After not being able to beat out starter Dorian Thompson-Robinson and only starting in one game during his three seasons, former UCLA quarterback Austin Burton is in the process of transferring to Purdue after entering the NCAA Transfer Portal.
Although he’s on schedule to graduate from UCLA in July after only three years, the signal-caller still has two seasons of eligibility left after redshirting back in 2017. Before choosing Purdue as his next venture, Burton was drawing interest from various schools such as Colorado, Vanderbilt, and Hawaii. Purdue was the obvious choice for himself as he was attracted to playing in Jeff and Brian Bohm’s quarterback friendly offense as well as the opportunity to start. When talking about the program Burton said:
“I really like how they mixed in both the spread and pro-style. I loved the whole offense and the way they go about it.”
The spot for the starting gig at Purdue seems to be wide open and Burton will have to compete with the likes of incoming freshman Michael Alaimo, redshirt sophomore Jack Plummer, and former walk-on Aidan O’Connell. Burton knows he’ll have completion and has to beat out the other three, but the chance to show his ability was all he wanted.
After 68.8 pass completion rate last year for the Bruins in five games which included a 27-of-41 passes for 236 yards with one touchdown in his one start last year against Oregon State, Burton is ready to compete. He has had multiple workouts with West Coast private coach Danny Hernandez who believes Burton is capable of performing well at Purdue.
“He’s clean mechanically, has a high football IQ and is steady overall. I think he’s going to thrive in any offense that he’s in.”
It will be an interesting battle to see whether the former Bruin can tap into that high football IQ and talent to secure a starting job at Purdue.
