The fifth camp practice is in the books. Let’s do a Deep Dive!
1. As expected, WR Broc Thompson was dressed today. He went through some individual work but was held out of team activities after having Titanium rods put in each shin this offseason. It’s hoped Thompson will be full-go next Monday. Even when Thompson is proclaimed fully ready, there will be days he’s held back in practices—or held out—as a precaution. It’s a situation that must be monitored. Just get No. 13 to game days.
2. With each passing practice, it becomes more apparent that LEO Nic Caraway is gonna play a role in 2022. The four-star recruit is regarded as the team’s best true freshman—and he didn’t even arrive early for spring drills. In fact, there is some thought Caraway may just be at Purdue for three seasons—he’s that good, he’s that promising.
3. Fun talking with DE Jack Sullivan, who graduated over the weekend. He wants to fly commercial airlines some day but needs 1,000 hours of flight time. Former Boilermaker running back Markell Jones flies jets for FedEx. Sullivan stays in touch with the former Indiana Mr. Football.
4. OT Daniel Johnson suffered a twisted right ankle on Saturday and was in a boot today. That’s too bad, because the Kent State transfer has looked good. Purdue hasn’t had somebody that can kick out at tackle and punch like the 6-6, 310-pound Johnson can. On the good news front: LEO Kydran Jenkins was back in action after missing Saturday (shoulder).
5. One thing that stands out about redshirt freshman DE Khordae Sydnor: His length. He’s listed at 6-4 but seems taller. The length helps with pass rushing, he says.
“I can get my hands on offensive tackles quicker than they can," said Sydnor.
6. Watched the kickoff return team. And the staff had Charlie Jones, Reese Taylor, Deion Burks, King Doerue, T.J. Sheffield and Kobe Lewis fielding kicks. I would be shocked if Jones is asked to run back both punts and kickoffs. But, it could happen. My guess is the staff wants Jones on punt returns, where he’s less likely to take as big a hit as he would as a kickoff return man.
Jones is slated to play a big role at wideout, too. In fact, some feel he is the team's best WR. Can't put him at too much special teams risk. Bottom line: Purdue looks to have some nice options in the kickoff return game.
7. Speaking of Charlie Jones, he made a spectacular diving catch on a deep pass from Austin Burton in team work sessions.
8. NT Cole Brevard is an interesting player. The Carmel (Ind.) High product spent two seasons at Penn State, and it shows in his physical development. The 6-3, 315-pounder is one of Purdue’s strongest players. And, he’s a load to try to move off the nose.
"He understands what he's got to do inside,” said d-line coach Mark Hagen. “I think he's good with his eyes and his hands. He's very, very strong.
“That's going to be an interesting deal there at the nose position because I think he's a big, strong run defender. Not sure what he's going to be able to give us in a pass rush other than a push-the-pocket-type deal. But, we’re hopeful. We're only five practices in. We haven't scrimmaged yet. He's got a lot of team segments. Cole’s come in and done a good job so far.”
9. The offensive line appeared to have the upper hand on the defensive line in pass block/pass rush drills--again. That caused the d-line to endure another session of up-downs as “motivation.”
10. True freshman LB Roman Pitre had the same labrum shoulder surgery that true freshman OT Andre’ Oben had. The duo is on the same recovery timeline after each had spring surgery. They likely won’t be cleared until the middle of September.
11. True freshman OT Cross Watson tweaked a knee last week. He didn’t suit up on Saturday. He won’t be out more than a week. Noticed another true freshman was limited today: TE Charlie Kenrich.
12. Are 20 defensive linemen—11 tackles, nine ends—too many?
“We've got more scholarship guys right now that I've been around,” said Hagen. “It's great to have ... it'll probably balance itself self out in another year so.
“We've got numbers and so that provides some of that depth. Again, we just got to sort it all out. It's a lot of guys. But, again, the Big Ten's a lineman's league, right? And so you got to have numbers and it's a physical league and we're gonna go out and get our work in and just keep developing those guys.”
Thanks for reading! Purdue practices on Tuesday in full pads for the first time. Should be fun!
