Why Purdue Will Take Steps Forward In 2024 | Purdue Football 2024

Purdue Is A Confusing Team I watched Purdue spring game last Saturday on April 13th about six days ago so some may say this video is late to the party however we're not only going to be talking about Purdue spring game today I want to tie in what I saw on the spring game to My overall thoughts on Purdue entering the 20124 season my opinion on the boiler makers has wavered and only January February March we're in the middle of April now we're only 3 and a half four months in to the 2024 preseason and like a broken speedometer my meter on Purdue is swinging back and forth of course not from 0 and 12 to 12 and0 Purdue is absolutely not going 12 and0 and I would be very surprised as would many of you even those of you who like the win total suggests are picking Purdue to have a losing record this year do not think the boiler makers would go 0 and 12 and lose in every single one of their scheduled games but I started off the preseason thinking that Purdue would take a step forward and either go very close to becoming B eligible pardon me or they would reach B eligibility and they would not get into a bowl game like Minnesota did last year all due respect through the academic progress rate or how Rutgers combined with a Texas A&M opt out did in the 2021 Gator balll but that they would actually get six wins that Ryan Walters and his staff would take a step forward and then after looking at the schedule after looking at do their returning production numbers not being high well outside of the top 50 also outside of the top 50 in preseason SP plus which is very reliable and produce schedule isn't just tough in conference they have a tough out of conference slate too they have to play Notre Dame who is slated to be a top 10 or near top 10 team this season and Oregon State isn't what they used to be under Jonathan Smith but they still have some power four now talent and they were a power five team a year ago they still have some pieces left some good coaches and Purdue us to play them on the road and those two games are back to back after a bye that comes after their opener against Indiana State which is probably the only easy game on their schedule relative to Purdue roster their performance last season their returning production every statistic indicates Ates that Purdue might be one of the worst teams in the Big 10 this coming year every statistic except for maybe their incoming transfer portal class Purdue I think nailed the transfer portal in that winter window they earned several good commits many of whom did play in the spring game including two players in CJ Smith and Nyland Green from Georgia Purdue got 16 commits in their current transfer portal class which is 18 in the country one is a fourstar 14 are three stars and one of them is not ranked but they got transfers from the Big 10 from the SEC an offensive tackle from Notre Dame they also got some mac players and players from lower levels from the FCS and they lost Nick scorton to Texas A&M Garrett Miller tight end Texas A&M they did lose some big players we cannot forget about Deon Burks either who's joining one of the best wide receiver rooms in Oklahoma so they lost some but I think that they overall had a net benefit from the 2024 transfer portal they brought in more than they lost but they also are losing players on the offensive line running back Tyrone Tracy uh seni Kane cam Allen and other players on defense just by them not having the required eligibility anymore and them trying their hopes out in the NFL but then I watched the spring game and and this is where things change for me I'm watching Purdue spring game and while there are some drops in the receiver core and while the secondary has a few busted coverages early on in the spring game wideopen Hudson car just flings it deep and there's no one no one on Hudson card's left side of the field and I forget who the receiver was it might have been CJ Smith who I think is going to be the best receiver on this team but said receiver caught it waltzed into the end zone no problem and that was the first and biggest play or one of one of the only big one of the only big plays and the first big play of the spring game that showed some explosiveness in the passing game but more importantly and I just got choked up there because running on 5 hours of sleep but anyway the trenches were impressive the offensive line looked good they were able to protect Hudson card for much of the game and they were able to open up some holes in the ground attack as well I think particularly on the outside and the defense really impressed me as well I love the defensive tackle play that I saw Purdue defensive tackles dominated the interior the ends did well the linebackers and will H he had a pick six they were good in coverage they were good at getting pressure and the secondary showed moments of greatness they they did have some busted coverages and got deep a few times but they also had past deflections moments where they had phenomenal coverage and I overall thought it was a good spring game that spring game and I know it's just a spring game but Purdue looked fundamental