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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 27 • 12 BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com T wo years ago, Bilal Marshall moved from quarterback to wide receiver, a transition that he thought would help him see the field more quickly. He's still waiting. But now, that wait might soon be over. After a successful spring season, the long, athletic junior seems poised to finally get his shot on the field on Saturdays. "I feel like I'm putting myself in this situation because I'm really starting to learn how to be a receiv - er," Marshall said after Saturday's spring game, in which he had five receptions for 81 yards for the vic- torious Black team. "I'm really start- ing to learn how to release off the line against press coverage. I know how to get open, and I understand, having played quarterback, so I know the cover lanes. I understand how to find the hole that the quar- terback wants me to be in. That's going to really benefit me down the line." Marshall got plenty of oppor- tunity in the spring. It helps that he's versatile enough to play both outside receiver positions, so when DeAngelo Yancey (knee) and An- thony Mahoungou (Achilles) were out the same week with injury, Marshall was able to fill that X po- sition, getting a heavy load of first- team repetitions. When the two re- turned, Marshall moved back to Z, the opposite side outside receiver, backing up Gregory Phillips but still rotating in with the first team. "That's the beauty of me," he said. "I feel like I'm very versatile, I can play any spot in the receiver room. It's not different, it's outside. I love playing outside. The best receiver is outside, you're one-on- one, mano a mano, there's not too much different. Some guys like playing on the right or the left, but it really doesn't matter to me." It took a bit for Marshall to get to this point. The Miami, Fla., native came to Purdue as a quar - terback but spent his first season on the sideline as a redshirt. The next spring, Darrell Hazell's first at Purdue, Marshall was considered the No. 4 quarterback, behind veteran Rob Henry and under- classmen Danny Etling and Aus- tin Appleby. His opportunity for first-team repetitions was limited, and considering he was unlikely to move past Etling or Appleby, Purdue decided to move him. Im- mediately, that shift seemed to pay off, as the athletic Marshall kept making plays in his first train- ing camp, showing off an ability to twist and contort his body in posi- tion to make catches. Obviously, he had natural ability. But he didn't really know what he was doing, the intricacies of route running or timing, how to break off the line. And injuries hit too, forcing him out of that train- ing camp and the next. But he kept grinding to get better. F O O T B A L L F E A T U R E : B I L A L M A R S H A L L His Time? Marshall's transition nearly complete Tom Campbell Bilal Marshall paced all receivers in the spring game with 81 receiving yards and tied DeAngelo Yancey with five catches.