It’s time for Purdue to reassess and build around what they do well on offense (yes, there is something).
I can’t say I was shocked when word spread of Graham Harrell’s imminent departure, but I was mildly surprised. In season coaching changes are rare, but Coach Walters wasn’t happy with the offense, and for good reason. It’s one thing for an offense to struggle, it’s another for it to bring the entire team down, and that’s what was happening.
I’m not here to talk about why Graham Harrell was fired, or even if he should have been fired. He’s gone and offensive analyst has the controller. Instead of worrying about why it didn’t work, I’d rather talk about how it could work moving forward.
Jason Simmons, an offensive analyst currently on staff, will take over as the main player caller for the duration of the season. Last season Simmons was the running backs coach at UM (Ohio), helping the Red Hawks rush for over 2,000 yards for the first time since 2003. In addition to coaching at UM, Simmons has an extensive high school coaching resume in Indiana including a four year stint at Ben Davis High School from 2019-2021 that that included 4 trips to the high school football Final 4.
I thought Simmons was an interesting hire this off-season. It’s rare for a coach to leave an on-field job for an analyst job, but his ties to Indiana high school football made him an attractive target for Coach Walters.
It’s nice to have Big 10 money sometimes.
Now Coach Simmons moves over a few spots in the booth in an attempt to coax something productive out of an offensive that’s proven to be extremely stingy in the point production category.
Here’s how I would go about things (for the absolute nothing that it’s worth):
Step 1 – Who Are My Best Play-makers?
I don’t care how the system is supposed to work. Throw the system in the trash, identify the best players on the offense and then put together a set of plays that utilizes their strength. As I see it, these are Purdue’ best 5 play-makers:
- Devin Mockobee
- Max Klare
- Reggie Love II
- Jaron Tibbs
- Leland Smith or De’Nylon Morrissette
At some point this season, Jahmal Edrine and C.J. Smith could return, and that might shake things up a little, but at the moment, Purdue’s best offensive players, by a wide margin are two running-backs and a tight end. If I’m a new offensive coordinator given both an incredible opportunity and an incredible challenge, I’m starting with those three and building out.
That means fewer three wide receiver looks (otherwise known as 11 personnel) and more 21 (2 running backs and 1 tight end) or even 22 (2 running backs and 2 tight ends) personnel groupings moving forward. I see little reason to have wide receivers working on their cardio when Card isn’t getting them the ball. If Purdue wants to play to the strength of their current roster, instead of trying to play to the strength of the roster they thought they were going to have in fall camp, it needs to include a heavy dose of Mockobee, Love III, and Klare. If a receiver steps up, great, Simmons can add a couple extra pages to the playbook, but hoping a receiver steps up is one of the main reasons Graham Harrell will be getting paid an exorbitant amount of money to not coach football this fall.
Step 2 – What Can My Quarterback Do?
Something has to change with Hudson Card. He doesn’t trust his receivers, and subsequently, he spends a good bit of his time pumping throws and then assuming the fetal position as the rush envelopes him. The offense line has in no means covered themselves in glory, but Card’s steadfast refusal to throw the ball on rhythm to anyone not named Max Klare is sandbagging the offense.
It’s too late to build trust at this point. Maybe something changes if/when Smith and Edrine return, but at this point, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of madness.
While Card struggles at times with his footwork in the pocket, he’s better when he gets out on the edge into clean air. I think you’re going to see Purdue move away from the drop back passing and towards a more R.P.O. approach that involves Card actually making reads in the run game and pulling the ball on occasion. I listed Purdue’s 5 best play-makers, but maybe I should have listed Card 4th after Klare?
What Hudson can do is run the ball, snap off quick passes out of the R.P.O. game, and put the defense in a bind when he gets on the edge. Purdue’s most explosive play of the game against Nebraska involved Card making a play with his arm outside the pocket. It was called back on an inconsequential (to the play) holding penalty, but for a split second, it looked like Purdue was going to have an explosive play on offense.
Step 2 – Can I Move Anyone Without Changing Scheme?
Maybe Corey Stewart is hurt, but he doesn’t look like the left tackle Purdue thought they were getting when they picked him up in the portal. The good news is that left guard Mahamane Moussa played left tackle last season. I see Moussa moving back to left tackle as a potential positive for the Boilermakers if they move to a more run based attack. Stewart, in theory, is the better pass blocker, but that hasn’t helped anything.
A change at tackle could help because the one play Purdue has found a modicum of success with is the outside zone run. I’ll cover it in an article later this week, but that’s where the back gets the carry, runs straight at the tackles rear-end on and angle, and then decides to either cut it inside or break it outside. Mockobee, in particular, looks explosive on the outside zone.
Moving Moussa back to left tackle would leave a hole at left guard, but Jalen Grant started every game this season before being moved to the bench this season. He’s not great, but he’s serviceable, and that’s what you need from your guards in outside zone.
Step 3 – What Can I Add Without Overloading the Players?
Adding too much is a recipe for disaster. This isn’t Madden, the guys need to rep plays in practice, and there is only so much time to put a game plan together and install new plays in one week. That doesn’t mean there isn’t room to tinker though
One way to “add” something to the offense is to take what you already do well and expand it. As I mentioned above, the only thing that’s looked functional this season was the outside zone against Oregon State. One way to expand the outside zone package is to bring back more actual zone read plays. It’s time to stop pretending like Card is going to turn into a pocket passer, especially considering the state of the offensive line and receiving corps. If Purdue wants to run the ball more, he’s going to have to start running the ball with conviction and stop looking for a place to fall down as soon as he gets in the open field.
I also see a scenario where backup quarterback Ryan Browne gets a package of plays. He looked decent in the quarterback run game last season against Northwestern and could provide a spark. At this point, I’m willing to try anything and a change up at quarterback is always fun. I don’t like playing two quarterbacks, but Card and Browne are different enough in skill set that you can get away with it. It couldn’t be any worse than watching Card drop back, pump the ball, pull it down, and fetal as he’s enveloped by the rush.
In Conclusion
I’ll have more specific changes I’d like to see late in the week, but I feel like this is a decent starting point. I don’t expect Simmons to change the system, but I do see a few places where Purdue can go from Awful to Bad on offense.
Purdue needs to focus on what they do well, and not what they want to do well. This team’s “strength” is the run game. It’s up to Simmons to figure out how they can be more efficient and consistent in that area. If that happens, then the passing game should start to open up, especially if reinforcement arrive from Purdue’s standing room only injury tent.
I have no idea if any of this will help, but it certainly couldn’t hurt.
Y’all stay safe out there. I’ll be back later with some film stuff.