Today, GoldandBlack.com continues a new weekly feature. We're calling it the Weekly Word.

Why? Because it has words, it's posted weekly and we're just that unimaginative. (Actual feedback from Week 1: Definitely like the content, but a new name would be useful.)

Anyway, here are some random thoughts for the week, most of which will be Purdue-related.

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David Bell is a potential star, a big-time recruit, probably the best high school wide receiver I've covered in far too many years covering Purdue football recruiting.

He's a stud.

Don't believe me? Ask Urban Meyer's text messages.

I kid.

Anyway, David Bell is now a Boilermaker, and thus far in training camp, during practices, he's run exactly the same number of routes as I have.

Nevertheless, a casual glance of Purdue's receivers group in those practices is an eye-opener, a quick reflection of the not just the talent, but the look that Jeff Brohm, JaMarcus Shephard have been able to stockpile in recruiting the past few years, an assembly of players that might stack up in time with any in the country.

Look, I've only ever really covered Purdue, but I've heard of climates at powerhouses where practices are legitimately as competitive as games, and players are afraid of injury, not for an aversion to being idle or because no pain is typically preferable to pain, but because players know their backups are draft picks, and all they need is a foot through the door to the field and they may never come off it.

Purdue's a long way off from that still.

None of these young players in the program, save for Rondale Moore, who does still qualify as young, I suppose, has done anything yet, and it should be noted that physical ability is only half the battle at this level, knowledge being the other.

But Milton Wright, Mershawn Rice, T.J. Sheffield, man, those guys look the part. And, again, the best of the bunch isn't even on the field right now.

Throw in the class before them — where Amad Anderson and Kory Taylor, who had a hell of a practice the other day, are among those being overlooked — and what may come in next year if (or when) Purdue lands four-star freakshow Maliq Carr and it may not be long before Purdue's wide receiver room looks a little like Clemson's or Alabama's.

There is only one football, however, and the reality of it is that 10 men can not truly thrive at a position where that's the deal, so there will be disappointments among them, perhaps even attrition.

In the meantime, however, the competition should be exactly the sort of things coaches want, and I'm not sure I can recall Purdue football being in that sort of position at a position at any point in its modern era.

There were a couple years under different staffs where running back was loaded, and Purdue had a good run at defensive end during the Tiller Years, but on most snaps, the Boilermakers are going to have three wide receivers on the field, so an eight-man rotation is realistic, and perhaps in the near future, likely.

It's been basically three years now that Mike Bobinski has served as Purdue's athletic director, and on Friday he was given at least three more, at least on paper, literally, as the university approved an extension and raise.

The extension was a formality. Bobinski's tenure in West Lafayette to this point has been transformational. Purdue is better situated in its name-brand sports than it's been since probably the turn of the century, and as an athletic operation might be more relevant than ever, when you adjust for today's college sports and media landscapes.

Things are very different for Purdue than they were before, and they're much, much better.

Now, that surge has coincided with unprecedented investment on this university's part, but Bobinski's work thus far has been about far more than just throwing a whole bunch of money at problems. He's hired good people, starting with his football coach, and retained them. He's supported his coaches, in both financial and human ways, and been the sort of boss they've wanted to work for. Without Bobinski's commitment, no way Purdue makes assistant coaching hires in basketball like Steve Lutz and Micah Shrewsberry, and you can't tell me that sort of environment hasn't been a dose a renewed energy for Matt Painter, for example. Without Bobinski's commitment, and personality, Brohm might already be somewhere else.

Things did change for Purdue under Bobinski, almost immediately, coincidentally or not. They've transformed, to be honest, and as that's occurred, Job 1 under his watch was not just accomplished, but will be exceeded should football fare as hoped this season, next and into the years that follow.

Purdue needs competitive stability first, success second, quite frankly. It needed the chemical spill that football had become mopped up before all else.

Again, the short-term aim has been largely met, and the outcome of the Louisville Vacancy Crisis last winter should assure that the process will play out to a meaningful extent.

But now, as the three-year extension brings to mind, comes that next phase, the longer-term objective, and that might be just as challenging as the quick fix was.

Bobinski and his team helped Purdue back to competitiveness and relevance right away. Keeping it there, setting it up for enduring success, is the next chapter.

The stadium project is ambitious, and the credit cards are probably just about maxed out. Purdue's spent a lot of money on football, and is about to spend a whole lot more. Paying for it all comes to the forefront now.

