Series ($): Byron Perkins | Evan Anderson | Jack Craavack | Jaylan Alexander | Jimmy McKenna

More: Jeff Brohm on Purdue signees

Purdue needs playmakers on offense, especially at outside receiver, and Amad Anderson could be a fit.

The 6-foot-1, listed 170-pounder was the ultimate playmaker at Curtis High School in Staten Island, N.Y., whether the coaches used him at outside receiver, slot receiver or in the backfield.

He’ll make his impact, likely, on the outside for the Boilermakers.

“(He) has some dynamic playmaking ability, speed, good hands, good route-running,” Jeff Brohm said of Anderson in December. “He’s a pretty polished receiver right now as it is. Get him here, get him stronger in the weight room, he has a chance to play for us early.”

Anderson didn't catch a high volume of passes as a junior or senior at Curtis, but he was the ultimate playmaker. As a senior, Anderson had 15 total touchdowns, between rushing and receiving, on a combined 62 receptions and carries. He averaged 30.9 yards per catch on 27 receptions.

As a junior, he was just as productive with 14 touchdowns on 49 catches and carries. He also returned two kicks for touchdowns.

• Curtis High School head coach Peter Gambardella had a player in Anderson who could “do everything.”

So the coaches let him.

“He was mostly a receiver. However, when you have a receiver and he’s got the reputation, he’s got the skills, teams try to take him away, so then we had to get a little innovative,” Gambardella said. “Last season, he carried the ball, he ran the ball, he threw the ball, he caught the ball, he returned the ball, played defense. So he’s such a unique talent that we had a goal that he had to touch the ball at least 15 times a game.”

That allowed Anderson to showcase his versatility as a playmaker all over the field. He’d mostly line up in his natural position, on the outside, but he slip in to the slot, too, and even lined up in the backfield so he could get more than just a jet-sweep handoff.

When the ball was given directly to him on handoffs, he was able to showcase an elusiveness, but he did that on short throws, too, turning them oftentimes in to big gains: His nearly 31-yards-per-catch average wasn’t just over-the-top throws, Gambardella said.

“When you move him around a little bit and try to create mismatches, once you get those mismatches, he can make plays,” Gambardella said.

• Anderson is listed at 170 pounds, but Gambardella envisions an ability for Anderson to pack on muscle quickly once he strictly devotes his training to football.

Anderson has played basketball, including in summer leagues, most of his life and mixed in football-type workouts, but Gambardella predicts in Purdue’s workout program, Anderson “will put on 15, 20 pounds before the season.”

• As with most high school receivers, Anderson didn’t have to face much press man coverage. Even when teams played zone, they’d have safety help over the top. The staff countered by moving Anderson around — but that isn’t an indication of his inability to get open against the occasional man coverage or, even, those bracket looks.

He did so for a variety of reasons, including his route-running and game speed, Gambardella said.

“His get-off is outstanding,” Gambardella said. “I think a lot of times, he doesn’t have to muscle you to get off the line, he can beat you with his feet. He gets the guys moving in different directions and that’s always been a big asset. His get-off is very good.

“He’s very sharp (as a route-runner). He beats a lot of people out of the breaks. I thought that was big. He doesn’t have to run by you. He can break an out route on you. The way he runs it, opens up a lot of things.

“When you’re talking about track times and stuff like that, I don’t have (that), but his game speed, you watch game film, and he’s running by everybody. That, to me, says he’s fast.”

— Stacy Clardie

Rivals.com thoughts: "Anderson is a great route runner, has a knack for making tough catches, and can make a lot of plays with the ball in his hands. He is a better downfield threat than defenders expect and is good a high-pointing the ball when making leaping catches." — Mid-Atlantic analyst Adam Friedman

What He Means To The Class: Maybe a lot, because Purdue needs help in the short term and a foundation in the long term at wide receiver, and Anderson's early enrollment might particularly matter toward the former and his ability may particularly matter toward the former.

He was an A1 sort of priority for Purdue at what it hopes can become a signature position for its program, and the fact he will get a head start on his college career at a position where opportunities abound certainly makes him a significant addition. — Brian Neubert

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