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Purdue Football Recruiting: Defections & Transfers are Coming

Purdue does need to have some departures scholarship-wise. Who will it be?

NCAA Football: Foster Farms Bowl-Arizona vs Purdue Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports

Change is coming to the Purdue Football roster. In fact, change has already come to the Purdue Football roster. Tanner Hawthorne, a 6’6” 290 pound offensive lineman from Glendale, Arizona announced just days after the Foster Farms Bowl that he would be transferring from the program.

He has already landed at Glendale Community College, where he is probably going to play this fall before using his final two years of eligibility elsewhere.

Glendale is a 3-time JuCo national champion, so they have a very strong program. It is a good stop for him when he would have to sit out a year at an FBS school in 2018, anyway. Hawthorne redshirted in 2016 as a true freshman and was nowhere near the depth chart this season, but he still had some promise as a two-time state champion in high school. He could have provided some depth at tackle, but it didn’t work out.

What Hawthrone’s departure does give Purdue is another open scholarship for the recently signed class. Purdue is currently 7 over the 85 scholarship limit for 2018, and that does not include Rondale Moore, who seems likely to commit on Thursday at the Army All-American game. Moore, Evander Craft, and Willie Lane are the three carryovers that did not sign during the early period and will have to wait until early February to sign with Purdue. Since Lane and Craft have said they are still committed, but we don’t have official word from Moore, I don’t have Moore on the list yet.

So even with Hawthorne gone we have to lose 8 somewhere in here to get under the limit. There are some caveats, however.

Jacob TheinemanI believe it was said the former walk-on was on scholarship this far, so I am counting him. It would seem to be a bad move to take him off scholarship for his senior season when he is a starter can key member of the defense.

David BloughTechnically, Blough did graduate this December and could transfer somewhere else to play immediately in his final year. He has already said he wants to return to Purdue and battle for the starting QB job, so he is not going anywhere.

Eddy WilsonWilson did not make the bowl trip and his status for the coming season is very much up in the air. For now, I am keeping him on the list until we receive official word he is gone, but he ended up being mostly a reserve this year (though a key reserve). He would almost certainly be in line to start if he returns, but since it seems like grads are an issue his status for 2018 is uncertain at best.

Kirk BarronLike Blough, Barron also graduated in December and could transfer elsewhere to play immediately for his final year, but he has made no indication he will do so. I would be shocked if he left.

Cole HerdmanHerdman is the same as Blough and Barron. He has a degree in hand with a year left, but has made zero indication he is leaving and there is no expectation he will.

It is really, really hard to see or say where the remaining 7-8 scholarships open up. Purdue has 20 players on scholarship as of right now that are entering their final year of eligibility. Of those 20, at least 17 are expected to have a large role in 2018. Purdue managed to have 14 freshmen hold on to their redshirt this fall. One player, Jack Wegher, played as a true freshman in 2016, but not this year, so 2017 can be considered a redshirt for him and he is a redshirt sophomore now.

As always, we will keep an eye on this as things develop. For most of last summer Purdue was over the limit before the final roster was released in August. I would imagine we’ll see some departures in the spring after spring football and spring semester grades come out.

It should be noted that the current scholarship makeup per this chart has 41 Hazell players and 51 Brohm players, so the 2018 season will already have more of Brohm influence when it comes to recruiting than Hazell. Of course, Brohm was still able to get the most out of Hazell recruited guys like Anthony Mahoungou, David Blough, Elijah Sindelar, and more.

Purdue Football Scholarship Grid January 2

Player Position ('18-'19) ('19-'20) ('20-'21) ('21-'22) ('22-'23)
Player Position ('18-'19) ('19-'20) ('20-'21) ('21-'22) ('22-'23)
Shane Evans OG Grad Transfer
Spencer Evans K Grad Transfer
Dexter Knox RB Senior (5)
Bearooz Yacoobi OL Senior (5)
Cole Herdman TE Senior (5)
David Blough QB Senior (5)
Keiwan Jones DT Senior (5)
Kirk Barron C Senior (5)
Tim Cason CB Senior (5)
Jacob Theineman S Senior (5)
Rob Simmons DE Senior
Ben Makowksi LS Senior
TJ Jallow S Senior
Ethan Smart OL Senior
Joe Schopper P Senior
Markell Jones RB Senior
Eddy Wilson DT Senior
Isaac Zico WR Senior
Ray Ellis DT Senior
Terry Wright WR Senior
Markus Bailey LB Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Tario Fuller RB Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Andy Chelf S Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Brycen Hopkins TE Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Chazmyn Turner DE Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Elijah Sindelar QB Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Jess Trussell TE Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Matt McCann OT Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Michael Little CB Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Michael Mendez OL Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Peyton Truitt OL Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Richard Worship RB Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Sawyer Dawson LB Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Kai Higgins DE Junior Senior
Josh Hayes CB Junior Senior
Alex Criddle DT Junior Senior
Navon Mosley S Junior Senior
J.D. Dellinger K Junior Senior
Lorenzo Neal DT Junior Senior
Brian Lankford-Johnson RB Junior Senior
Brandon Shuman CB Junior Senior
Benaiah Franklin WR Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Anthony Watts DT Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Jared Sparks WR Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Grant Hermanns OL Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Simeon Smiley CB Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Semisi Fakasiieiki LB Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Jackson Anthrop WR Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Jack Wegher RB Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Keyron Catlett WR Sophomore Junior Senior
Derrick Barnes LB Sophomore Junior Senior
Darius Pittman TE Sophomore Junior Senior
Cornell Jones LB Sophomore Junior Senior
Tobias Larry LB Sophomore Junior Senior
Griffin Alstott QB Freshman (RS) Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Robert McWilliams LB/DE Freshman (RS) Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Nicholas Sipe QB Freshman (RS) Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Tyler Hamilton WR Freshman (RS) Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Dedrick Mackey DB Freshman (RS) Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Mark Stickford OL Freshman (RS) Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Jacob Abrams DB Freshman (RS) Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Jalen Jackson OG Freshman (RS) Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Giovanni Hightower-Reviere DE Freshman (RS) Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
D’Jaundrae Edwards WR Freshman (RS) Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Viktor Beach OL Freshman (RS) Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
DeShon Washington OL Freshman (RS) Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Kenneth Major DB Freshman (RS) Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Allen Daniels DT Freshman (RS) Sophomore (RS) Junior (RS) Senior (5)
Jaylan Alexander LB Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Jack Plummer QB Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Elijah Ball DB Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Kadin Smith DB Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Charles Allen OG Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Jack Cravaack TE Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Byron Perkins CB Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Eric Miller OT Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Lawrence Johnson DT Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Will Bramel OL Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Jimmy McKenna OL Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Willie Lane DE Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Jordan Bonner WR Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
K.J. Stokes DE Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Branson Deen DE Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Jack Sullivan DE Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Evander Craft LB Junior Senior
Amad Anderson WR Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Jordan Rucker CB Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Cory Trice DB Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Jeff Marks DT Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Kory Taylor WR Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Evan Anderson RB Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Payne Durham TE Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
George Karlaftis DE Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior
Total Scholarships Left -7 12 34 47 84
Total Scholarships Used 92 73 51 38 1