get him to shut up," Macarthy said. "We don't need him to be quiet — we need him to be more vocal," Macarthy said. "We need Danny to talk up more and speak more and kind of be more assertive. That's a position that requires that. We need that from him, to step up a little bit and talk more. He hasn't been doing a bad job, but he needs to be a little bit more out- spoken." The other trait of leadership, an unwavering work ethic, is imperative to show, too, but Etling already has earned the respect of teammates there. He's done it with the amount of time he spends preparing, studying and, generally, being obsessed with the sport. Tom Campbell Etling isn't the same quarterback Purdue coaches choice to become its starter mid- way through last season. He has a better grasp on the offense, defenses and what's expected from him as a leader.