what is the word on this former Auburn commit. I understand he is visiting you guys. That would be a big get for your program.
Octavius Matthews
- Thread starter gbmhoosier
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Matthews visited Purdue last weekend. He was supposed to visit Tennessee this weekend, but visited today , a day early. he also decommited from Auburn today. Purdue would love to have him on board. he made a tweet last week to his friends, why you hating me for visiting Purdue? If I was a betting man, I'd say he decommited from Auburn as part of his visit to Tenn. However, in a somewhat of a surprise move, Tenn just received a commitment from another RB 3* tim Jordan 2 days ago whom Purdue was also recruiting. One would think at this stage of recruiting, after Tenn just signed a RB, Matthews might decide to accept Purdue's offer. He was rated as a 4* RB out of HS but didn't qualify academically and now is a 3/4 * at JuCo. Based on some of his tweets, it appears he was an Alabama recruit out of high school, but unfortunately didn't qualify, and that was his reasoning for committing to Auburn because Alabama no longer was interested. Sort of a revenge factor. he appears like a great talent.
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Article I just read said his top 3 after he decommitted were Purdue, Tennessee, Kansas. With Tennessee already having 3 RB commits, I think that puts us in a good position.
if grades are a concern, Kansas is the easiest of the three. He seems like a guy from the South, so tenn would seem likely as his friends want him to beat Alabama for letting him go. but tenn loaded up with 3 RBs this past week and he wasn't one of them. it was said it would be odd for tenn to sign 4 RBs, but Matthews could start, and one of the other three could redshirt. or Tim Jordan could always come to Purdue. And we have a lot of recruits in our class from the South. So it looks good for Purdue.
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he is the #1 Juco running back. . he is rated as the 26th best juco player overall . he's a very talented player and was a 4* Alabama recruit out of high school 2 years ago. and his current .8767 rating would make him Purdue's highest ranked recruit.
I'm seeing a trend here. It appears Brohm is going after very talented players who didn't initially qualify academically and went the juco route, and he believes they will use their talents on the field while maintaining their academic eligibility. it's a gamble that will last at least their first semester.
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an FYI. it's probably only a matter of details, but while Matthews lists Tenn as one of his top 3 choices, I checked 4 different sites, and none reflected that tenn had given him an offer. additionally, he's made previous commitments to Louisville and Auburn this year, so if he commits, get him to sign fast before he changes his mind.
True that. His recruitment has been all over the place. He's running out of options quickly.
Talking out of your a$$ again? He's a JUCO - didn't qualify out of HS at Alabama, so he went the JUCO route.
additional FYI. (this info is from an Auburn fans message board) he only carried the ball 8-10 carries a game last year and averaged 8.5 yards a carry. he was listed as ATH status because he also played slot receiver last year. At 6'2, 220 and 4.45 speed he would remind you of the Packers' Ty Montgomery ! At Purdue, he could be inserted alongside Jones , run reverses, and be the passing down back.
several fans on an Auburn message board are the source of saying he has academic problems. he didn't qualify out of high school, so he went the JuCo route. that's a given. he supposedly was going to be an early signee this year, but still didn't qualify . Several prominent members of their board indicated Auburn cut ties with Matthews, rather than vice versa and he's looking for a new home. the coaches at Auburn weren't happy with him visiting Kansas in November, were upset he didn't enroll in the December signing period. and were pissed when he decided to visit Purdue . and when he said he was thinking about visiting tenn, they said good bye.
I don't know what a JUCO athlete needs to do to qualify early. maybe he;'s like Williams. George Moore wasn't an early signee either. a lot of Juco players were not early signees.
another article said he runs straight like a WR, and he caught 15 passes for over 225 yards this year. And he was clocked at 4.43.
his juco coach compared him to the NFL lions Db Darius Slay
as I said, all of my info including that about his academic standing is coming from a 5 page Auburn fans message board thread with several links.
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I like 4*. Not sure a JUCO guy would want to come to Purdue and compete with Markell Jones. I know Jones had a down year last season but I think he will bounce back and be a beast next season.
I was just about to say if this kid was the real deal at RB. What about redshirting Jones and let OctO and Knox run the ball. But if he's more of a slot then that wouldn't work out. Jones just seems to have had that lingering knee issue for awhile. Every game it seemed to bother him dating back to his incredible freshman season. I know nothing must have been torn but you could tell its an issue.
I updated and added some more info to my previous posts. Matthews is not a true running back. he's a passing down back / wide receiver. he runs around, not through. he has 4.43 speed. he can catch the ball and leave others behind. Last year, he only averaged 8-10 carries a game. He would not compete with Jones for carries, but would be a perfect compliment to him in Brohm's passing oriented offense.
I don't get all the Knox love. He's actually done little at Purdue so far. He's coming off a serious knee injury. He's not particularly fast and not particularly powerful. Brian Lankford-Johnson was more productive in his limited carries.
He had something (ankle?) that slowed him. He couldn't get to the edge against IU which is a bad sign
FWIW he first committed to Louisville, then flipped to Auburn, and I hope we catch him on his last flip, and get him signed quickly so he can't flip again. Go to Purdue Octavious and make Purdue Football great again.
P.S- here is an article about him flipping from Louisville to Auburn.
Auburn offers Louisville JUCO running back commit | AL.com
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No.
You clearly know how to use the internet. Just do like 2 minutes of research before you post and you'll save yourself some embarrassment, and spare the rest of us some stupidity.
Agree. Knox was pretty unimpressive running the ball and I don't even think he was an upgrade over Jones catching it either. BLJ looked impressive in limited duty. Should definitely be our #2 if we don't get this kid.
from his highlights, he's super fast but not very elusive. he's not a runner who will plow through a line with guys hanging on him or juke and elude a would be tackler. he uses his speed and runs around people. He'd be great for a short screen pass and just let him run. Maybe even as a return man.
It's a great strategy that will help on the field asap. Bill Snyder has had a hall of fame career at KSU by recruiting Juco's like crazy. Brohm is the man.
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