Purdue Football: The Freshman Issue (?)

So, the two deep was released.

18 freshmen are in the two deep.

18.

I cannot remember the last time when we had this many freshmen in the two deep.

Here the names of the players.

Jack Plummer (RS-FR) QB, King Doerue (Fr) RB, Da’Joun Hewitt (FR) RB, Amad Anderson Jr (RS FR), WR, Milton Wright (FR) WR, David Bell (FR) WR, Payne Durham (RS-FR) TE, Will Bramel (RS FR) RT, Jimmy McKenna (RS Fr) LG, Eric Miller (RS FR) LT, Lawrence Johnson (RS FR) DT, Jack Sullivan (RS FR) DT, George Karlaftis (FR) DE, Branson Deen (RS FR) DE, Cory Trice (RS FR) CB, Jalen Graham (FR) SS, Marvin Grant (FR) SS, Brooks Cormier (FR) Punter

There you have it. Wow.

Again, this could be good or it could be bad.

These young players are out of two pretty highly recruited classes. 2019 was a top 25 class in the nation and 2018 was a top 50, so there is plenty of talent.

But generally, young teams take some bumps - especially early. Which has kind of been a trend in the Brohm era at Purdue, a slower start then a strong middle and end to the season.

Realistically, we can probably expect something similar this year. We should win this Friday, there is no doubt in my mind, but hosting TCU and Vanderbilt will not be a walk in the park. This team is young and we have one of the toughest schedules in college football this season.

From 18 freshmen, there are only a handful of seniors are in the two deep.

Elijah Sindelar, Alex Criddle, Matt McCann, Brycen Hopkins, Navon Mosley, Ben Holt, Markus Bailey, Kai Higgins.

That is it.

Now, at some positions I am not worried about young guys playing, particularly at skill spots - wide receiver, running back, defensive back - I am pretty much okay with, those guys create space and play in the open field.

Where I am most worried is in the trenches, Offensive Line and Defensive Line.

I get that we have had some pretty good defensive line commits - for one I am not worried about George he is a man. But, I am worried about some of the younger interior defensive linemen. An 18 or 19 year old going up against a 22 or 23 year old senior just doesn’t bode well.

That is where I think we will struggle with these young players is in the trenches. Luckily for the defense, our linebacker core is the best it has been in the last ten years.

There will be a lot of new players out on the field this Friday. Be mentally prepared for some frustration with some young guys, there will be bumps with this young team, but also be ready for some fireworks. These young players are electric and ready to make an impact.

Is it Game Day yet?