Coach Odom has been a busy man.
Coach Odom has added 27 players from the Transfer Portal in the past 30 days. 27!
There is going to be a learning curve every off-season to learn the new players in this era in college football, but with the 27 portal players and the incoming high school class, it is going to be quite the challenge for Purdue Fans to learn more than half of a whole roster.
Maybe just try to remember the starters this fall?
At the minimum, it is fun to see players come and go, whether we like it or not, and it does truly build anticipation through the off-season.
He has added players to every position on this team, maybe besides kicker.
Let’s break it down by position.
Quarterback (3)
- Malachi Singleton – Arkansas
- EJ Colson – UCF
- Evans Chuba – Washington State
The oldest of the group is Singleton, who will be just a redshirt sophomore, the other two will come to Purdue as Redshirt Freshmen. They will join a quarterback room of Bennett Meredith and Garyt Odom, none of the quarterbacks on roster took a snap for Purdue last season, Meredith was on the roster, but was slated as the 4th string quarterback, heck there is a chance he could leave in the April Portal Opening.
Running Back (1)
- Malachi Thomas – Va Tech
The veteran back will make his way west from Va Tech, where he played in 38 games. He has over 1,100 career rushing yards for the Hokies and will provide a substantial punch next to Devin Mockobee.
Fullback/Tight End (3)
- Christian Moore – UNLV
- Christian Earls – UNLV
- Luca Puccinelli – Wake Forest
Moore serves more as a true fullback/H-back and was recognized as one of the best in the country last season. Earls is 6-8, 290 pounds and is closer to an extra lineman than a Tight End, but alas, he will wear a number in the 80s and can catch the ball if need be. Those two may be the point of attack on a lot of the run plays. Luca is a redshirt freshman but has nice size a 6-5, 250 pounds.
Offensive Line (4)
- Jalen St. John – UNLV
- Hank Purvis – UNLV
- Mason Vicari – UNLV
- Giordano Vaccaro – University of Manitoba
I think it is feasible to lock St. John and Vaccaro in as starters. Vaccaro was named as one of the offensive linemen of the year in Canada last season and will make his way to the States for some P4 Football. St. John was All-Mountain West last season and should be penciled in at LT.
Purvis and Vicari are young but are massive humans who feasibly have a shot at the offensive guard spots.
Defensive Line (2)
- Breeon Ishmail – Michigan
- CJ Nunnally – Akron
Adding true 4-3 rush ends is a major benefit, Ishmail is young but talented. Nunnally is a proven commodity coming from the MAC. He was a 2x All-MAC player and will make an immediate impact. I do think Purdue needs to get some beef on the interior DL. A lot of that left and the returning IDL is young.
Linebacker (3):
- Carson Dean – Arkansas
- Alex Sanford – Arkansas
- Mani Powell – UNLV
You may be reading the names of the three starting linebackers in the 4-3 defense. Mani Powell had a great season for UNLV last fall. Sanford was the Special Teams Captain at Arkansas and can make the next step as a starting linebacker. Dean is a thumper and could find PT fast.
Defensive Backs (5)
- Tony Grimes – UNLV
- Tahj Ra-El – Memphis
- Richard Toney – TCU
- Ryan Turner – Boston College
- Crew Wakley – BYU
This is easily the best group of transfers from the portal thus far. Grimes has been a lot of players and the former 5-star has produced everywhere he has been. Ra-El was productive at Old Dominion before his short stint at Memphis. Wakley is a proven safety from a disciplined program at BYU and Turner was a former 4-star prospect.
Purdue lost a lot of defensive backs to the portal when Walters left and these guys will have immediate roles.
Specialists (1)
- Sam Dubwig – Arkansas
Crimmins is gone. Dubwig is on. He is only a Redshirt Freshman, but in HS he averaged 47 yards per punt.