It is officially game week! Don't forget that Friday the Boilermaker Circle Tailgate is on for Monument Circle in Indianapolis from 11:30am until 1:30pm. Confirmed speakers now are John Standeford, Bobby Riddell, Dru Anthrop, Leroy Keyes, Rosevelt Colvin, Brian Cardinal, Robbie Hummel, Brandon Gorin, Seth Morales, Mark Herrmann, and John Hart.
Danny Etling - Fr.
Terre Haute, Indiana (Terre Haute South HS)
6'2", 218 pounds
Quarterback
2013 Projection: Possible Redshirt
Austin Logan - Fr.
Tallahassee, Florida (North Florida Christian HS)
6', 190 pounds
Safety
2013: Projection: Backup at Safety
Both of today's players are true freshmen that could play major roles as backups at their respective positions. For Etling, he has been preparing since enrolling early so he could go through spring practice. He performed well in the spring and it looked like the 4-star recruit could challenge for the starting job, but that went to Rob Henry. As of now, Etling is sharing backup duties with Austin Appleby. If Appleby becomes the primary backup it seems likely that Etling will redshirt before going into a three way battle for the starting job in 2014.
Last year was rough for Etling as he threw for 1,505 yards and 11 touchdowns as Terre Haute South went 3-7 in their final season in the brutal Metropolitan interscholastic Conference. The only conference win Etling had was 45-7 over a ridiculously bad Lawrence North team.
As for Logan, he could see action at safety, where Purdue is ridiculously thin after starters Taylor Richards and Landon Feichter. He has performed well in camp and seems likely to avoid a redshirt year as a true freshman.
ESPN rated Logan as the No. 26 safety in the 2013 recruiting class and he had 50 tackles last season, six of them for a loss. He already has some good size for a safety, so don't be surprised if he makes an early impact.