Louisville vs. Purdue: DEPTH CHARTS!

The first depth chart of the season is out and it is very, very interesting. In multiple spots coach Brohm goes beyond the traditional two-deep. At a few spots he goes three deep and at running back he is even five deep. Here is a quick look, first at the offense:

Offense

QB: 1. David Blough 2. Elijah Sindelar 3. Jared Sparks

RB: 1. Tario Fuller OR Markell Jones OR D.J. Knox OR Richie Worship OR Brian Lankford-Johnson

WR1: 1. Anthony Mahoungou 2. Corey Holmes 3. Jared Sparks

WR2: 1. Jackson Anthrop OR Terry Wright 2. KeyRon Catlett

WR3: 1. Gregory Phillips 2. Isaac Zico

TE: 1. Cole Herdman 2. Brycen Hopkins 3. Darius Pittman

LT: 1. Grant Hermanns 2. Eric Swingler

LG: 1. Shane Evans 2. Michael Mendez 3. Peyton Truitt

C: 1. Kirk Barron 2. Shane Evans 3. Bryce Brown

RG: 1. Matt McCann 2. Bearooz Yacoobi

RT: 1. Dave Steinmetz 2. Ethan Smart

There are not a ton of surprises here. The true freshmen are Catlett and Pittman, who have impressed to the point that they will play. Sparks, as expected, will play some at receiver. Coach Brohm has said that multiple QBs will play. Whether that means just Sparks in his special package or Sindelar because Blough is still banged up remains to be seen. I admit, I am concerned about Blough’s shoulder injury. We’re five days from kickoff and he has not been 100% at all.

Along the offensive line Steinmetz and Evans draw immediate starts as grad transfers. Hermanns gets the nod as a redshirt freshman at left tackle. At receiver Brohm has stated we will rotate guys, so I would bet all seven named guys will play. As far as the five running backs, I think there will be a mix, at least to start.

Defense

DE: 1. Austin Larkin 2. Antoine Miles

DT: 1. Lorenzo Neal OR Eddy Wilson

DT: 1. Gelen Robinson 2. Keiwan Jones

DE: 1. Danny Ezechukwu 2. Kai Higgins

WLB: 1. T.J. McCollum 2. Andy Chelf OR Sawyer Dawson

MLB: 1. Ja’Whaun Bentley 2. Garrett Hudson

SLB: 1. Markus Bailey 2. Rob Simmons

CB1: 1. Josh Okonye 2. Antonio Blackmon

CB2: 1. Da’Wan Hunte 2. Kamal Hardy

FS: 1. T.J. Jallow 2. Simeon Smiley

SS: 1. Jacob Thieneman 2. Navon Mosley

The defense has a lot of interesting notes. First, Ezechukwu officially at the Leo Hybrid DE/LB position is confirmed. it is a way to get Purdue’s best players on the field at the same time, something previous regimes went out of their way to do. Brohm also stated that tackles will rotate and “it doesn’t matter who starts”.

At linebacker I found it very interesting to see Chelf and Dawson there. They need to at least get some playing time before next season. Simmons also had a good spring coming off the edge.

As expected, two walk-ons are in the defensive backfield with Theineman starting and Blackmon at corner. Blackmon is likely the nickel 3rd corner as of right now.

Specialists

Punter: 1. Joe Schopper 2. Jake Herr

Placekicker: 1. J.D. Dellinger OR Spencer Evans

Kickoffs: 1. Spencer Evans 2. Myles Evans

Long Snapper: 1. Ben Makowski 2. Ryan Sadkowski

Holder: 1. David Blough 2. Elijah Sindelar

KR: 1. Markell Jones 2. D.J. Knox

PR: 1. Jackson Anthrop 2. Isaac Zico

The only OR here is at placekicker, and I am betting it means Dellinger is on shorter kicks and Evans is on longer attempts. I would imagine that Dellinger stays on PATs. I was surprised that Markell Jones is a returner, as he has never really been there before. Other than that, this is as expected.