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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 26, ISSUE 3 57 — en route to earning team offen- sive MVP honors. "I've got a bar that's been set for myself," he said in mid-December, after being named MVP. "I know what other guys in the country are doing, so now I want to be up there in that type of category — the type of talks like New York (Heisman) talks." Purdue may settle for the class pushing toward the two-deep soon- er than later. Other than Jones playing as a true freshman, Eddy Wilson was a backup defensive tackle; corner- back David Rose played five games on special teams; Markus Bailey got significant linebacker snaps until a season-ending injury; and special- ists Joe Schopper and snapper Ben Makowski were the primary options at their positions. Three other newcomers, all ju- nior college transfers, played in their first seasons at Purdue. The majority of the first-year group, though, needed to grow ac- customed to practice being their showcase, to not even wearing pads on game days, to watching road games on TV in the team's lounge. It's not always an easy transition to make, especially for the players who so desperately wanted not to be in this position. They didn't want to redshirt, but they did. "We all have the same goal. We all want to play. Some harder than others," said redshirting running back Tario Fuller. "We have to em- brace our role. The best players learn how to execute their roles as a football player. That's what, to me, makes the difference between a good football player and a great football player." For the few who made it onto the field? The experience was worth it, they said, regardless how much they played. And, especially in the cases of Jones and Wilson, it was worth it for Purdue, too. "I think that's a pretty talented group," Coach Darrell Hazell said. "(Jones), Eddy Wilson and some of those DBs. I think that's a good group to build off of and to add to those other groups that are in front of them. It's exciting." A closer look at the freshman class for 2015: QUARTERBACK Elijah Sindelar seemed thisclose to getting on the field as a true freshman. When Austin Appleby took a big hit early in the season finale against Indiana — and with starting quar- terback David Blough already out with a concussion — Sindelar was as close as he's ever been to mak- ing his Purdue debut. Fortunately for the Boilermak- ers — and Sindelar — Appleby was able to return after missing only one snap, preserving Sindelar's redshirt, a key piece for a growing and maturing quarterback. By most accounts, Sindelar's Brian Neubert Though quarterback Elijah Sindelar spent his first full season watching from the sidelines, by all accounts, he improved in every aspect of his game.