Deep Dive Practice No. 11

It’s informative, it’s analytical, it’s opinionated, it’s the Deep Dive, a look at today’s football practice.

• Purdue worked on a lot in its live scrimmage situation: Goal line, normal downs, coming out from the goal line, third and a fourth down period, kicking.

• There is no way to sugar coat it: The offense struggled during today’s scrimmage inside Mollenkopf Athletic Center on a wet, cool Saturday. Most of that was due to a lack of production from the QB spot. As I have said, I would be shocked if any of the current quarterbacks is the starter Week One vs. Ball State on Aug. 30. Stay tuned. Let’s see how this unfolds.

“I think our quarterback is here,” said Odom. “And then, who knows, what’s going to happen when the (portal) window opens up? We’ll lose some, we’ll gain some. And if we happen to lose somebody, then it’s our charge as a staff, somehow, someway, we got to upgrade and find a way.

“There’s a lot of really good players here, and there’s a lot of good players out there that would fit into who we are program-wise and what we’re going to go do. So, I want them all to stay, and then we’ll see what that looks like.”

• On this day, QBs Malachi Singleton, EJ Colson, Evans Chuba and Bennett Meredith each had ample opportunity with the first-, second- and third-teams. (Garyt Odom also got a series along with walk-on Jake Wilson.)

Who was the best on this day? I think it was Meredith, who engineered the best drives and threw the ball the best. The former Arizona State Sun Devil–who started for Purdue at Northwestern in 2023–has a command and confidence the others lack. At 21, he is the oldest signal-caller on the offense. And it showed today.

“I think it’s a little bit unfair to all the quarterbacks in some of those situations that some of the quarterback run game, were they down?” said Odom. “Were they knocked down? Could they break out, scramble and make some things happen? You never can be right on. The defense was mad it wasn’t called a sack. The offense was mad it was called a sack. So, all I know is, I want those guys healthy when we start fall camp.”

• RB Devin Mockobee had one of the plays of the day, taking a short pass 70-plus yards to paydirt. Vintage Mockobee. He didn’t see much action after that. Fellow RB Jaheim Merriweather also made a nice play, dashing 50-plus yards for a TD. Antonio Harris has some nice runs, too. Lamar Conard seems to have a nice group.

• Purdue suffered a big blow on the first play of the day when TE George Burhenn was carted off the field with an injury. It didn’t look good. He arguably is the best/most talented player on the team. But Burhenn has been dogged by injury throughout his career.

“George has certainly had a great camp,” said Odom. “He’s got a great skill. Can do a lot of things.”

• Seemed like the defense had a day. The unit brought a bunch of pressure, and it looked like the pressure got home often as there were myriad plays blown dead by “touch sacks.”

• WR Chauncey Magwood was not dressed as he deals with a foot injury. He may be done for the spring. Too bad, as the UCF transfer had been one of the team’s better wideouts.

• DT  TJ Lindsey had a sack and looked good. S Ty Hudkins made a bunch of plays and made the hit of the day when he laid out WR Tra’Mar Harris. All of the LBs made plays while bringing pressure and had a number of tackles for loss and sacks. Mani Powell is a keeper, as is Alex Sanford.

• It goes without saying: The o-line struggled. There wasn’t a consistent push, and pass protection was leaky. As mentioned on these pages, Purdue will hit the portal hard for o-linemen … maybe as many as 5-6, if quality ones can be imported. QBs were scrambling and getting sacked.

• Let’s all say it together: There is work to do. A lot of work to do.

• Spencer Porath showed a nice leg from 40-plus yards. Maybe this will be his year. I still expect Purdue to bring in a portal kicker.

• Purdue iconic hoops coach Gene Keady watched practice! Also on hand: The voice of Purdue football Tim Newton and radio sideline analyst Kelly Kitchel. And the great Mike Carmin re-lived old times as a Boilermaker football scribe by watching, too. Nobody questioned a coach/player better than “Carm,” who is also a dogged reporter.

Had the pleasure of having a 1958 NFL Draft pick/@BoilerBall coaching legend out at practice today. pic.twitter.com/ImeJ2tZaAA

— Purdue Football (@BoilerFootball) April 5, 2025

• Purdue will be back on the field on Tuesday for the final week of spring practice.

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