Coach Odom hasn’t provided much information in terms of depth charts and injury reports through the first two non-conference games. The opening of Big10 play necessitates the first official Purdue injury report of the season (shout-out to sports gambling, I guess).
Out
DB/NB – Mister Clark
TE – Kylan Fox (season ending injury)
DB – Raderrion Daniels (season ending injury)
Questionable
* Definition: It is uncertain if the player will participate
DE/Edge – Elo Modozie
Doubtful
* Definition: It is unlikely the player will participate
LT – Joey Tanona
Thoughts
The only new name from last week is Elo Modozie. I was surprised by Modozie’s lack of snaps against Wake, but it makes sense now. In theory, he’s one of Purdue’s best edge rushers, but there’s enough depth at the position, especially with the emergence of Jeremy Lewis last week, for the coaching staff to be selective in using Modozie. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him sit this one out in hopes that he gets healthy heading into the Notre Dame game. In fact, I wouldn’t be shocked if we don’t see Elo until the Illinois game after the off week.
I get the feeling Tanona is another guy they’re hoping recovers in time for Illinois. Back-up left tackle Nuku Mafi is playing well enough that it doesn’t make sense to rush Tanona back into action until he’s 100%, because he needs to be close to 100% to be better than Mafi. I’d be shocked if he made his debut in Los Angeles on Saturday.
I was hoping Mister Clark would be ready to go this week after playing well in the opener, but he’s listed as “out” once again. He would have been on the field at the end of the Wake game instead of a true freshman. Smiley Bradford is a quality starter, but Purdue goes from 6 deep to 5 deep in the secondary, which makes running a 6 defensive back package difficult.
I find the players not on the injury report more interesting than those listed. To me, it looked like offensive lineman Brock Brownfield injured himself in the 3rd quarter of the Indiana State game and failed in his attempt to give it a go last week, with Marques Easley taking over at right guard during the second offensive drive. The true freshman is expected to play on Saturday; the question is, how much?
The same applies to George Burhenn. He was supposedly “on a pitch count” against Wake, and that pitch amounted to less than a half-inning of work. I like the idea that if he was available, the red zone offense wouldn’t have looked as rough, but that’s mostly me trying to cope with the abomination that is Purdue’s red zone offense, at least when it comes to scoring touchdowns. Hopefully the senior tight end can play more than a handful of snaps against the Bruins. He’s Purdue’s best downfield receiver when he’s healthy, but “when he’s healthy” is doing a ton of work in that sentence.
The Boilermakers are in decent shape heading into their West Coast trip. Tanona and Clark would be extremely useful, but Purdue has decent options playing in their place. This is about as close to full strength as a team can expect to be heading into the 3rd game of the season.
