Purdue Anticipating 'Great Competition' at Quarterback During Spring Practice

Barry Odom is charged with many tasks as he takes over a Purdue football program that finished 1-11 last season, failing to win a single Big Ten football game. Among the challenges is finding a new starting quarterback. Thankfully, he's got plenty of options in West Lafayette.

Entering spring practice, Purdue has seven quarterbacks on the roster: Malachi Singleton, EJ Colson, Evans Chuba, Garyt Odom, Jake Wilson, Bennett Meredith and Carson Kitchel. Three of those players were brought in from the transfer portal (Singleton, Colson and Chuba).

So, yes, the room might be crowded in West Lafayette, but that's a good problem for Odom, who understands the importance of that position.

"I think it's the most important position in all of sport," Odom said on Purdue Football Live. "When you have on that plays effectively, delivers the ball, is efficient, makes great decisions, commands leadership, extends drives and scores points, then you've got a chance in every game. If you don't have a quarterback that plays at a high level, then it's going to be a lot more difficult."

Restocking the quarterback room was essential for Odom when he took the job. Starting quarterback Hudson Card graduated and backups Ryan Browne and Marcos Davila entered the transfer portal, leaving Purdue in a dire situation.

Singleton became the first addition to Purdue's quarterback room via transfer, coming in from Arkansas. The Boilermakers then nabbed Colson from UCF and Chuba transferred from Washington State.

Plus, Purdue was able to bring in a true freshman recruit in Garyt Odom, the son of Barry.

It creates a competitive situation in West Lafayette during spring practice and entering fall camp. Odom expects to see everyone in that position competing at a high level.

"I do believe we're going to have great competition this spring," he said. "We have to get everyone in position to play winning football, and it starts with the quarterback on offense. They don't have to go win the game by themself, but they have to play really smart."

Heading into spring practices next month, Odom doesn't have any favorites at the position. He believes each quarterback offers a unique skill set, though he did say that all have some dual-threat capability.

In a perfect world, one player would be the clear-cut winner, making Odom's decision easy for the 2025 campaign. Maybe that will happen in the spring, or maybe it won't.

One thing Odom made clear, though, is that he's not going to make a decision too quickly. He wants to make sure everyone gets an opportunity to show what they can do as Purdue's potential starter.

"I will not rush that decision, that's not fair to the guys competing for the position and it's not fair to the guys on your team," Odom said. "What is fair is giving them equal opportunity to go play, go compete and see how the offense orchestrates with them under center."