Purdue Football Recruiting: Boilermakers get commitment from The Juggernaught

Richard Worship, a 6'1 235 beast of a RB/FB, committed to the Boilermakers on Saturday. Worship deserved a prompt write up, but I was busy welcoming a new roommate into the house. She is small, bald, and spends most of her time eating, sleeping, and pooping her pants. Normally, this would be frowned upon, but I will make an exception for Lillian Irene. Unlike Worship, she only came in at 21 inches and 6 pounds, 6 ounces, but she has excellent burst when it comes to dirty diapers, and is nursing at an elite level, all in all, I give her a 5* ranking. Anyway, back to Worship.

Richard Worship should finish Purdue's run on running backs, and what a great way to finish. Hazell and Purdue have completely restocked the running back position in the 2015 class, bringing in 4 backs (if all goes according to plan) with distinctly different skill sets: Ennis is the speed back, Jones is the between the tackles bowling ball, Fuller is the all purpose back, and Worship is the juggernaut.

Strengths:

Size and Strength: Safeties are tipped off to Worship runs by the slight tremble in the ground that occurs once the ball is in his hands. Unfortunately, while they may be able to feel him coming, once they see him, it's already too late. Once Worship has a head of steam, the best a defender can hope for is that Worship trips over their prone body on the way to the end zone. My wife was watching Worship's highlight tape over my shoulder and commented, "He's just bigger than everyone else, that doesn't seem fair." I feel like this better than anything I can come up with. Simply put, Worship is just bigger than everyone else, and it really isn't fair.

Feet: You can find numerous 6'1 235 guys on a football field. They usually play linebacker. You can hand those guys the ball all game, and they can duck their heads and maybe gain 3 yards a carry. Worship can duck his head and gain the hard yards, but he also moves his feet well for someone of his advanced size. Jerome Bettis put together a great career as a big guy that could move his feet in the hole, and Worship has a little bit of Jerome Bettis to his game. He needs to figure out when he should try and make people miss, and when he should punish tacklers, but that fact that making people miss is an option makes Worship a more dangerous runner.

Hands: Worship looks like he a viable receiving option out of the backfield. Several strong safeties just soiled themselves thinking about having to match up with Worship on the outside. He is athletic enough to catch the ball, and if he gets a defender in a one on one situation, well, let's just say that discretion is the better part of valor, and there is nothing wrong with taking the easy way out and trying to slap the back of Worship's heal as he runs by. All in all, it may be more effective than actually breaking down and trying to take on the beast head to head.

Speed: Worship isn't a plodder that's only going to get you three yards a carry. He has solid burst in the hole, and when he gets rumbling in the open field, he runs away from teams. It is possible that Worship isn't actually that fast, and his opponents are just running slower because they don't want to attempt to tackle him, but I'll give those kids the benefit of the doubt, and say that Worship is simply outrunning them.

Weakness:

Competition: If Worship played at a bigger school, I am convinced he would be a four star player. You simply don't see a kid with his size, speed and athleticism that often on the high school level. Personally, I'm glad he doesn't play at a bigger school, because it would have been much tougher for to Purdue to reel him in as a 4* recruit. Basically, he is a man among boys on the field right now, and eventually, he will be a man among men. You won't find many Big 10 tacklers taking the easy way out, like several of the young men on the highlight film do while attempting to tackle Worship. At 6'1 he offers up a big target for a tackler, and you just know Big 10 linebackers will be dying to deliver the knockout blow to a kid the size of Worship. He needs to do a little better job of keeping his pad level low in order to avoid the blow up shot.

Overall:

Worship can bring an element to the Boilermaker rushing attack that most teams can't duplicate. That being said, Brandon Cottom can bring the same thing to a running attack, and he was only rumored to be on Purdue's roster last season. If Hazell can figure out how to use Cottom this season, Worship should be able to come in and fill that role immediately. If Hazell can't figure out how to use Cottom, well, let's just hope he figures it out. Worship is a huge kid, and he can't be any older than 17 or 18, which means he probably still has some filling out to do before he even gets to Purdue. A 6'1 250+ pound running back with good feet, hands, and solid speed...yes sir, I'll take one of those. Welcome to Purdue Mr. Worship, enjoy turning tacklers into grease spots your senior year, and prepare to turn Hoosier's into grease spots you freshman year. Nothing looks better than a Crimson and White skid mark on a green field.

Junior Highlights:

OK, OK...Real Junior Highlights ( I realize in the above video it should be "through walls" and not "threw walls". I didn't label it, so cut me some slack):