Purdue Football: Boilermakers’ 2018 season preview, prediction
Offense
Purdue’s offense, surprisingly, wasn’t their strong suit in 2017. The unit averaged just 25.2 points per game, good enough for 91st in the country. Those struggles last year is the bad news. The good news is everything else for this offense.
Both of Purdue’s starting quarterbacks last season, David Blough and Elijah Sindelar are back for 2018. Freshman Jack Plummer joins redshirt freshman Nick Sipe as contenders for the job as well. This will be one of the most interesting parts of this team, and we’ll talk more on it in a bit.
At running back, Markell Jones, DJ Knox, Richie Worship and Tario Fuller are all back, and will likely be used as a committee again this season. They’re joined by Georgia three-star Evan Anderson, though I expect he’ll redshirt this season.
Wide receiver is slowly becoming a strength for Purdue. While they lose Gregory Phillips and Anthony Mahoungou, leading receiver Jackson Anthrop is back. He’s joined by contributors like Terry Wright, Jared Sparks, Jarrett Burgess, and tight ends Brycen Hopkins and Cole Herdman.
The most exciting receivers on the roster aren’t yet on campus, though. Four-star slot receiver Rondale Moore will contribute immediately, as will three-stars Kory Taylor and Amad Anderson. Anderson is already on campus, and reportedly turning heads.
On the line, left tackle Eric Swingler, grad transfer Shane Evans, Kirk Barron, Matt McCann and grad transfer Ethan Smart all have at least some experience. Their depth is still pretty bad, but the starters should be just fine.
Quarterback battle
The most interesting storyline for this offense is definitely the quarterback battle. Sindelar is probably the leader, as he took the majority of snaps in 2017, but Blough looked very good when he played. Sindelar is the bigger of the two, and has a much better arm, but Blough is more mobile, and more accurate on quick passes.
Redshirt freshman Nick Sipe sat out in 2017, but may be a great combination of the two starters last year. He’s got a good arm, and he’s fairly accurate, but he’s not as strong as Sindelar or as accurate as Blough. If Brohm wants a balanced attack, Sipe may get the nod.
Three-star early enrollee Jack Plummer may throw a wrench into all of this. He was hand-picked by Brohm as the kind of quarterback he wants for this offense. He lit up defenses in high school last year, and has an absolute cannon for an arm. If he can learn Brohm’s offense quickly, they’ll certainly find a way to get him on the field.