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Purdue's starting middle linebacker will have surgery on the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee next week, effectively ending any chance he'd had to play again this season.
Seemed odd to even consider playing with the injury, but Coach Darrell Hazell said that was a possibility. When Bentley spoke with reporters last week and was asked why he'd try to play, he simply said it was because he's passionate about the game. Thankfully, reason ultimately won out.
Bentley is the player with the most promise on this roster - and probably its best player right now - and, essentially, this season is lost. There would seem to be few benefits for him to try to keep playing, especially considering he'd be a shell of the player he's emerged into being, a force in the run game and a considerably impressive hustle guy.
Certainly Purdue's defense is not as good without him, especially with Jimmy Herman also injured right now. But perhaps Purdue's front line will see Bentley's absence as a reason to rev up its production, like it did last week against Wisconsin, and that could be important.
And, whether Bentley is on the field or not, he'll continue to be a presence with his leadership.
"Ja’Whaun is up there with leaders that I met, those guys that are in the NFL now, at Florida State," said linebacker Garrett Hudson, whose dad Greg coached the Seminoles. "Easily ranks up there with them." (SC)
Secondary: This is obvious, and a J.C. market Purdue was bound to dive into, whether this season was going well or not. Cornerback is a downright frightening situation next season, with no known commodities set to return next season.
Purdue is recruiting junior college safeties in addition to cornerbacks, but corner is the urgent need.
D-line: This is Purdue's biggest need across the board in the class and it's going hard now for junior college interior linemen and defensive ends alike.
Offensive tackle: Purdue loses David Hedelin after this season and could move fellow tackle Cameron Cermin to center. That would leave current reserve Martesse Patterson as a presumed starter at one of the spots. Him and …? Purdue has offered some really high-end junior college offensive tackles, and we're assuming if they can't get one of those guys they'll move on to others to try to find a starter for next season, or at least some experienced depth.
Quarterback: Yeah, maybe. Purdue may be compelled to take a quarterback now and the junior college ranks could be considered on that front. As of today, Purdue has three scholarship QBs, all with remaining eligibility after this season. But Purdue might want to insulate itself against attrition should any occur, as it did last year.
Some new Purdue junior college targets, all of which it's too early to tell where the Boilermakers will stand with because it's so early and right now, Purdue is just kind of a name out of the blue for some of them.
Nakita Leoloa The 300-plus-pound defensive tackle/nose tackle is a December grad. He will visit Fresno State right after his season ends, then thinks he'll take a visit to Purdue in December, but it remains to be seen. He says the Big Ten is a big deal to him.
Josh Fatu The Long Beach Community College D-lineman has 10 offers now, Purdue being the most recent. It's early for him and Purdue. We'll see.
Robert Taylor Purdue has signed a bunch of players over the years from the City College of San Francisco and Taylor might be next. Purdue offered the cornerback the other day. He will officially visit after his season.
Tyquae Russell No offer yet for the Northeast Oklahoma A&M safety, but Purdue visited him on Tuesday and would seem pretty interested. He's not a mid-year grad, though. Louisville and some Big 12 schools are interested. No offers to date.
Lonnie Johnson Remember the former four-star recruit from West Side High School in Gary? He committed to Ohio State, then signed with Western Michigan due to academic issues, then wound up in junior college. Well, he's at Garden City C.C. in Kansas now and due to graduate at the end of the spring semester. Purdue is showing some interest, but hasn't offered. Only South Alabama, UAB and Middle Tennessee have, but Indiana and Michigan State are some of the larger schools interested. Johnson was a two-way athlete in high school, but is being recruited mostly for DB.
Gilbert Gildersleeve Purdue hasn't offered the California corner, but Taver Johnson visited his school this week. Toledo has offered him. (BN)
Unlike what he told us weeks ago - admittedly a fairly long time ago now - about being completely committed to Purdue, Miller acknowledged some open-ness in the process, which has been brutally obvious for months now, especially in light of the fact he's made multiple visits to Indiana since committing to Purdue in the summer.
Obviously, this is a flight-risk, but we'll add this dynamic as well: When there was some uncertainty early for him post-commitment, we know that one major concern he had about Indiana was Kevin Wilson's job security.
Whether that remains a worry or not, we don't know, but with the perception being out there that Purdue's staff might be in trouble in the short term, whether that's reality or not, that can work against them now the way it would have worked against IU.
Still a lot of football to be played and Wilson's fate might still be TBD. But the reality is that that concern likely now applies to both in-state Big Ten programs.
Miller does have pretty deep family ties to Purdue, though, which factored into his initial decision. That still could matter down the line. (BN)
Jackson is supposed to visit Michigan State as well, so he could piggy-back the two and hit Purdue's afternoon scrimmage on his way up to East Lansing.
We do have reason to believe Purdue's in a good spot early on with Jackson, but it is of course early. He remains the guy who if we had to tab one prospect in the 2017 class as the Boilermakers' No. 1 target, he's who we'd go with. Might be wrong there, but that's just our sense.
The four-star junior-to-be is ranked 61st nationally by Rivals.com. (BN)
Don't really have much to add on Texas big man Schnider Herard but do know that Purdue is trying to position itself as the "safe" choice there, the place where he won't be subject to the risk of getting recruited over. Considering Kansas is the other prime consideration - wouldn't rule out Mississippi State, though - as of right now, you can see where Purdue is trying to go with that. (BN)
• The point guard competition is literally neck-and-neck. Purdue does not have a No. 1 point guard right now between P.J. Thompson and Johnny Hill and this could extend into the exhibition/scrimmage "season."
• Dakota Mathias does remain limited by illness, migraines said to be part of the latest round of problems, but he did practice all week from what we understand. This has been a frustrating turn for him and Purdue alike, but not sure the issues now are as bad as they were before.
"He's not been able to have a good stretch to where he's been able feel good about himself, practice every day and be as productive," Matt Painter said after this past weekend's scrimmage. "I'm probably more biased, and our coaches, because we spent the time recruiting him and know how good he can be and Purdue fans have yet to see that. He can be a really good player at this level just on his ability to shoot the ball, pass the ball, make good decisions and just be a good all-around player."
Mathias does not want to talk about it, so don't expect much detail. Last season, he was way worse shape than people knew, but he refused to ever really play that up or acknowledge any of it as an "excuse." It's how he's wired.
• There's not going to be any decisions any time soon on the Ryan Cline redshirt issue, but it seems fairly clear that he's thought to be ready to help them now offensively. Defensively, there are going to be some adjustments, but he's been a good fit offensively.
The million-dollar question just becomes whether Purdue can find him enough minutes if Kendall Stephens and Mathias are fully operational to justify not redshirting him.
Painter seems to think Cline can be outstanding and that could turn into even more reason to redshirt him.
But if Mathias can stay healthy - and if Stephens' shot selection doesn't line up with his experience level - then we'll see. Cline might earn a prominent role regardless.
• For all the justified talk about Purdue's big men, do not forget about Vince Edwards. Not that you would, but just pointing it out because there's a really good chance Purdue does some things to run much more offense through the versatile forward. That could really put him in more positions to score, but also make plays for other people. He has always been a naturally deferential player, so if he has the ball in his hands a lot, that might mean as much for his assist numbers - and he already set a program record for a non-guard - than his scoring. (BN)
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