they looked balanced they had depth I would say at every position and by depth I don't mean Georgia Michigan Ohio State Oregon Alabama Texas depth even USC or Oklahoma or Clemson or Florida State depth I mean depth relative to the talent and skill level of their starters if Hudson card goes down down his backup can likely do nearly as good of a job as he does same with the offensive line same with the defensive line I don't know about the wide receiver core tight end room but trench play QB play and really the entire defense as I think the defense dominated the game or controlled the game in one aspect or another and also at running back jeim Merryweather looked good Reggie Love III looked good Devin mcabe played so there's depth at running back even with Tyrone Tracy Jr leaving those are very good places to start and I think at wide receiver and even tight end Drew Bieber being a red shirt Jr and Max CLA and George Buran being sophomores and then at wide receiver CJ Smith cam Brown and an Nyan Moret transferring in that's three incoming transfers and Andrew swinsky Jaden Dixon ve and Jamal edrin are all Juniors or older in terms of Eligibility so there's potential at those positions to have depth as well I thought that the spring game was good and while that doesn't totally change my opinion on Purdue it does move it it moves the Analyzing Purdue's Offense needle in a positive direction and Purdue's rival Indiana saw some encouraging things too but that's for a video that will be released tomorrow I want to react to the Indiana spring game that occurred yesterday at the time of this recording on Thursday but that's on Purdue's rival we're here to talk about the boiler makers right now Purdue's offense I liked what I saw in the spring game particularly again in the trenches the offense I think has a high upside and a good offensive line but they are inconsistent the rushing attack was very hit or miss on the interior I thought that they struggled although at times they were able to kind of power through it was more so the outside run the more explosive plays I would say the the the 5 10 yard runs were more successful on the outside and just in general than let's say the one to four yard runs and you may say well duh that's just simple math but Michigan had very few five to 10 yard runs last year and their rushing attack statistically wasn't the best in the country but in terms of fourth down conversion and in terms of short power running they could get it done and they were one of the better they were one of the better short power rushing offenses in the country if that makes any sense Michigan could convert almost any fourth down against any defense last year just look at what they did against Penn State and Ohio State running the ball very few explosive runs but just enough to control the clock and to extend drives and if Purdue offense can figure out the interior run and they can get some of those more one to four yard gains which are more consistent more sustainable than a 5 to 10 yard gain they're in good shape with the fact that they looked good on the outside I think that CJ Smith who's pictured on your screen wearing a Georgia uniform I just couldn't find any good photo of him in a Purdue uniform at the time that I made these edits he's going to be a star he is fast he's Electric and I think that he'll fit well in this offense with Hudson card and and Graham herold's Air Raid and Hudson card has time in the pocket and Purdue while I don't think again as I mentioned earlier when we talked about depth I don't think they have the best defense in the world this defense looks looks much better than last season's defense which we'll talk about this more when we focus on that set of the ball but they allowed 30.4 points per game the offense last year scored 23.9 points per game which is 87th in the country I don't know how much the offense will improve this year compared to last year but I can say that they'll have a good Center just like they did last year because Gus Hartwig comes back their running back room should be about the same I wouldn't be shocked if receiver was as good because yes Dion Deon Burks leaves and that hurts a lot but CJ Smith is a high ceiling player high level Talent he transferred out of Georgia because Georgia was deep and Georgia has a near Elite to Elite stable of receivers not because CJ Smith is a bad player CJ Smith just needed a chance to shine somewhere else and I think Purdue is the area to do that I think that quarterback play will take a step forward at least to some degree Hudson card looked overall impressive he had some misses and last season he was outside of maybe northwestern's quarterback Ben Bryant the best quarterback in the Big 10 West which isn't saying much but hey it means that he's not terrible I don't think Hudson card was a terrible quarterback last year he had 200 rushing yards few thousand passing yards and again probably the best quarterback in the Big 10 West outside of maybe Ben Bryan and Ben Bryan didn't stay healthy the whole season card had 2387 passing yards 15 touchdowns eight interceptions a 123 passer rating and a QB rating a quarterback efficiency rating that I