Chicago product Robert Gregory announced on February 3rd that he signed with Purdue to be its 26th member of the 2012 signing class. Gregory is Purdue’s fourth quarterback commit in the 2012 class, although he’s athletic enough to play other positions if needed.
You can see video of Gregory’s highlights here (very choppy video quality unfortunately).
Scouting report:
Gregory played HS ball at Simeon in Chicago which is an athletic powerhouse, especially in basketball. Simeon uses a spread offense similar to Purdue’s system. Gregory is ranked by rivals.com as the 14th best dual-threat quarterback in the nation and the 18th best player in the state of Illinois. He is ranked as a 3 star on both Rivals and ESPN. Gregory was once committed to Arkansas, but changed his mind when the Razorbacks made it clear that they were recruiting him as an athlete. He also held offers from the following BCS schools: Illinois, Minnesota, and Kansas.
As a runner, Gregory has great agility and makes people miss with quick cuts and the ability to change directions instantly. At 6-3 and 180 pounds, he has adequate quarterback size and could certainly develop as a receiver. He also has good strength to shake off would-be tacklers and go for yards after contact. His 40 time is 4.65 per Rivals, but his straight line speed looks faster than that. He is able to outrun the secondary, even when they have a good angle to make a tackle on him. According to ESPN, his rushing stats are 919 yards and 15 touchdowns.
As a passer, Gregory shows good touch on fade routes and the highlights show that he can find open space for the receiver to run to the ball. The video quality makes it difficult to really look at his throwing mechanics, but ESPN’s stats of Gregory show that he passed for 1506 yards on 64 completions of 97 attempts with 28 touchdowns. Nonetheless, his highlight film suggests he’s a run-first quarterback at this point.
Bottom line: Gregory looks like an outstanding talent and a great addition to the football team. Whether he earns a spot on the depth chart as a quarterback or other position is yet to be seen. The highlights don’t give us a good enough idea of how well he can throw the ball, but do show that he has great speed and agility. A playmaker like Gregory could line up as a spread quarterback that can beat you with either his legs or his arm. If he switches positions, he could be a receiver with good size. He may have the ball hawking ability to play safety as well, or even the frame to grow into a linebacker.
One thing to keep an eye on is how Hope utilizes all four quarterback recruits. Of the four quarterback signees, three are ranked in Rivals.com’s list of top 25 dual threat quarterbacks. The other, Austin Appleby, is a pocket passer. Don’t be surprised if you see position changes, especially because the dual threat quarterbacks should have the versatility to help Purdue in other areas of need.
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