The things that I miss with more responsibility. Purdue added its 20th football commitment for 2010 today with the addition of Texas athlete Jeremy Eddington. This commitment is actually a bit of a surprise, as he backed out of a standing offer with from Rice to come to Purdue. This decision was made after his official visit during the Michigan State game a week and a half ago.
Eddington is listed as a 3-star athlete with Rivals and has 4.41 speed. Scout has him as a 2-star player. It is not known what position he'll be playing at Purdue. In high school at Paris Chisum in Texas he played mostly quarterback this year, but he could be slotted as a receiver or running back with his speed. To me, this presents some interesting possibilities. With Robert Marve, Rob Henry, Caleb TerBush, and Sean Robinson we have plenty of depth at quarterback. That depth will be young behind Marve as well.
Eddington would be very interesting to see at running back. He would be a big back, kind of like Justin Siller during his very short tenure at running back. I don't think he would see the field much next year with Bolden and McBurse locking down the top two spots, but how many people expected Bolden to have a near 1,000 yard season this year?
At receiver, he would also be part of a crowd. All the Florida guys that redshirted this year will be back, as will all the big incoming receiving recruits. That tells me a guy who hasn't played the position much would have a hard time breaking in. It makes me wonder if he might be more suited to the defensive side of the ball, possibly as a safety. He has the size for it. We have some serious depth issues there, so why not?
Eddington seems pretty open to the possibility of playing anywhere. Here is what he had to say in the article posted by Gold and Black Illustrated today:
"I'll probably just find out when I get there. I'm fast and strong and I'm going to get faster and stronger," he said. "I think I'm a smart player and I just love playing football." -- Jeremy Eddington
Ultimately, we need more guys like that. Look at some of the current stars of our team. Keith Smith played quarterback and safety before finding a home at receiver. Jeff Lindsay was originally a linebacker, then fullback. Joe Holland moved from safety to linebacker (and now maybe back to safety?). Chris Kramer moved from guard to safety (I hope).
It is hard to speculate though. Even though Eddington played quarterback he still ran for 1,400 yards and 18 touchdowns. He only threw for two touchdowns, so again, I highly doubt he is coming here as a quarterback. The Paris News has him listed for over 1,600 yards and 22 scores. His team did not make the state playoffs, so those numbers are through 10 games.
I leave you with some highlights of the young man. He clearly has some pure athleticism. That will always be welcome in West Lafayette.