Getting that stadium project done, i.e. paid for, would set Purdue up for decades of facility stability, which has a really nice ring to it, and make this Boilermaker athletic department more agile to changing times and the increasingly challenging pursuit of your dollar. Monetizing football has been the goal from Day 1 here, and will become even more important.

Prior to this administration, Purdue was never the most, shall we say, forward-thinking or proactive outfit in college sports. Not good in an age where the landscape today and the landscape tomorrow can be two distinctly different things.

No one knows what's next, and Bobinski, from what I know of the man, won't pretend to, but he is a think-big sort and has proven at Purdue to be a doer. He's gotten a lot done in three years, and he'll have just as much to do the next five, at least.

I don't think there's anything Purdue, or its flagship coaches, would rather have in charge.

OK, look, it's 1:44 a.m. Monday morning at the time of this writing and I'm getting in the car for a few days away at 9 a.m. and I need to just get this column done, so in the absence of a thoughtful flushing out of a select topic, with properly spelled words and everything, here's a list.

A couple of random impressions from the first few days of practice for Purdue football, to go along with the fine analyses Tom Dienhart has been providing.

We're gonna need a bigger boat: My word, those two freshman tight ends — Garrett Miller and Kyle Bilodeau — are impressive. I don't know if they know what they're doing yet, but they're both giant, skilled and equipped with exceptional body control for their dimensions. I've written a lot about Bilodeau through the course of the past year, but am coming to realize that Miller was woefully underplayed as one of the many potential studs in this 2019 freshman class as well, amidst a group of offensive skill-position players who look like they're straight out of an SEC class.

Chiseled: I don't know who's gonna carry the ball the most for Purdue this season, whether Tario Fuller can be healthy enough to do it, whether the two freshmen can be ready enough to do it, whether Rondale Moore somehow ends up doing it or what, but I do know that if any Purdue running backs are going to be sent off the bus first, Alfred Armour and Zander Horvath can draw straws. The eyeball test means only so much, obviously, but if looking like you belong on the field matters at all, that box is checked on both fronts.

Purdue has changed the look of its roster considerably in a very short of period of time under Brohm and his staff.

Especially the walk-ons.

Happily taking on a bigger role: Lost in Karlaftismania and the physical awesomeness of Jalen Graham and some of Purdue's other freshmen, and the obvious storylines about the Boilermakers' defense now is one player now stepping into his big moment: Simeon Smiley. ("Happily," get it?)

After playing an important, but inherently limited, role as a sophomore, as Purdue's nickel back, Smiley now moves to a true cornerback spot, a corner in a safety's body, because he's a legit 200-plus pounds. This could be his chance for an every-down sort of role.

If he can be make that transition smoothly, corner may be OK, because Kenneth Major showed promise as a redshirt freshman last season and if Dedrick Mackey can emerge quickly, that can be a decent group of returnees — I know that a lot of ifs — on top of whatever newcomers can impact the position, and it sounds like Cam Allen is in position to.

Purdue has been intent in recent recruiting cycles to collect size at corner. It doesn't seem to be moving in that direction in recruiting anymore — speed over size is now clearly the name of the game based on results this summer — but be that as it may, if size can function at corner, size is a resource of value and Smiley has it, on top of the versatility to play the run, slide to nickel, whatever.

Big concerns: Obviously, the big question people have is about Purdue's offensive line, and though Mark Stickford is far from proven, his apparent loss for the bulk of camp certainly is not helpful.

This is going to be interesting, because Purdue is rolling with unknowns right now, and even its knowns can't be totally classified as knowns, because Grant Hermanns is 0-for-2 on getting through seasons free of knee injury, and fellow veteran Matt McCann has a bit of a history himself. That's not their fault obviously, but it will be Purdue's problem should history repeat itself, because those are the Boilermakers' pillars, if they have any. They're the studs from which Purdue is trying to hang drywall at the other three spots.

All Purdue's other linemen are totally unproven and thus total unknowns, and that's obviously a concern, because this offense would seem to have just about all the other pieces in place.

Purdue can move the pocket, misdirect and screen 'til its blue in the face in hopes of neutralizing opposing pass-rushes, but it's been its best under Jeff Brohm when it's been able to throw the ball over people's heads. And while you can do that schematically, you probably can't only do that schematically.

Purdue could use some answers up front, and fast, ideally.

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