Joey Tanona - So.
Zionsville, IN (Zionsville HS)
6'5", 285 pounds
Offensive Line
2024 Projection: Possible contributor
Tanona is a very interesting prospect. I say prospect, even though he was a 4-star prospect in the Class of 2022, because he has yet to play any college football. In fact, for a time, it looked like he wouldn't play ANY college football.
He originally committed to play at Notre Dame before he was seriously injured in a car accident while attending spring classes early at Notre Dame in early 2022. He suffered a pretty severe concussion, and in August of that year he medically retired from football. He has since rehabbed and been cleared to play again, and as a result, he transferred to Purdue this offseason.
Tanona was a high school teammate of Purdue center Gus Hartwig for a brief time, and he helped lead Zionsville to consecutive state championship games in 2020 and 2021 in class 5A. Those teams were just 16-12 on the field, but it was a time when Zionsville was the lone 5A school in a conference loaded with very good 6A schools. As a result, they were 8-2 int he tournament in those two years, with both losses coming to Cathedral in the championship.
When healthy, Tanona is an excellent lineman. He could play guard or tackle, and givent he number of returning starters Purdue has up front, he can be a very valuable depth piece as he gets back into football shape. Purdue returns four starters from last year in Mahamane Moussa, Marcus Mbow, Jalen Grant, and Hartwig. It also added a potential starter in DJ Wingfield from New Mexico and Corey Stewart from Ball State. Assuming he is healthy, Tanona can easily be part of the rotation and a potential starter.
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