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Purdue Football Recruiting: Moon Lands on Purdue!

A Boilermaker once landed on the Moon, now a Moon is coming to West Lafayette.

APOLLO XI - First manned mission to succesfully land on the Photo by NASA/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images

Domanick Moon, a 6’2, 220 pound linebacker out of R Nelson Snider, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, verbally committed to Purdue’s 2022 recruiting class tonight.

Moon is currently ranked by the 247 composite as a 3* (81) prospect, the 29th inside linebacker and 750th overall recruit in the nation, and the 12th best prospect in the state of Indiana. The 2022 rankings will undoubtedly change over the course of the next year, and Moon still has plenty of room to grow physically. I expect him to end up in the low/mid 3* range and has the potential to land inside the top 10 state rankings.

What He Brings to the Table

Moon is a linebacker with enough speed to play sideline to sideline. He has the ability to get outside the tackle box and make plays in space from his inside linebacker position. Inside the box, he does a nice job working through traffic and finding ball carriers instead of trying to run through the backs of his defensive linemen.

Assuming Purdue remains in it’s current defensive set up, Moon projects as a middle linebacker in Bob Diaco’s scheme, and would most likely fill the role Alexander currently fills for the Boilermakers. He’ll need to continue to mature physically, and will probably need to play closer to 230 than 220 in college to hold up in the 3-4. If he can play in the 230’s and maintain his speed, his skill set should mesh well with Purdue’s current system.

What Next

Purdue is off to a hot start in-state. Moon joins 4* Gibson Southern quarterback Brady Allen in Purdue’s 2022 class. He’s teammates with 4* offensive guard Demon Moore, and any in with a Moore is welcomed, because at the moment, Purdue doesn’t appear to be in the running for the talented offensive lineman, but it’s still early.

Other than that, it’s the same story with Purdue recruiting. They need to find a way to consistently recruit Indianapolis and the surrounding suburbs. Landing guys from Ft. Wayne and Ft. Branch is important for the Boilermakers, but they need to get into city, mainly because the Indianapolis schools produce high level recruits on a yearly basis. The overall talent level of Indiana high school football is on the rise and Purdue needs to consistently land top in-state prospects to be competitive. The 2021 class missed on several of the elite in-state guys, but 2022 is off to a nice start.

Player Comp

Markus Bailey came into Purdue as a somewhat under sized linebacker with sideline to sideline speed and left Purdue as one of the better linebackers in the post Tiller era of Purdue football. Moon is a long way from Bailey, but Bailey was a long way from the finished product he became at the end of his career.