Express: Analysis: Murphy's decision

Last year's breakthrough recruiting class for Purdue was one defined by signature players, prospects like George Karlaftis and David Bell and the like.

Saturday, abruptly, brought another for 2020, and with it a sign that the Boilermakers' momentum endures.

Tirek Murphy, by any objective measure, is a big-time player, and we know that only to the extent that a player holding big-time offers, with big-time rankings, allows.

But speaking of signature players, this was a class set up for Purdue to land one at running back, because remarkably, Evan Anderson's departure this spring has left Purdue without a single scholarship running back recruited recruited as part of the recruiting classes of 2016, 2017 and 2018. That's remarkable, the product of happenstance, but remarkable nonetheless.

With the stars lined up for Purdue to potentially get a good one, a really good one, it wanted more than anyone Murphy. That's fact. He was their No. 1 guy at a position where Purdue was looking for a difference-maker.

So, it's kind of a big deal. While you never want to rely on freshmen too much, Purdue may rely on Murphy as its guy at running back from Day 1. Obviously this season, King Doerue and Da'Joun Hewitt, the two freshmen who have pretty much no choice but to play this season, most likely, can dull the need some, but the need should persist.

The magnitude of this acquisition is significant beyond just the caliber of performer Purdue may be getting but the caliber of headline-getter. This commitment won't stop the college earth from rotating on its axis, but it does at least serve as reminder that Purdue is a hell of a draw these days, capable of netting big-time players without the advantages of convenience, as it did to some extent with Karlaftis and Bell, or natural connections, as it did with Rondale Moore and Milton Wright. I'm not laying asterisks on Purdue's recruiting conquests prior to this one, just trying to set this one in a category of its own, because it is different.

Murphy is from New York City, an alternate universe to West Lafayette, Ind., and though running back should be a position Purdue is known for because its offense is as running back-friendly as it is receiver-friendly, you could argue, this was not the position that constitutes Purdue's identity under Jeff Brohm.

Furthermore, this spring did see a good number of Purdue priorities fall of the board, without the Boilermakers taking their share. Any thoughts that Purdue might be cooling off after a watershed-moment class ceased this afternoon, with the rare Saturday-afternoon, mid-official visit commitment.

You know what that means? It means Murphy knew what he was doing before he even got to Purdue

.Murphy not all that long ago named 16 favorites. Snicker all you want at a player "cutting" his list to only Purdue, Notre Dame, Michigan, Texas A&M, LSU, Syracuse, Rutgers, Duke, Miami, Arizona State, Oregon, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee, Nebraska and Pittsburgh, but read that list and then consider that this player chosen Purdue only over the schools left on the cutting-room floor, that would still most likely be a hell of a list.

This will be a small class for Purdue, and so it will want those few spots filled by the highest-impact individuals it can find.

Saturday was a pretty damn good start, it seems.