The Portal is open… again, expect Purdue to be active.
The Transfer Portal is once again open, for better or for worse, it is now a part of the college athletics landscape, and it does not appear that it is going anywhere any time soon.
Purdue lost a variety of talented players to the portal after Ryan Walters was canned, and probably would have even if he stuck around as top-tier football programs used Purdue as a Triple-AAA Affiliate, with Thieneman headed to Oregon and Max Klare now at Ohio State.
Sorry to bring that up.
Anyway, over the last couple of days, Purdue fans have seen several players enter the portal; most of that movement is the staff telling players it is time to move on, which a new staff can do.
Another portion of that is with scholarships for football expanding to 105, the idea of a walk-on is not really a thing anymore, so if you were a walk-on, there is a good chance they are looking to replace you now with a scholarship athlete from somewhere.
What does Purdue need? I think the answer is a lot, but, here are my personal top 5.
- Offensive Line – You can never have enough right? Who is the proven piece on the offensive line? Jalen St. John is maybe the only proven piece. Joey Tanona probably has the highest ceiling after transferring from Notre Dame and recovering from a severe car accident. Other than that, there are questions all over the place. Could Purdue grab a vet or two in the portal to solidify the OL?
- Wide Receiver – From everything I have read, it seems like the transfers they grabbed in December may have been swings and misses. Who is the number one of this group? It may be Jalil Hall, the 4-star wide receiver that the staff flipped from West Virginia last week.
- Quarterback – Young and unproven. That is the Purdue quarterback room. The veteran of the group, Bennett Meredith is unproven as well. Can one rise to the top? Perhaps, but if there is a proven veteran Purdue can grab from the portal, at any level of play, I do believe they should take a stab at him. They need someone who has played some snaps in live games.
- Defensive Line – Similar to the offensive line debate, who is proven here? You also need a plethora of able bodies in the trenches in general. Mo Omonode is coming off a back injury and there are questions if he will be able to play this season. Georgia transfer, CJ Madden seems to be the best of the bunch, he came to Purdue under Coach Walters. Can Chops Harkless make a step forward?
- Special Teams – Purdue’s lone proven Special Teamer, Nick Levy hit the portal this week. Now, they are unproven at Kicker, Punter and Long Snapper. Coach Shibest has his work cut out for him with the young group he is inheriting. Can they add veterans to this bunch with the expansion of scholarships? You have to at least try.