Purdue Freshman Redshirt Watch: Midseason 2019

We’re at the halfway point of the 2019 football season. Injuries have forced a lot of freshmen to play, but some still have the ability to redshirt. That means it is a good time to look at our redshirt tracker for everyone. I have even tried to look at it in regards to older players who have not previously used their redshirt year to try and get a more accurate count. First though, are the true freshmen. Here are the true freshmen that have played and their respective stats:

Da’Joun Hewitt – 1 game – 4 rushes for 9 yards

David Bell – 6 games – 26 receptions, 438 yards, 3 TDs

King Doerue – 6 games – 67 rushes, 226 yards, 3 TDs, 8 receptions, 69 yards, 1 TD

Milton Wright – 5 games – 6 receptions, 101 yards, 1 TD

TJ Sheffield – 2 games – 2 receptions, 12 yards, 30 kickoff return yards

George Karlaftis – 6 games – 49 tackles, 9.5 for loss, 4 sacks, INT

Jalen Graham – 6 games – 20 tackles

Cam Allen – 5 games – 6 tackles

Marvin Grant – 3 games – 2 tackles

Brooks Cormier – 6 games – 22 punts, 41.5 yard average

Khali Saunders – 1 game – 1 tackle

If a player has played more than four games they cannot redshirt this year, meaning Bell, Doerue, Wright, Karlaftis, Graham, Allen, and Cormier have already burned it this year. Grant is out for the season with a shoulder injury and has thus preserved his redshirt. Sheffield is also currently out and seems likely to preserve his redshirt. That leaves Hewitt and Saunders in somewhat murky territory after they made their career debuts against Maryland. They can play in three more games and still redshirt.

There are a couple of other players to consider as well. Jeff Marks, the sophomore defensive lineman, played extensively last season as a true freshman, but has only played in one game so far (Maryland). He would be able to preserve it and redshirt this year if he played in 3 or fewer remaining games. Rondale Moore can still technically redshirt and return as a sophomore if he does not play again this year. True sophomore Jaylan Alexander has already played in six games and would have his redshirt available later if needed.

Purdue only has two true juniors playing in Cornel Jones and Derrick Barnes. Both are past the four game limit and still have their redshirts available if needed. Then you have the some other cases. Alex Criddle did not play at all as a true sophomore in 2017, so that can technically be his “redshirt” year, meaning he can return next season if he wants as a 5^th year senior. Lorenzo Neal has not played at all and is already ruled out next week, too. Since he never used his redshirt if he does not play before the Nebraska game he could potentially return as a fifth year senior next year, too.

Finally, you have the case of Elijah Sindelar and Markus Bailey. Sindelar has already been approved for a sixth year, but has also already gotten his degree. Should Jack Plummer maintain the starting role Sindelar can transfer elsewhere and play immediately if he wishes. Bailey is out for the season and could apply for a sixth year, but seems to be focused on 2020 Draft prep, so I wouldn’t count on him going forward. Richie Worship could theoretically do the same for a 6^th year. All three of these are factors in the extremely tight scholarship situation:

In the extremely unlikely scenario where Criddle, Sindelar, Worship, Bailey, and Neal all return for their respective 5^th or 6^th years Purdue would right now be 6 over the limit. That seems very, very unlikely, especially when Purdue is still out recruiting for 2020. Nalin Fox’s commitment this past weekend gives us a 19 man incoming class counting greyshirt Chase Triplett. That also has us close to the 25 man single-year limit.

It does seem that there is some wiggle room if Brohm is still recruiting, so that means departures and transfers. I’m not going to speculate on who that would be, but I am sure everyone has ideas.

Will we see any other freshmen play? Mershawn Rice has been mentioned as a possibility., Cam Craig is currently on the depth chart, but has not played. Garrett Miller has been mentioned as a possibility, but has not played yet. The same with Kyle Bilodeau. It likely all depends on how the next two games go. After Illinois, the rest of the true freshmen can play without redshirt consequences, so we could see even more later on.