GOLD & BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 4 10
O
n paper, these guys might not
look like much.
On paper.
On paper, Purdue signed a bunch of
recruits with the lowest of profiles, a few
of them pilfered from programs from
the lowest levels of the game and even
one who was dropped by a mid-major.
Again, on paper.
We're not going to do the tired ref
-
erendum here on recruiting rankings,
our annual reminder that, yes, they're
flawed, but they're also right more than
they're wrong and that schools are
happy to legitimize them when they're
favorable, quick to dismiss them when
they're not.
Purdue's recruiting rankings the past
five years or so, um, haven't been so
hot.
And Purdue's won four games the
past two seasons after its last coach got
fired.
Seems to me like the rankings have
been pretty spot on, no?
That doesn't mean, however, they
always will be.
Purdue will hope beyond hope this
class is the proverbial rankings buster.
It's an interesting dynamic with this
2015 signing class that it's teeming with
unheralded, overlooked — the question,
though, being, "Why were the over
-
looked?" — and under-recruited (again,
why?) recruits of profiles that more of-
ten than not suggest long-term pay-out
as opposed to short-term impact.
This class has to be fast tracked,
though.
It has to help immediately, as it will
be needed to help fill urgent immediate
needs.
If Markell Jones, Tario Fuller and/
or Richie Worship, or any combina
-
tion thereof, can't help
pronto at running back
— Jones is the guy to
watch — then Purdue's
backfield is going to
morph from strength to weakness at
breakneck speed. Hell, it might anyway
given the unknowns involved.
More importantly, to me at least, are
junior college wide receivers Anthony
Mahoungou and Domonique Young.
They might be the most important
players in this class.
Purdue's passing offense post-Danny
Anthrop injury was, well, pathetic. The
Boilermakers need help at the position
badly, though to be fair, it may be a moot
point if the quarterback carousel doesn't
stop.
How many years can it spin?
You don't recruit JUCOs to develop.
You recruit them to play.
More Than Meets The Eye?
From Editor
Brian Neubert
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