believe was top 100 again not saying much but at least this wasn't Iowa or Minnesota with cak Manis or Nebraska with little Heinrich harberg and Jeff Sims and I mean chubba per was efficient but I don't think he's as good as k en or riola who are the true freshmen who are competing for that starting job down in Lincoln and and altm was atrocious too and Hudson card played well at Texas highly recruited of high school this will be his second year in Graham Herold system and this will be a test to Graham Herold and this offensive staff and also head coach Ryan Walters in the sense that year one to year two is where you should face a pretty big jump because you're doubling the time that your players have been under your command under your development under your regime I I think that wide receiver play overall will determine the offense's success because I think Hudson card is he's a proven quarterback we know what he is and by proven I don't mean in the sense of oh he's good sort of because I think he's an average Quarterback maybe below average at worst and I would say good at best given that he does have a high ceiling but we know who Hudson card is we don't necessarily know because of how good Deon Burks was last year we don't know who Jaden Dixon ve is to the fullest extent or Jamal edrin or CJ Smith and why receiver you have multiple starters at quarterback you have one starter so there's it's easier to focus on the QB room because there's fewer players to focus on so who can emerge at wide receiver and if one or two players emerge there or maybe more but it's safer to bet on one or two and the wide receiver is just as good as last year with quarterback play and the offensive system likely taking a step forward or a few steps forward look for the offense to improve and I think that Devon mcabe will learn from some of the mistakes that he made last year and become an even better player Gus Hartwig and Marcus Ando returning on the interior I think that given how talented the interior of Purdue o line is and I can't even believe I'm saying that but hartwig's a good Center B is a good guard with how that defensive tackle unit played I I wonder how good that tline is and it could it could be good that defense could face a jump from last year to this year like Illinois did from 2021 to 2022 and and that defense that Ryan Walters genius DC that year he commanded that defense was number one in passer rating alow and and points allowed per game as well and also CJ Smith I think those four players will likely be the offenses best players before we go any Analyzing Purdue's Defense further please remember to subscribe to the channel click the notification Bell and comment your thoughts on this video down below and thank you to my patrons for sponsoring this video and channel thanks to crash 2488 for being a Heisman member thanks to Spencer Bringhurst Chris Lane and Connor little o for being All-American members thanks to will lus John Lynn roming gnome Matthew sale Austin Christmas and Janisha cochrell for being all conference members if you want to support the channel and give in an extra way to help the work that we do here on college football with Sam the best Big 10 football channel on YouTube you can check out my patreon page and sign up as an allconference All-American or Heisman member via the link in the description or at the top of the pin comment and if you want to get merchandise and represent the channel rather than join the patreon page you can check out my merchandise page and purchase some merch via the link in the description or at the top of the pin comment and by the way if you're a Heisman member one of your perks and crash 2488 is going to get his merchandise soon as soon as I possibly can which I don't know if that'll be technically soon but I'm going to try and get it to him he gets free merchandise because he's been a Heisman member for six months so that's one of the perks of joining the patreon especially as a Heisman member so please check that out thank you very much for your support and let's get back on topic the defense there's less Intrigue with the defense this is typical of the superior side of the football unless they have a ridiculously high ceiling that you you wonder if they can tap into that I don't know if this defense and I don't think this defense has an insanely high ceiling and Elite ceiling but they do have players with an elite potential I think Nyland green Corner a Dylan thaman at free safety I think they have an elite ceiling and I don't know about anyone else but I think Kidron Jenkins has a great ceiling and I think that Cole brev is a great interior defensive lineman and will H played as a true freshman is going to be a true sophomore if he can take steps forward he can be a big contributor as well I look at this defense and Ryan Walters being a defensive guy I have to think that they'll take steps forward on this side of the ball and I thought that well well into the last year in the last season I'm thinking Purdue's probably going to improve on the side of the ball entering this season and I thought that early in this preseason and I've thought this way for months now and I feel like