#2 Ohio State at Purdue: Depth Charts!

First off, apologies for not having a press conference post from yesterday. The athletic department never sent me the transcripts. Second, there is not a lot of change on the depth charts because Brohm seems to rarely change them from week to week. I will still try to offer what commentary I can.

OFFENSE

QB: 1. David Blough 2. Elijah Sindelar

RB: 1. D.J. Knox 2. Markell Jones. 3. Tario Fuller 4. Alexander Horvath

WR: Jared Sparks OR Terry Wright

WR: 1. Rondale Moore 2. Jackson Anthrop 3. Keyron Catlett

WR: Isaac Zico OR Jarrett Burgess

LT: 1. Grant Hermanns 2. Michael Mendez

LG: 1. Shane Evans 2. Dennis Edwards

C: 1. Kirk Barron 2. Viktor Beach

RG: 1. Dennis Edwards 2. Bearooz Yacoobi

RT: 1. Matt McCann 2. Eric Swingler

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

The only significant change is that Moore is now officially first on the depth chart ahead of Anthrop. This is merely cosmetic, as Moore leads the Big Ten in receiving and has been the conference’s Freshman of the Year through the first half.

The Illinois blowout allowed at least a few backup offensive linement to get some snaps. Beach, Yacoobi, and Mendez saw extended second half action. That’s especially important for Beach, who is a redshirt freshman and leading candidate to take over next season when Barron is gone.

At running back Fuller got his first carries in a few weeks, while Horvath played a lot and even got his first career touchdown. I still think Fuller will be hte feature back next season and will be in a great position for a good year.

DE: 1. Giovanni Reviere 2. Semisi Fakasiieiki

DT: 1. Lorenzo Neal 2. Ray Ellis OR Alex Criddle

DT: 1. Anthony Watts 2. Jeff Marks

DE: 1. Kai Higgins 2. Robert McWilliams III

LB: 1. Markus Bailey 2. Tobias Larry

LB: Cornel Jones OR Derrick Barnes

LB: 1. Derrick Barnes 2. Jaylan Alexander

CB: 1. Antonio Blackmon OR Kenneth Major 2. Kamal Hardy

FS: 1. Navon Mosley 2. Simeon Smiley or Elijah Ball or Cory Trice

SS: 1. Jacob Thieneman 2. Brennan Thieneman

CB: Tim Cason OR Dedrick Mackey

Ball, Trice, Alexander, and Marks are rapidly approaching the redshirt threshold. Ball and Willie Lane are credited with only two game appearances so far, so with a limit of two more they can hold on to their redshirts. Alexander is at 4, so if he plays in one more he loses the option this year. Marks has played in all six games. Kenneth Major has really come on of late and already has three interceptions. He has even started two games in place of Cason.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Punter: 1. Joe Schopper 2. Jake Herr

Kicker: 1. Spencer Evans 2. J.D. Dellinger

Kickoffs: 1. Spencer Evans 2. Myles Homan

Long Snapper: 1. Ben Makowski 2. Ryan Sadkowski

Holder: 1. Joe Schopper 2. Jake Herr

Kick Returns: 1. Rondale Moore 2. D.J. Knox

Punt Returns: 1. Rondale Moore 2. Jackson Anthrop

There were a couple of hiccups on special teams as Evans had an extra point blocked and either a bad snap or mishandled snap resulted in a fire drill and a second botched conversion. I still don’t expect any changes, but it is concerning that Purdue has three missed extra points now and, since a kick attempt was not made on the botched play, it is a fourth botched PAT on 21 total attempts. This has already played a large role in one loss.