[2024] Purdue Free Safety Room Breakdown

[BabaYaga]

The Purdue free safety room is solid with a good short term plan and a definite long term plan in place as well. Purdue has not recruited the safety spot well but has a four year plan for the position of free safety. Below, we will take a look at who could be in line to start as we head into the spring, the projected starters right now, and a look at the depth that Purdue has in the room. Purdue has five FS's on the roster and one of them is a blue chip prospect. The blue chip is a freshman.

Returning Players
Jeremy Elflein - 2* (SR) - B
Akeem Bailey - 3* (JR) - A
Daniel Giles - 3* SO - C
Christopher Tubbs - 4* (FR) - B

Incoming Players
Michael Lyles - 3* FR - C

2023 Season Stats
Bailey - 54 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 INT
Elflein - 4 tackles

Purdue FS Room Breakdown

Projected starter: Akeem Bailey - Bailey has had the starting job locked up since he was a freshman and that trend is not stopping now. Bailey comes into the year as one of the best safeties in the Big Ten and will look to continue to wreck havoc on the backend of the field. Bailey is a very valuable piece to this room for Purdue and should have a huge year this year.

One to Watch: Christopher Tubbs - Tubbs is a redshirt freshman who Purdue brought in to be the heir in the free safety room. With how solid Bailey has been, I would expect that Tubbs will see starting action until his junior season but that does allow him to come along slowly. Look for Tubbs to get some snaps at strong safety as well.

Darkhorse: Jeremy Elflein - Elflein is a senior with quite a bit of potential. He was a rotational piece last year for this team and looks to be a rotational piece once again. He's good in coverage and I wouldn't be surprised to see him be the backup at free safety this year.

Redshirt Candidates: Michael Lyles - Lyles is a candidate for a redshirt this year although he might not use it just because he'll be needed on special teams. This is a guy who has quite a bit of upside and so Purdue will want to involve him early.

Notes on others:
Daniel Giles - Giles is still a bit away from providing much at the free safety spot. Giles could be a candidate to move over to strong safety this year.

Purdue FS Room Future Outlook
The FS room for Purdue has a good outlook. An A overall starting junior and a B overall freshman waiting in the wings. The will likely opt to move one guy over to strong safety but that is yet to be determined on who that will be. The free safety room might be the only position room on the team that will likely have an A starter for four years in a row. Look for Purdue to recruit some depth for this spot this year.