The lineup I think we can expect - here is who I think we can expect to see based on what we saw the past couple years
QB - Oconnell, Plummer
RB - Horvath, doerue
WR - Bell, Yaseen
WR - Anthrop, sheffield
WR - Wright
TE - Durham, Miller
LT - Craig, Miller
LG - Holstege, Washingot
C - Hartwig, Garvin
RG -
RT - Long, Miller
DE - Karlaftis, Sullivan
NT - Johnson
DT - Deen, Sullivan
DE - Mitchell, Sullivan
LB - Alexander
LB - Fakasiieki, Douglas
LB - Graham
CB - Trice
FS - Allen
SS - Grant
CB - Mackey
this who we can bank on seeing. Someone can say “well oc brothers …” to me every fan base in America can say “we have this transfer and that one from this school.” Until they do it for Purdue we don’t know.
but it begs the question, who are the players who we probably need to see either show up on the field, or take a major step forward for us to be a 5-7/6-6 team and beyond.
1) Aidan O’Connell or Jack plummer - whether it’s oconnell having worked on his footspeed or get the ball out faster against pressure OR plummer having the game slow down and seeing the whole field, one of them must get into the general value of at least a slightly poor man’s David Blough. That is more important than any transfer or underclassman stepping up.
2) Tyler Witt - if he’s not as advertised .. it means Sam Garvin playing center. Immediately, that would disallow us from taking advantage of Oregon state’s DT issues for example.
3) OC Brothers or Yanni Karlaftis - Karlaftis’ may still be injured and will be a true freshman, so it’s a lot less likely that he comes on right away than brothers, but without one of them allowing Alexander to play the middle and bumping Semisi against high octane pass offenses, this plane might not fly.
4) TJ Sheffield - sheffield is obviously an athlete, but he must show he has gained receiver skill and start making grabs for us to victimize opponents in space. Oconnell has four established receiving targets, Horvath can run the ball, now it’s time for the slot receivers to show up so Purdue can make it difficult on opposing defenses.
5) Marvin Grant - Grant has played enough to be listed in the lineup, but Purdue needs a full healthy season from the virtual newcomer. If grant is healthy, he is the kind of playmaker who could pay immediate dividends against the OSU running game with big hits like the one he landed against Illinois.
6) Demarje Lewis - I’ve never seen anything from the DTs we have to inspire a reaction other than “they aren’t bad sometimes.” They could always hit their stride, but a high impact playmaker up front with George would be huge, and even Indiana fans indicate that that is the hope for Lewis
7) Mitchell fineran and Jack ansell … uh yeah .. so there’s that.
8) Anthony Romphf or Nyles Beverly - I’m not a huge believer in dedrick Mackey to help deliver Purdue to a winning season. He’s a solid player .. the high end athleticism you need in this tough world of P5 football just isn’t there to me. Maybe he will prove me wrong and the talk will be about how he dealt with nagging injuries .. but it would be nice to see an underclassman step up
9) King Doerue - if doerue is just a backup who can be called on at any time we are fine. If he turns into a guy who forces the coaches to give him a good amount or half or better yet a majority of the carries .. Purdue’s offense will become tough to beat.
10) Jared Baczynski - I’m not a huge believer in Holstege .. he didn’t appear to get much push and when pass blocking I didn’t think he held his ground well .. but maybe he was just young and comes out a different player. Either that happening OR Baczynski showing up on the scene and being ready to mix it up would be good
if we were to have everyone we relied upon last year return and stay healthy AND 7 out of my ten showed up (1-3 are mandatory) .. yeah we could be talking about a team that surprises people
QB - Oconnell, Plummer
RB - Horvath, doerue
WR - Bell, Yaseen
WR - Anthrop, sheffield
WR - Wright
TE - Durham, Miller
LT - Craig, Miller
LG - Holstege, Washingot
C - Hartwig, Garvin
RG -
RT - Long, Miller
DE - Karlaftis, Sullivan
NT - Johnson
DT - Deen, Sullivan
DE - Mitchell, Sullivan
LB - Alexander
LB - Fakasiieki, Douglas
LB - Graham
CB - Trice
FS - Allen
SS - Grant
CB - Mackey
this who we can bank on seeing. Someone can say “well oc brothers …” to me every fan base in America can say “we have this transfer and that one from this school.” Until they do it for Purdue we don’t know.
but it begs the question, who are the players who we probably need to see either show up on the field, or take a major step forward for us to be a 5-7/6-6 team and beyond.
1) Aidan O’Connell or Jack plummer - whether it’s oconnell having worked on his footspeed or get the ball out faster against pressure OR plummer having the game slow down and seeing the whole field, one of them must get into the general value of at least a slightly poor man’s David Blough. That is more important than any transfer or underclassman stepping up.
2) Tyler Witt - if he’s not as advertised .. it means Sam Garvin playing center. Immediately, that would disallow us from taking advantage of Oregon state’s DT issues for example.
3) OC Brothers or Yanni Karlaftis - Karlaftis’ may still be injured and will be a true freshman, so it’s a lot less likely that he comes on right away than brothers, but without one of them allowing Alexander to play the middle and bumping Semisi against high octane pass offenses, this plane might not fly.
4) TJ Sheffield - sheffield is obviously an athlete, but he must show he has gained receiver skill and start making grabs for us to victimize opponents in space. Oconnell has four established receiving targets, Horvath can run the ball, now it’s time for the slot receivers to show up so Purdue can make it difficult on opposing defenses.
5) Marvin Grant - Grant has played enough to be listed in the lineup, but Purdue needs a full healthy season from the virtual newcomer. If grant is healthy, he is the kind of playmaker who could pay immediate dividends against the OSU running game with big hits like the one he landed against Illinois.
6) Demarje Lewis - I’ve never seen anything from the DTs we have to inspire a reaction other than “they aren’t bad sometimes.” They could always hit their stride, but a high impact playmaker up front with George would be huge, and even Indiana fans indicate that that is the hope for Lewis
7) Mitchell fineran and Jack ansell … uh yeah .. so there’s that.
8) Anthony Romphf or Nyles Beverly - I’m not a huge believer in dedrick Mackey to help deliver Purdue to a winning season. He’s a solid player .. the high end athleticism you need in this tough world of P5 football just isn’t there to me. Maybe he will prove me wrong and the talk will be about how he dealt with nagging injuries .. but it would be nice to see an underclassman step up
9) King Doerue - if doerue is just a backup who can be called on at any time we are fine. If he turns into a guy who forces the coaches to give him a good amount or half or better yet a majority of the carries .. Purdue’s offense will become tough to beat.
10) Jared Baczynski - I’m not a huge believer in Holstege .. he didn’t appear to get much push and when pass blocking I didn’t think he held his ground well .. but maybe he was just young and comes out a different player. Either that happening OR Baczynski showing up on the scene and being ready to mix it up would be good
if we were to have everyone we relied upon last year return and stay healthy AND 7 out of my ten showed up (1-3 are mandatory) .. yeah we could be talking about a team that surprises people
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