I’ve seen previews since we got ghosted by Gammage call him our best receiver and completely ignore the arrival of Edrine. Lots of bad info on who will play as though we are still in a 4-2-5 etc. lots of magazines who seem to be convinced that when Purdue has a new coach, that’s bad, but when someone else does, that’s good. Lots of uncertainty, as their should be with a new coach bringing in such a new system. Here’s my go at what I will be expecting.
Offense
I think depth charts are mostly worthless at points like this, but here’s how I expect things to break down:
1) known commodities in the non transfer world:
> Up front, a healthy Hartwig, Mbow and Moussa have shown they are pretty good.
> Mockobee is awesome, particularly in that he can create his own plays in a pass offense. He doesn’t need an offense to be designed to sprint runs for back. That’s a big time asset when you’re Purdue.
> Miller is a stud at TE and if he isn’t healthy, Piferi seems to fit an air raid TE role pretty well.
> Sheffield has value at wide receiver if he’s in the slot. He’s not an outside guy. No one else proved much last year.
2) expectations regarding the unknown.
> WR - from how camp sounded, Yaseen seems like he may be back on track. I expect Edrine to take the other spot. Burks should be used all over. Anything you get from Rice, young guys or Canion is a bonus.
> OL - I don’t think Hartwig will be ready to go the first game. So you’re probably looking at something like Grant at center, Farrell at LG, Griffin at RG and Mbow kicking out to tackle with Moussa at LT.
3) Big questions -
> it’s card. If he gets hurt or isn’t that good, Purdue will struggle to make a bowl game. If he’s just pretty good, Purdue can be really good provided:
> the OL isn’t a liability. If card is pretty good, Purdue doesn’t need to have a miracle man OL. Just make the tackle position work and keep tackles fresh. If they are average to above average Purdue can be really good.
> Miller and Hartwig. If both are available early on and back to their old selves, Purdue can be that much better. I don’t think Purdue is in crisis mode without either for stretches early on
4) step backs and emergence. I think if there’s one player I expect to take a step back, it’s Dylan downing. But only because I expect Tracy to focus on RB. Mockobee will probably rush for 1200+.
I could see Yaseen emerging and I wouldn’t be shocked to see Max Klare or Malachi Preciado take advantage of injuries and do a few things.
Much like the 2021 defense was good AROUND KARLAFTIS, I expect this offense to lead with the threat of mockobee and for them to have plenty of action to play off of from there. As much as I loved oconnell, I think card’s legs will break a lot of games open. I just hope he slides and gets out of bounds
Defense in post two
Offense
I think depth charts are mostly worthless at points like this, but here’s how I expect things to break down:
1) known commodities in the non transfer world:
> Up front, a healthy Hartwig, Mbow and Moussa have shown they are pretty good.
> Mockobee is awesome, particularly in that he can create his own plays in a pass offense. He doesn’t need an offense to be designed to sprint runs for back. That’s a big time asset when you’re Purdue.
> Miller is a stud at TE and if he isn’t healthy, Piferi seems to fit an air raid TE role pretty well.
> Sheffield has value at wide receiver if he’s in the slot. He’s not an outside guy. No one else proved much last year.
2) expectations regarding the unknown.
> WR - from how camp sounded, Yaseen seems like he may be back on track. I expect Edrine to take the other spot. Burks should be used all over. Anything you get from Rice, young guys or Canion is a bonus.
> OL - I don’t think Hartwig will be ready to go the first game. So you’re probably looking at something like Grant at center, Farrell at LG, Griffin at RG and Mbow kicking out to tackle with Moussa at LT.
3) Big questions -
> it’s card. If he gets hurt or isn’t that good, Purdue will struggle to make a bowl game. If he’s just pretty good, Purdue can be really good provided:
> the OL isn’t a liability. If card is pretty good, Purdue doesn’t need to have a miracle man OL. Just make the tackle position work and keep tackles fresh. If they are average to above average Purdue can be really good.
> Miller and Hartwig. If both are available early on and back to their old selves, Purdue can be that much better. I don’t think Purdue is in crisis mode without either for stretches early on
4) step backs and emergence. I think if there’s one player I expect to take a step back, it’s Dylan downing. But only because I expect Tracy to focus on RB. Mockobee will probably rush for 1200+.
I could see Yaseen emerging and I wouldn’t be shocked to see Max Klare or Malachi Preciado take advantage of injuries and do a few things.
Much like the 2021 defense was good AROUND KARLAFTIS, I expect this offense to lead with the threat of mockobee and for them to have plenty of action to play off of from there. As much as I loved oconnell, I think card’s legs will break a lot of games open. I just hope he slides and gets out of bounds
Defense in post two
