Purdue Football Recruiting: An Interesting Name to Remember - Russ Yeast

Russ Yeast was a 4* athlete and Indiana Gatorade Player of the year out of Center Grove in the 2017 class. His father played at Kentucky, and he was originally committed to the Wildcats, but eventually flipped to Louisville. He was one of the more sought after prospects at the end of the 2017 recruiting season, picking up late offers from both Notre Dame and Oklahoma, but he stuck with Louisville after visiting Notre Dame late in the process. Purdue did offer him out of high school.

At Louisville, Yeast played corner-back as a true freshman in 2017, appearing in 9 games and making several starts for the Cardinals. He also returned punts in 5 games. Like most things in the Louisville program right now, 2018 has not been a good year for Yeast. Even with Cardinals struggling (to put it mildly) on defense, he has been firmly planted on the bench, only appearing in 3 games. It’s odd to see an obviously talented player not seeing any time for a team that is in desperate need of play makers. You’ve got to wonder if there is more to this story.

Yeast would be an interesting player for Purdue. While he played corner at Louisville, and could very well remain at corner, he also has potential on the offensive side of the ball. He was a multi-positional player in high school , and I could see Brohm deploying him as either a wide receiver or a pass catching, change of pace back. He will sit out a year, so it gives whatever team he decides to play for time to find the right fit for him.

I think when things are all said and done, Purdue may have a few scholarships available going into next season. Rolling the dice on an athlete like Yeast would make sense. This is strictly conjecture on my part,and he may have no interest in Purdue, or Purdue may have no interest in him, but he’s an interesting player to keep an eye on over the next few months.