Purdue Football Scholarship Grid: December 29

It has been a long time since I have posted our football scholarship grid, but there are a lot of questions about it going forward. The COVID free year is going to have an effect on it for some time, as only 2020 seniors get a free year that will not count against the 2021 season limits. Everyone else, at least as far as I can interpret, gets a free year, but starting in 2022 we’re back at an 85 limit. With that in mind, here is where we stand:

Again, any senior that was on scholarship this past season and in their final year of eligibility has the option of returning and being on scholarship without counting against the 85 limit for 2021. Therefore, I am not counting them as part of the 84 we have for 2021 and they are denoted as “FREE YEAR”. I believe this also counts for Tyler Witt, who potentially could play in 2021 AND 2022 since he played this past year and could still have his later free year. Since he was not a senior on Western Kentucky’s roster in his last year of eligibility he came in with one year left, plus his free year. That means who should have our 84th scholarship in 2021.

Of the eight seniors I have as possible returnees we’re almost certainly going to lose a few. I already removed Lorenzo Neal and Derrick Barnes because they are very likely off to the NFL. J.D. Dellinger was listed as “unlikely” to return from GBI, but I will hold out hope for now. Simeon Smiley and Anthony Watts have a good chance of leaving too, so we will see.

Also removed from he previous list were underclassmen Geovante Howard (transfer portal), Amad Anderson Jr. (transfer portal), and Rondale Moore (off to the NFL).

Where we need to keep an eye out is the 2022 season. There will be a crunch there. remember, the bizarre 2020 six game half season does not count against anyone’s eligibility, but there will be no over-the-limit waiver beyond 2021 at least for now. Assuming everyone returns to use their full remaining eligibility we’re currently over the limit even with only two 2021 commitments. Obviously, that won’t be the case as there is always attrition, but it gives you an idea of where we are overall.

The 2021 would-have-been-seniors-but-are-now-juniors show that the 2021 recruiting class was already going to be incredibly small, as there are just 10 scholarship juniors who would have been seniors entering next season. By comparison, there are a whopping 51 freshmen: 2018 class redshirt guys who are technically entering their third year now, 2019 class true freshmen and 2020 class true freshmen. Yes, true freshmen this year that played like Gus Hartwig, Maliq Carr, and Sanoussi Kane are still considered true freshmen in 2021.

Essentially, Purdue will continue to be an extremely young team in 2021 in terms of eligibility, but with a bunch “redshirt freshmen” in their third year in the program it will be in a spot where young guys have experience. By 2022 there will be attrition in the form of transfers, guys who are just done with football, and the NFL for guys like George Karlaftis and David Bell because they can declare for the Draft after the 2021 season.

This is going to be hard to track over the next few years, as technically the “Free COVID year” can have true freshmen from this season now around technically through the 2025 season (2020 free year, 2021 redshirt year, 2022 freshman, 2023 sophomore, 2024 junior, 2025 senior). Purdue will not be the only school dealing with this, as everyone will and the transfer portal will be the wild west for a while. If anything, Purdue’s expected 2021 smaller “senior” (now junior) class could help as it gives younger guys a chance to play early.

You also have the small chance of some real records being challenged. For example: Jack Plummer is still considered a sophomore eligibility-wise, but has over 2,500 yards passing and 19 touchdowns to his credit. If he secures the starting job and stays around for 3 more years he could potentially shatter all of Drew Brees’ records simply out of longevity (i.e., the Curtis Painter rule). This is especially true if we ever get the Brohmfense really up and rolling. This is a guy who completed 71% of his passes over three games this year and had just two interceptions, so you could at least see it.

I hope this clears a few things up.