Let’s pretend we live in a different world and college football teams have a free agent/trade deadline and it’s coming up at the end of the week. You can go after one position each on offense and defense.
Which positions are you trying to fill? I
Ledman:
To me on offense it’s obvious. Give me the best available offensive lineman. I want someone who can run block and pass block. I know that the lines are the hardest positions to build but getting an A+ offensive lineman would change everything this offense can do. I’m tired of seeing Ryan Browne running for his life and I’m tired of Devin Mockobee having no running lanes.
On defense it’s tough. Purdue could use help just about everywhere. I’m stuck between a great defensive lineman ala Ryan Kerrigan or a great cornerback like Ricardo Allen. I’ll go with the defensive lineman which would hopefully cascade to the other positions and make their lives easier.
Travis:
Offense – The interior line. It has been baaaaaaaaaaad so far. Ryan Browne’s elusiveness is what has kept it in the game the last two weeks, but he is constantly under pressure.
Defense – The same (interior line). Notre Dame just ran wild on us. Purdue has got to find a way to not give hup 200+ yards per game on the ground.
Ryan:
Interior offensive line and cornerback. Plain and simple. Against teams like Ball State and Southern Illinois, those positions can hold up ok, but we see that when Purdue plays teams in the upper echelon of college football, they really get exposed. Devin Mockobee has 24 rushes in the previous two games for 61 yards and Malachi Singleton was actually Purdue’s leading rusher against Notre Dame with 26 yards and that is because he found a few escape routes from the pocket. There is simply no push from the offensive line, but especially the interior and Purdue consistently is getting stuffed in the run game.
On the flip side of the ball, it’s clear to see that Purdue has been torched in the secondary, especially in the last two weeks. 505 combined yards to Jordan Maiava and CJ Carr on just 27 completions (18.7 yards per completion). They have allowed 10 (10!) passes of 20+ yards in two games and 4 of those went for 40+ yards. The rest of the season does not get much easier as Purdue still has to play against Luke Altmeyer, Bryce Underwood, Julian Sayin, Demond Williams Jr and Fernando Mendoza. Heck, even Drake Lindsey and Artur Kaliakmanis are no slouches.
My hope is that progress can be made in the bye week to scheme around Purdue’s flaws but scheme only gets you so far. In this fantasy world, Purdue would definitely need to bolster the interior line and cornerbacks to make this team more competitive. In the real world, I keep (half-heartedly) saying that Purdue should get some of the players from UCLA and Virginia Tech that are allowed to transfer after their head coaches got fired. I can’t imagine it would hurt.
Casey:
The right answer is probably QB because that’s football but Browne has been decent. Let’s give Purdue a dominant left tackle and hope there’s exponential gains everywhere on offense.
On the defensive side, a dominant edge. The secondary needs more work but Purdue is fun when it has a future NFL lineman on the roster. Also will improve secondary play by limiting QB’s time behind center.
Jed:
I think this is really much easier than many will make it out to be. Purdue clearly has a QB and skill players they can win games with but they are lacking the offensive line capable of opening holes and holding blocks on a consistent basis. With that said, a big time starting left offensive tackle would be incredibly beneficial. There is a reason those guys are valued so highly at the NFL level and the last time Purdue had a really, really good one was likely Kelly Butler.
On the defensive side of the ball, the low hanging fruit would be a shut down cornerback. I don’t think that’s the bigger problem for this defense and, honestly, wouldn’t solve the problems along the defensive line. A big defensive end that can blitz the quarterback would serve this defense well and allow those DB’s to not have to cover WR’s so long.