the spring game confirmed that in a way produce defense looked more complete than the offense they looked disciplined physical the defensive backs blew some coverages but other times made some past deflections in big plays and the front was strong against the Run they did well in pass rush I know I said the o line predicted card well but you can tell when trench play overall isn't good and I feel like that was kind of Indiana spring game where the o line and dline are just trading massive punches and big plays Purdue's battle in the trenches Was Won by the dline but there was a complimentary battle almost there wasn't really a big play that either side of the trenches provided they were just battling it out it was all out war and that's what you want to see when your own offense is facing your own defense of course in an actual game you want to see your side of the ball dominate but I'm saying these two sides are going to be on the same side obviously in the fall and the fact that there weren't big plays allowed on the ground card was overall well protected but puru defense was able to shut down the Run they were able to occasionally get to card as well I thought it was an admirable and Valiant effort by the defensive line in particular and produce schedule they're going to be facing a lot of offenses plenty of teams who will have good trench play or historically good trench play in recent memory who want to run the football these teams whether it's they actually have good trench play or they historically have had good trench play in the past few seasons are Notre Dame Oregon state Wisconsin Oregon Ohio State and Penn State that right there is six teams half their schedule last year had anywhere from good to Great to near Elite to Elite offensive line play and Oregon Penn State and Ohio State have top 10 running back rooms Notre Dame has an underrated collection of young running backs until Damen Martinez entered the portal which he'll be a nice get wherever he goes good luck to him great player Oregon state would have had one of the better running backs in the country and Wisconsin they bring in towe Walker and chz maloi returns if they can stay healthy they'll have a great rushing attack but I think Wisconsin's focus is more so their offensive line just should be good everywhere in Nebraska while they haven't historically had great Trench play either offensively which I'm mostly focusing on here for produce opponents cuz we're talking about produce defense or defensively Nebraska has not historically had great trench play but entering this season their offensive line brings back a lot of their production their Center Ben Scott they bring in Micah mesua from Florida at guard and he should be one of their best interior offensive lineman and offensive lineman overall and they have a deep running back room I mean Dante da from Oregon and gab bvin J rir Johnson EMT Johnson I mean just stacked stacked running back room they could suffer an injury or two there and I hope they don't but they did last year and they still had a good rushing attack and they do have I think enough Mobility at quarterback whether it's kin more so him riola is probably more mobile than a cade mcir or Kyle McCord but not as mobile they'll be able to throw in some wrinkles overall Nebraska with and Northwestern returns Camp Porter in much of their production and Michigan State with Jonathan Smith and Tanner Miller at Center and Nathan Carter at running back I'm just looking at this schedule and a lot of these teams non-conference or conference should be able to run the football and rather well on an average basis so it's going to be very important that the trench play that we watched from the interior of that D line I I've said time and time and again this is why Penn State and James Franklin outside of James Franklin's inept game decisions have not won the Big 10 since 16 it took them it took them having a RedHot run and honestly by statistics a fluky season in 16 to win the Big 10 because their interior trench play has never been their strong point they finally Penn State under Franklin finally had a first team all big 10 offensive lineman he was a tackle he wasn't a guard wasn't a center and that's good but guards centers and defensive tackles are some of the most important positions in the Big 10 that no one talks about because they don't light up the statistic board but they're critical they're absolutely important in the Big 10 conference interior trench play dominates it's why Michigan has won the Big 10 for three years in a row because on an average basis for the past three years they've had the best interior trench play they had the best combined guard Center and defensive tackle play by a mile in 2023 and 2022 in the Big 10 and some would even say the country and in 2021 they were up there nationally and they led the Big 10 but not by the same margin they did in 2012 and 23 we'll see if Ohio State can do that this year maybe Penn State can since they return all their defensive tackles Michigan returns their defensive tackles and they bring in Josh prie a good Guard from Northwestern wisc Johson could do that they return guards Nebraska returns