Purdue Football 2014 – Better, Worse or about the Same?

OFFENSE

It’s tough to imagine an offense any worse than what we watched last season. They had no rhythm, weren’t good at running or passing the ball…had an offensive line that looked overmatched…while play calling was predictable and vanilla. Thankfully, they showed a pulse in the final game of the season…sadly, that was against one of the worst defenses in the nation in IU.

After Rob Henry couldn’t make the offense go, Hazell and Shoop decided to start a true Freshman. I can’t say that it looked like he made a ton of gains during the season, but I do think he or Appleby (the second string QB) will both be better after another off season of understanding the system and getting bigger and stronger. Both QBs can throw the ball and both have a ton of potential…but at this point, that’s all they really have. Regardless of whom is the starter, massive improvement must happen as both tend to hold the ball too long; something they simply can’t afford to do with an inexperienced, shallow offensive line unit.

RBs should be a bright spot as two lightning fast players in Hunt and Mostert should see most of the carries. Mostert, if he’s solved his fumblitis looks to be the more complete back, while Hunt seems to resemble a slot receiver more than a B1G RB due to his slight size. 

The WRs are still an astoundingly-young group, but they’re pretty experienced. A few of the guys who were thrust into duty last season seemed to be in over their head versus the assassins of B1G defensive backfields. I’d expect growth…but honestly that unit needs to make a quantum leap in order for Purdue to be able to move the ball with rhythm and regularity.

The TEs are big, physical and athletic…but there are some question marks as to if Gabe Holmes will be available in the fall…If he is, he’ll be a starter and is a very tough guy to cover for a LB.

The offensive line needs a few of the incoming JuCos and Freshman to contribute immediately on the two deeps. Sadly, one of JuCo transfers, a highly-ranked player out of Sweden, will be serving a three game suspension due to playing on a club team overseas. David Hedelin is Purdue’s first player ever from Sweden…You can say a lot about Hazell and the staff, but they looked everywhere for recruits in the wake of the 1-win season. When MSU cooled on Hedelin due to the cloud of potential suspension, Hazell signed him late.

Purdue RB Raheem Mostert

DEFENSE

I went back and re-read my pre-season thoughts last year…At that point, I was excited about the front three (four). Well, Bruce Gaston was one of the reasons for my excitement. Gaston is gone and will probably be on an NFL roster. He couldn’t make that unit stingy, so I’m concerned with the front four this season.

They’ve got some good size in the front, but not a ton of experience. Outside of Ryan Russell, there’s really no one with significant experience. Russell is an interesting guy- He looks the part; big, tall, fast, strong, long arms…but doesn’t seem to have a consistent-enough motor to make a significant difference during a game. He needs to this year as it’s his Senior season. 

The LBs are thin on experience in the two-deeps…but will be anchored by three Seniors, Sean Robinson, Joe Gilliam and Jelani Phillips. Robinson is a lunch bucket player who works extremely hard each down, but lacks some lateral quickness that hurts him in pass coverage. Gilliam was highly-touted out of high school, but struggles with constancy. Phillips is another player with high potential that we’ve never seen it in full use. They’ll all need to play well and a lot as they two deeps are full of under experienced, undersized players.

The defensive backfield might be the strength of the defense with a bunch of players that are solid tacklers…but no true ball hawks are back there. Ricardo Allen, a four year starter, graduated and Junior, Anthony Brown steps into his place. But Brown played a lot last year due to a few of Allen’s injuries.  I don’t expect this DBackfield to be a bunch of game changers, but I do expect them to be solid.

This group will be better, much like the offense, because I can’t imagine them being at the bottom of the league again. Unlike the offense, there are quite a few multi-year starters on this side of the ball…I’m expecting some of that experience to become situational awareness.

Better, worse or about the same as last year?

If they don’t come out of the pre-conference schedule with at least double (2) of last year’s wins (1), this season might be another disaster. Five wins looks like a best-case scenario unless Purdue’s QB and RB have space and room to run the offense (which I’m not counting on)…But I’m predicting a 4-8 record.

I was a fan of the Darrell Hazell hire…still think he’s a good guy for the job. But, if they limp to another last place finish, he’ll have Purdue fans, including me, doubting that he is the guy.

Ryan Dowd of Boiled Sports provided the information for our Purdue Football 2014 Spring Wrap Up.  For more Purdue football information, commentary and analysis, you can follow Ryan and the guys at Boiled Sports on Twitter @BoiledSports.