Purdue Announces 2023 Redshirt Class

[BabaYaga]

WEST LAFAYETTE -- Today, the Purdue Boilermakers staff announced their finalized redshirt class with a statement by Coach @BabaYaga.

We have a great 2023 class that arrived on campus a few months ago. They have all worked hard and many of them will be key contributors in their careers. Some will even very likely be four year starters for us. We wanted to get our redshirts out of the way early this season so our new guys could settle in and focus on their practice, development, and school work without having to prepare for games and take their attention off of what we really need from them. We decided to redshirt a full 15 this season which I will announce shortly. I will also take questions if there are any after the announcement about our choices and decisions.

2023 Redshirts

ILB Nick Pino - SR - B+ overall - 3 star
CB David Smith - SO - B overall - 4 star
DE Hector Galvan - FR - B overall - 5 star
QB Edward Laakso - FR - B overall - 5 star
DE Bryce Speer - FR - B overall - 5 star
DT Sam Chaplin - FR - B overall - 4 star
WR James Harris - FR - C overall - 4 star
C William Tibbs - FR - C overall - 4 star
ILB Brandon Stevens - FR - C overall - 4 star
FS Christopher Tubbs - FR - C overall - 4 star
WR Cameron Green - FR - C overall - 4 star
QB Max Benson - FR - C overall - 4 star
RB Louis Fink - FR - C overall - 4 star
WR James Reinhard - FR - C overall - 4 star
P Mohammad Roberts - FR - C overall - 4 star

[tsweezy]

Coach, Laasko got some spring game starts, but both he and Benson are getting redshirted. Why? Also, who’s backup now?

[BabaYaga]

2 hours ago, tsweezy said:

Coach, Laasko got some spring game starts, but both he and Benson are getting redshirted. Why? Also, who’s backup now?

Great question. We had the starting QB spot open for the entirety of spring practice. We felt like we would give the job to whomever performed the best in the two spring games that we had. 

Laakso was 12/51 for 68 yards in his spring start and didn't lead the team on any TD drives. Ankou was 21/39 for 194 yards, threw two touchdowns, and led his team to the win.

Those two games showed us quickly who was ready and who was not, especially with Ankou performing the best against the best team. If you look at the underlying grades, Ankou is a B throw power, B throw accuracy...whereas Laakso is a C in each category. We want him to improve as a passer before throwing him on the field. We felt like starting him this season would stunt his growth.

Benson just started playing football and is very raw still. With a F throw power and D throw accuracy, he would not have made the depth chart. We had a chat with him and were in agreement that a redshirt would be best for him this year. 

Our backup QB will be sophomore Kyle Cain. We are very high on him as he has a B throw power and a C+ throw accuracy and is B- overall. We are confident in him to come in and provide good snaps if need be.