Final Thoughts Spring Game

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Took one last look at Purdue’s spring game from Saturday, sharing some final observations upon further review before the long march to camp in August.

• Hype builds for Georgia transfer CB Nyland Green. At 6-1, he certainly looks the part of a top cornerback. Didn’t get to see much of him. Will he be the best portal addition?

• Yanni Karlaftis is moving well at 6-3, 235. He looks to be settling into the ILB role. He was moved around under Jeff Brohm, going from LB to DE to LB. Karlaftis had a desire to play up front but lacked the bulk. He made some plays Saturday on the blitz.

• Early returns on Kydran Jenkins moving from rush end to ILB look good. He will move around and still come off the edge on passing downs. Jenkins is, in coaching parlance, a “football player.” I think it helped to retain Jenkins by letting him make this move to a position he has a shot to play in the NFL.

• Interesting that Marcos Davila was the first QB to come out with the No. 2 offense. Don’t want to read too much into spring games, but … He had a beautiful 40-yard connection to fellow freshman WR Tra’Mar Harris, who flashes. At 6-3, 230, Davila is a big dude. Bottom line: Gotta think he will be the backup QB this fall, grooming him to be QB1 in 2025. He spent time with No. 1 offense in the second half.

• Davila and Ryan Browne took turns running the No. 2 offense into the second half. What’s that mean for Bennett Meredith, an Arizona State transfer who came to Purdue last year? He didn’t play until the second drive of the second half and played just two series overall. Meredith started the Northwestern game in 2023 when Hudson Card was hurt. Browne got time with the No. 1 offense in the second half; Meredith got no snaps with No. 1 unit. Walk-on Christian Gelov came on late in the third quarter for a series before Meredith re-entered; fellow walk-on QB Jake Wilson got a series late, hitting Ryne Shackleford with a TD pass.

• Added 27 players mid-year. That’s a lot of new faces.

• Nice pick-six by rush end Will Heldt, a 6-6 pterodactyl. He dropped into coverage, read Davila’s eyes and used his long arms to snag the pass and race to pay dirt. Heldt is gonna be so good.

• How good will S Dillon Thieneman be? Probably will just be in WL for two more seasons and then turn pro. Should be a captain this year. Who could be the other captains in 2024? Jenkins? Card? Devin Mockobee? Gus Hartwig?

• Love the way Card moves, extends plays and makes something out of nothing. Very good athlete. He looks confident, has command of this attack in Year Two in West Lafayette. I know he’s tough and well-liked. And Card’s arm is a cut-above. He will need to have an excellent year. This is his time, his team.

. Christian Womack flashed a bit after dealing with a hamstring injury most of this spring. Now, he’s in the portal. Who is the No. 3 RB? Is it true freshman Jaheim Merriweather, who had a nice blitz pickup in the first half on Winston Berglund and long run? Can walk-on Elijah Jackson forge a role behind Mockobee and Reggie Love? Purdue may shop for a portal RB.

• The 2024 schedule was discussed. It may be the biggest story of the season. Can Purdue start 2-1 with Indiana State, Notre Dame and at Oregon State? Big Ten play begins with Nebraska, at Wisconsin and at Illinois. Can Purdue go 2-1 in that stretch? The back half of the slate starts with Oregon, Northwestern and at Ohio State. Looks like 1-2 is likely. The menu finished with Penn State, at MSU and at IU. Purdue could go 2-1 there. So, 7-5 may be best-case scenario?

• Gonna be a lot of talk about the speed of Georgia WR CJ Smith. Eager to see him uncorked.

• WR Jahmal Edrine. Know the name. Best player who didn’t play Saturday. He will be WR1 in 2024; he likely would have been WR1 in 2023 had he not suffered a season-ending ACL injury in camp. Edrine is a big, physical target from Florida Atlantic.

• Can Antonio Stevens replace Sanoussi Kane? I like his chances. Some on Brohm’s staff thought Stevens may never play again after he suffered a gruesome knee injury vs. Nebraska in 2020. Yet, here is Stevens, primed to start at safety in 2024.

• Looks like Jalen Grant is the No. 2 center. But, Salsa Johnson was out with injury Saturday. Still, I wouldn’t be shocked if Grant is the backup to Hartwig. Grant is a bit undersized after starting at guard in 2023 following his transfer from Bowling Green.

• RB Jaheim Merriweather looks the part. Wow. You don’t see 6-2 RBs that often. Fluid. He had a 40-yard TD run called back. Can he forge a role in 2024 as a true frosh?

• TE Max Klare was targeted often. He needed to take a big role Saturday with fellow TEs Drew Biber and George Burhenn out recovering from injury. Ben Furtney saw some action. He’s a valuable walk-on who can play TE and FB.

• CB Botros Alisandro likes to hit, and he’s a player coaches like. He had a nice hit early on. A key special teams demon, maybe the team’s best special teammer.

• Gonna be fun to watch rush end Jireh Ojata, a transfer from D3 Franklin College. At 6-4, 260, he looks the part. He had a nice day as one of three portal rush ends the program has added. Ojata is an easy guy to root for. Purdue also imported two other portal rush ends: CJ Madden and Shittah Sillah. Madden figures to start opposite Heldt.

• Nice pick late in the game by CB Derrick Rogers, who has a bright future. He got to campus as a wideout before flipping to CB in 2023. Full of swagger and confidence, needed in a scheme that asks its CBs to play a lot of press-man. Gotta believe in yourself. I like the CB room with Green, Markevious Brown, Alisandro and Rogers.

• DB Ethon Cole played. He was in the portal by Tuesday. The upcoming arrival of touted safeties Koy Beasley and Luke Williams probably squeezed out Cole, who was hurt in 2023 as a true freshman.

• A reminder on key players who sat at Saturday: Edrine, OL Luke Griffin, OL Rod Green, Burhenn, Biber, WR Kam Brown, OL Marcus Mbow and OL Joey Tanona.