34 Days To Purdue Football: Damarjhe Lewis

Damarjhe Lewis - RS Junior

Griffin, GA (Griffin High School)

Nose Tackle

6’3, 300

2023 Projection: Starter or Key Depth Piece

Damarjhe returns to the field in 2023 after a gruesome lower leg injury in fall camp put the big man on the bench for the entire 2022 campaign. Lewis, the former 2019 3-AAAAA Defensive Player of the Year in Georgia started his career in Bloomington with the Hoosiers but was driven north by the smell of patchouli to the friendly confines of West Lafayette.

In 2021 he played a key role in the Boilermaker defense, playing in 12 games and starting 3. He accumulated 8 tackles, one pass breakup, and two quarterback hurries. Don’t be too disappointed with the seeming lack of production. His job in the defense is to eat interior blocks and push the pocket back into the quarterback’s face. He’s good at that job. He’ll have a better chance to make individual plays in the new defense that stresses creating one-on-one match-ups across the board.

Look for Lewis to play, and play a lot. I’m not sure if he starts over Cole Brevard, but either way, Purdue is set at nose tackle this season.