a lot of interior players and there are more schools but look at Purdue Cole brard comes back at defensive tackle and in Purdue's three four defense he's their only defensive tackle but they also have Joe Anderson coming back Mo amodi I hope that's how you say his name backup NOS tackle he comes back and Gus Hartwig and Jaylen Grant and Marcus embo are veteran interior offensive linemen 29:47 My Thoughts On Purdue's 2024 Season so perhaps Purdue while I I doubt they would dominate the interior trenches in the Big 10 perhaps there's a good chance that they'll be up there an interior trench play and then that would bode well for the boiler makers overall Purdue is 96th in returning production this year like I said way outside the top 50 they're 86th in preseason SP plus rankings and this video is a little longer than my other spring game reactions because I'm combining what I see in the spring game with my overall thoughts on Purdue this is kind of a spring game meshed with 2024 early season preview so of course it's going to be longer than a simple spring game reaction like I'm doing for every other team except for Wisconsin who doesn't have a spring game and for other teams like Ohio State for example Michigan and teams that impress me in their spring games of course I'm going to talk talk more about their spring game performance and reference it probably until we actually kick off but Purdue I Purdue had relative to my expectations the most impressive spring game I've seen so far their trench play looks good especially on the interior and that bodess well for Big 10 games and the fact that their tackles did well on the outside run and pass Pro exterior trench play is important too oh I mean Ohio state with Chase young in 20 19 and Larry Johnson more so being known for his ends rather than his tackles on the defensive line they dominated the Big 10 especially on defense and they were scary there so when I say interior trench play is important I'm not dismissing exterior trench play interior trench play is more underrated because sacks are mostly generated by ends I mean an elite defensive tackle unless you're nans Sue and you're generational or Jaylen Carter unless you're those type of players same with Jordan Jordan Davis from Georgia in 2021 unless you're those type of players you are not going to receive highlights as a defensive tackle you're not going to you're more likely going to receive that as a defensive end where you can get sacks and and light up the statistic board and get more tackles and be more involved in multiple different positions on defense a tackle kind of has one sole job and that's it's stopping the interior run and you get to the quarterback if you can and maybe that's not the best assessment but from what I can tell that's true Mason Graham is an exception to that rule of not being noticed the country's taken notice of him and Kenneth Grant but again they're Elite but having tackle play and having defensive endplay that are good that's necessary as well and at least from offensive tackle I'm encouraged by what I've seen from Purdue the defense is improving that combined with a solid o line gives hope the skill rooms have questions whether that's the back field on defense or the back field and the exterior boundaries the receivers on offense or the quarterback position those have questions but they didn't look bad they didn't look great but they didn't look bad they looked average on a mean basis on a mean Med basis and that with a good defense and good trench play I think is encouraging CJ Smith Max CLA Nyland green and will HT I think are players to watch players that are likely to break out could break out or that Purdue I think this is the case especially with Max CLA players that they will need to perform well if if if CLA can be a great blocker and a great receiver adding on to the pass protection adding on to the Run game and blocking and adding on to the receiving game that would be so huge for Hudson card Ryan Walters and that entire staff Purdue faces a tough schedule in 2024 they play Oregon Ohio State Penn State and Notre Dame but if they can reach bull eligibility given their schedule I think this coming season will absolutely be a success and I think that is very doable thank you all so much for watching this video I did give a shout out in the middle of the video I guess it just felt really natural to me that's not normal but take from that what you will I did give a shout out but I'm going to give it again here thanks to crash 2488 for sponsoring this video as a Heisman member for Spencer Bringhurst Chris Lane and Connor little o for sponsoring this video and channel as All American members and will Loftus John Lynn roming gnome Matthew sale Austin Christmas and Janisha cochrell thank you for sponsoring this video is All Conference members check out my patreon page and merchandise store via the links in the description or the pin comment and please like this video subscribe to the channel click the notification Bell and comment your reaction to produce spring game and your prediction for their 2024 schedule down in the comments Below have a great day guys and thanks for watching bye-bye