The Boiling Point: With spring football beginning on Wednesday, a lot of issues surround the Purdue football team. Here’s a look at three of them.
Quarterback situation: Thanks to Robert Marve’s ACL tear in the fall, for the second straight year, coach Danny Hope won’t have all of his quarterbacks healthy for spring practice. Marve missed all the work last year, too. With Marve out, Rob Henry is the No. 1 guy with Caleb TerBush, who’s back from being academically ineligible, No. 2 and Sean Robinson at No. 3. The problem is that Marve will factor into the position come fall, so Purdue fans are going to have to wait until August to find out who will get the majority of the snaps come game time.
Being productive: After the brutal rash of injuries last spring, Hope has switched up the structure of practice which started earlier and features less per week. Obviously, Hope is trying to make sure his guys stay healthy and avoid a spring/fall run of of injuries that fans saw last year, but it’s important for the program to benefit from spring practice, too. A lot of quality programs accomplish a ton during this time of year, so if Purdue falls behind from a development standpoint because of the changes, it will have an uphill battle come September. Already, Marve, cornerback Charlton Williams, defensive tackles Brandon Taylor and Kevin Pamphile, offensive tackle Trevor Foy, safety Chris Quinn and running back Ralph Bolden will be out or limited due to injury.
Running back questions: Another vital position on the offensive side of the ball has more questions than answers. For that reason it’s a good thing it’s only spring. Bolden is still recovering from an ACL injury he suffered in spring ball last year. He will likely do some drills, but there won’t be any contact for the very important piece to Purdue’s backfield. If Bolden can rebound from his second ACL on the same knee, he will carry much of the load in the fall. But that’s a big if at this point. Other guys to carry the load this spring with Bolden limited and then potentially in the fall include: Junior college transfer Akeem Shavers and sophomore Reggie Pegram.