2023 Purdue Boilermakers Offensive Breakdown

[BabaYaga]

Prior to the season starting for me I wanted to take a look at my offensive depth chart to see where I'll be better, the same, or worse from last season. Along with a few notes on each position. I won't talk much about the freshmen, solely because I'll have a breakdown of my class sometime in the next week or so.

Quarterback

Starter: Dominique Ankou - Pocket - (JR) - B+ overall - 2022 Stats: DNP
Backup: Kyle Cain - Pocket - (SO) - B- overall - 2022 Stats: DNP

To put it lightly, the Purdue quarterback position was an abyss last season. The starter coming into the season was a 3 star B overall senior who had B throw power/accuracy. However, he was marred by a D football IQ which led to too many bad throws. Midway through the season, we switched to a 2 star senior who we hoped could use his legs a little more...while that was successful, it didn't lead to many wins. The quarterback spot threw more interceptions than touchdowns last year.

The position brings in a new starter for this year and is an improvement over last year. With a good showing this year, Ankou might have the job locked down for his senior season as well.

Running Back

Starter: Mike Bates - Balanced - SR - A overall - 2022 stats: 128 attempts, 429 yards, 4 TD's
Backup: Marcus Mattison - Speed - SR - B- overall - 2022 stats: DNP

This position last year was very good for us. Our senior FB had over 2000 yards rushing and Bates got some good run as RB #3. Bates improved a lot over the summer and we are excited to have him be on the field a lot for us this year. He is an A football IQ, A strength, and A- speed back so we will feature him in a multitude of ways. We don't expect him to replicate the success that Logan had last season, but we expect him to be a bit more versatile. Mattison is a guy who grinds his tail off and is going to be our backup this season. He's a nice change of pace back for us.

This position also has a new starter this year and is a big improvement over last year. I am cautiously optimistic that Bates will have a solid season this year. I would expect him to clear 1,000 yards on the ground.

Tight End

Starter: Alex Wheaton - Receiving - SR - C+ overall - 2022 stats: DNP
Backup: Nicholas Roos - Blocking - JR - C overall - 2022 stats: DNP

Our tight end room last year was old as we had two guys graduate. One of them had 22 catches, which was 2nd on the team. It was a bad room last year and the top two guys both were seniors. It doesn't get any better this year, but it doesn't get any worse. Wheaton did made some improvements over the summer and should be a viable player on passing downs. Roos will be a solid blocker on running downs. We are just looking for this position to not lose us any games.

This position has two new players to the depth chart and they are the same overall as the two they are replacing. My tight end room was okay last year so I am hoping that they are okay to decent this year.

Wide Receiver

Starter: Marcus Dade (RB) - Receiving - (SO) - A- overall - 2022 stats: 21 catches, 331 yards
Backup: John Rosenthal - Route Runner - JR - B overall - 2022 stats: DNP
Backup: Greg Poggi - Possession - (JR) - B+ overall - 2022 stats: DNP
Backup: Edward Tepera - Route Runner - SR - B overall - 2022 stats: 13 catches, 177 yards

The Purdue wideout room is among the worst in college football. Last year the wideouts combined for 15 catches total. Yes, 15 total catches on the year and 13 of those are returning. Purdue trotted out a B/B-/C overall last year as their top three wideouts and moved Dade to the #1 WR spot midway through the season. Despite this room looking horrible once again, it is actually much improved as the top three wideouts have improved by almost three total letter grades. This year, we just want our wideouts to be able to catch the ball. That is all we ask. Honestly, between the three true WR's, I am hoping for 60 combined catches.

This position is terrible, but also maybe the most improved. We have some experienced players on the field for us this year but it needs to correlate to some solid games. Our receiver room is where our offense really breaks down. If this room was good, I would think we could reach a bowl with ease.

Offensive Line

LT Starter: Matt Lewis - Pass Blocking - (SO) - B overall - 2022 stats: DNP
LG Starter: Vontae Reid - Pass Blocking - SR - A- overall - 2022 stats: 0 pancakes
C Starter: Trayvon Wadley - Pass Blocking - SR - A overall - 2022 stats: N/A
RG Starter: Alex Sullivan - Run Blocking - (SO) - B overall - 2022 stats: DNP
RT Starter: Jacquies Mathis - Run Blocking - SR - A- overall - 2022 stats: 21 pancakes

The Purdue offensive line should once again be solid. We have a nice mix of experience and youth on the line this season. All three of the seniors have been multi-year starters while the two sophomores who earned starting spots should button them down for the next three years. This line does get a little worse from last year but not by much. Overall, it is worse by half a letter grade but there is a ton of depth over the next few years ready to step in.

This position is solid. It is probably the best position group on the offense for Purdue. The left side of the line should protect the blindside well while the running backs will have huge holes on the right side to run through.

 

Overall Purdue Offense

Returning Starters: 3/11 spots (LG, C, RT)
New Starters: 8/11 spots (QB, RB, TE, WR1, WR2, WR3, LT, RG)

Starters by Year
SR - 6 
JR - 3
SO - 3 

Returning Depth Chart Members
QB: 1/3
RB: 0/3
TE: 1/3
WR: 4/7
OL: 6/10

Total New Players on the Offensive DC
14 new, 12 returning

Looking at the above numbers, there was a lot of turnover from last year to this year, which isn't a bad thing. There is going to be more turnover from this year to next year as well. I have six seniors starting, and three of them will be tough to replace immediately. However, they have some good young talent behind them fighting for their spot next year. I have no one who will contribute offensively that I have recruited barring injuries.