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What shakeups in the schedule do you see if the season is pushed to the spring? How could the season look?
ButlerBoilers
I have seen the proposals to push the season to winter/spring. But I just don’t see the plausibility of that. The “2020” season would end halfway through 2021—and just months before the 2021 season was supposed to start. Just too much football in too short of a period of time.
I think the powers that be will find a way to play this fall—probably with limited fans or without fans. There is too much money—and too much a stake for these athletic departments who are addicted to football money—not to have a season of some sort. Any amount of games is better than nothing.
How will it look? Maybe Big Ten schools play just conference games. Maybe Big Ten schools play just regional foes, not worrying about league affiliation—just play other schools in close proximity.
Will there be bowls? A playoff? If I had to guess, the bowls may get sacrificed but the playoff would be kept. Gotta have an overall champ, right? The world can live a year without crowning a champ of the Independence Bowl. Still, that would be a lot of bowl money leagues wouldn't have. But if the season starts in, say, October, would we really have bowls in January?
Stay tuned. This is gonna be fascinating. Don’t expect any decisions to be made until June or July.
Is new o-line grad transfer Greg Long gonna be a starter or a reserve?
Nat100
I don’t think the offensive lineman from UTEP is coming to Purdue to be a reserve. Grad transfers are looking for places where they can not only play … but start … now. No doubt, Long sees opportunity at Purdue. Aside from fifth-year senior left tackle Grant Hermanns, there is plenty of uncertainty along the Boilermaker front. Long is a tackle by trade, so he may have his eyes on being the No. 1 right tackle. Sophomore Will Bramel projects as the starter at that spot. Could Long take it? Whatever happens, Long’s arrival will increase competition for a unit that has a lot to prove in 2020.
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How do you anticipate the QB spot shaking out?
PurHack
Few positions will draw more attention. No doubt, Purdue would have liked to have had Elijah Sindelar return for a sixth season. But Sindelar opted to walk away and begin his career as an engineer. That has left junior Aidan O’Connell and sophomore Jack Plummer as the main competitors. The job figures to come down to that duo. But UCLA grad transfer Austin Burton has joined the fray. He is more of a dual-threat. But can he really get up to speed to win the job? Stay tuned. Purdue learned last year that it’s good to have quality depth at quarterback after Nick Sipe left the program and Sindelar and Plummer suffered season-ending injuries. That left the job to O’Connell, a walk-on. When it’s all said and done, I think Plummer will win the job.
Where does redshirt freshman defensive lineman Steven Faucheux fit in? Seems we haven’t heard much about the four-star prospect.
Mjgboiler
At 6-5, 285 pounds, Faucheux looks the part. He practiced last season as a true freshman, but he ended up redshirting. It will be interesting to see how Faucheux fits in the defensive schemes of Bob Diaco, whose base defense is a 3-4. Is he big enough to be a nose tackle? Could he be an end? Diaco plays a lot of 4-3, too, so Faucheux figures in some interior spot. This shapes up to be a big season for the Ohio native. Purdue has players like Lorenzo Neal, Anthony Watts, Lawrence Johnson, Jack Sullivan, KJ Stokes and Jeff Marks at tackle. Can Faucheux crack the rotation? Would he be better suited to play offensive line, a spot many schools wanted him for coming out of Lakota West High?
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Who on the roster will bring a tenacious Ruth Langmore-type attitude to the field? 1234FirstDown
Good one. Every defender needs to have a salty attitude like Ruth, whose just-get-the-job-done mind-set is inspiring. No-nonsense, blunt, effective … even a bit mean—Ruth stole every scene she was in of the Netflix series “Ozark.” Purdue needs its entire defense to play with Ruth Langmore attitude. And no unit moreso than the linebackers—guys like DaMarcus Mitchell, Derrick Barnes, Jalen Graham, Khali Saunders, Jacob Wahlberg and Jaylan Alexander. Now, if I had to pick one player with a Ruth Langmore attitude, I'd go with senior defensive tackle Anthony Watts.
How challenging is it for recruiting analysts to grade offensive line prospects? There's only so much you can really tell from video clips.
BSpecial
It has to be very difficult to do. The first thing a coach looks at are measurables. How tall and heavy is a kid? On film, you can watch a lineman's technique. You also can see how dominating he is and how hard he plays. Film doesn't lie. And seeing a prospect in camp would add much needed detail. A staff can evaluate a lineman's athletic ability, flexibility, bend, etc., by putting him through drills. Even with all of that, it's still a crapshoot--as it is when evaluating any other position. The NFL still screws up first-round draft choices despite devoting hundreds of hours and millions of dollars on evaluation.
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