Purdue Football: Will Boilermakers bounce back in 2020?

Defense looks to improve after youth-filled 2019

The Purdue Boilermakers were one of the Big Ten’s worst defenses in 2019.

The Boilermakers’ defense has had the same narrative in the past two seasons: young and/or injured. Whether it be the injury bug or the lack of experience, the Purdue defense has had plenty of struggles to go around at each position. But, with a fully healthy squad in 2020, Purdue should see a big improvement from a year ago.

Freshman All-American George Karlaftis was the breakout performer in 2019, and looks to have a repeat season, as he finished with 7.5 sacks, 17 tackles for loss and two fumble recovers in his first year at the collegiate level. He will play on the opposite side of senior Derrick Barnes who made the move from linebacker to defensive end in 2019 and had very similar numbers as Karlaftis.

With worries at the linebacker position, the Purdue defensive line will play a big role in 2020 and will need these two to keep their production where it was a year ago.

The secondary is the most experienced on the Purdue defense, and are led by corners Cory Trice and Dedrick Mackey who both recorded three interceptions in 2019. Trice is a big corner and has the ability to compete with the conference’s best wide receivers, and given the Boilermakers’ schedule, they are going to need him to have a breakout season.

And while there are plenty of names that will be tossed around and rotated at the safety position, the Boilermakers have plenty of experience to help defend against the pass.