Q: With injuries forcing some changes and lack of production forcing other changes: Who do you prefer to see at the following positions for the last third of the season?
LT: Swingler or Mendez
RB: Knox, Jones, or Worship
WR: Anthrop and who else
LB: Hudson or Barnes (while McCollum is out)
CB: If Hunte is out
A: First off, thanks for the email and the Q(s).
May as well go in order on these.
Purdue has been OK the last two weeks without Grant Hermanns for a couple reasons: Neither Rutgers nor Nebraska had very good pass-rushers, David Blough showed nice escapability and Swinigler and Mendez both played. Though haven’t watched much yet of the final four opponents on the schedule, two of the Big Ten’s top four sack-leading defensive ends (Northwestern’s Joe Gaziano and Iowa’s Anthony Nelson) are coming up. And I think that true freshman D-end from Illinois has some quickness, too. So that could be a much bigger issue going forward. Though I like Mendez’s athleticism, I think Purdue probably needs to continue to rotate those two guys there. Swingler has been kind of what was expected from a former walk-on who hasn’t played in games much: So-so. But both of the guys, at least, have the right mentality to play the position and seem to want to work to get better. There’s part of me that’d still like to see Mendez playing left guard for Shane Evans, but that isn’t going to happen, so I must let go ...
It was pretty clear after speaking with Chris Barclay Tuesday Richie Worship is the guy, at least right now. Hard to argue with Worship’s production the last couple weeks. I really like the rotation, though, of using all three of the guys you mentioned. I still think Jones is the most complete back of that group, though Worship has impressed with his blocking in pass pro, when he’s asked to do it, and I think all of the guys have shown they’re capable in the pass game, too. I think I’d probably have a tighter snap count than last week’s 41-19-12 division, but, again, hard to argue with Worship’s production. I actually think it's good news Tario Fuller doesn't appear ready to return to the field. I have no idea how he'd fit in the mix and wouldn't want to mess up a good thing right now.
The receiver piece is obviously a significant one. It’d seem Jeff Brohm (and, presumably, JaMarcus Shephard) sent a message last week by benching starters Greg Phillips and Anthony Mahoungou in favor of Isaac Zico and Jared Sparks. I think that was a wise decision, even though Zico and Sparks had drops on would-be long completions. As we’ve talked about before in various platforms, Phillips and Mahoungou are who they are at this point in their development. I think they both do some things well — Phillips seems to be a good route runner, Mahoungou seems to be a decent blocker on the edge — but their upside simply isn’t any better than Zico’s and Sparks’ — or, even, Terry Wright’s, though he’s a slot guy. Mostly because Phillips and Mahoungou haven’t consistently caught the ball this season, I think Purdue should go ahead and give those other guys larger roles. Truly see what Zico gives you. Truly see what Wright can be once he learns to hold onto the ball and, gradually, run better routes. Sparks would seem to have the most untapped potential, obviously, because he hasn’t played receiver. But that athleticism and intelligence should pay off, one would think, at some point. The fact he’s working exclusively with the receivers in practices now — other than that Wildcat-type package, of course — should help him. The interesting piece, though, is, generally, Purdue doesn’t have many options at receiver. So even if it’d scale back Mahoungou’s and Phillips’ snaps, there really is no one beyond Zico and Sparks. And noticed KeyRon Catlett appeared to be with the scout team offense this week, so it’d seem only Anthrop and Wright are slot options.
Here’s hoping T.J. McCollum returns soon. He did limited work in Tuesday’s practice, though if I were Purdue, I’d keep him out against Illinois, even if he’s close, just to be safe. But without McCollum against Illinois, I like the idea of giving Derrick Barnes significant snaps. He’ll be counted on to play heavily next season, and the more game snaps he gets, obviously the better prepared he’ll be in Year 2. Hudson has a fire to him and seems to hit holes hard, but IMO, it’s time to move forward at linebacker, other than giving Barnes a breather here or there. I don’t think Barnes has fared as well against more physically mature offensive lines, but he should be OK against Illinois, at least. Would be shocked, though, if Hudson still didn’t get rotated in.
At least Saturday, Purdue shouldn’t need Hunte back because Illinois offers zero threat passing the ball. (Having said that, I think Hunte’s been fantastic in run support this year — so much so I wrote about it.) But it was obvious last week how pivotal a piece he is for this defense. Purdue doesn’t have an obvious answer to replace him. Kamal Hardy’s development has been hurt by being oft-injured. Tim Cason, who started last season, hasn’t played at all this season because of, initially, academic concerns, as far as we know, and then, likely, discipline stuff. But what we’ve seen of him in spring, camp and in-season periods of practice is he too often is unable to follow Derrick Jackson’s directions or grasp concepts. Nearly three months into the season one wouldn’t think that should still be happening.
I know there’s been chatter on here about moving T.J. Jallow (back) to corner. A couple things with that: His biggest issues at safety this season, IMO, have been in coverage. And, also, Purdue rarely plays man coverage, which perhaps would be easier for him to do based on his past experience, but playing zone is a different beast entirely that requires an ability to understand defenses, route concepts and process information quickly. There’s been little evidence Jallow can do any of that.
One option if Hunte is out would be to move Antonio Blackmon from nickel to corner. He had a couple PBUs last week at nickel, and he has played a good amount of game snaps to not be afraid of the moments anymore. He needs to get much better as a tackler — last week’s final drive was not good in that respect — but I think he’d be good enough in coverage in a pinch.
... On another note, thanks for the questions in the thread body when I asked for them. Will do more forward-looking stuff as the season gets closer to ending, I'd think.
