Purdue wrapped up their spring camp on March 19th, where the program is coming off a 2-4 record in the pandemic shortened 2020 season. Head coach Jeff Brohm, in evaluating the program after the season, decided to make a change on defense bringing in new defensive coordinator Brad Lambert to replace former coordinator Bob Diaco.
As part of our Spring Series, we are going to take a look at the Purdue defense and some questions Brohm and his staff had to begin addressing this spring. We will begin with a more holistic view of the unit before diving into areas and players of focus.
New Guy In Charge
As mentioned above, Brohm has brought in Brad Lambert as the new defensive coordinator heading into 2021. Lambert is taking over a defensive unit that finished 56th in the nation in total defense, giving up an average of 399 yards a game, while also finishing 67th in scoring defense giving up an average of 29.83 points per game.
Lambert had spent the past two years as defensive coordinator for the Marshall Thundering Herd, where last year’s team finished 1st in the nation in scoring defense and 2nd in total defense, giving up 13 points per game and 279.4 yards per game respectively.
Don’t expect Lambert to produce the same results at Purdue that he did at Marshall, but one area that Purdue might see improvement that could make a significant impact is third down conversions.
Last season Marshall finished 21st in the country on third down conversions, giving up 34.5 percent of attempted tries. Purdue on the other hand finished 93rd out of 127 teams, giving up 43.7 percent of third down conversions to the opposition.
Brohm has talked this spring of wanting his defense to be more aggressive as a unit overall, which may be an indicator to Boilermaker fans that Purdue plans on ramping up the pressure on opposing offenses, especially in important situations like third downs.
Stepping Up On The Line
Purdue will be entering the 2021 season looking to replace defensive tackle Lorenzo Neal, who decided to enter the NFL draft instead of returning under the waiver the NCAA granted all players concerning the pandemic year. Neal, who according to Pro Football Focus was the Boilermakers’ highest graded defender at a defensive rating of 74.7, will be the biggest piece this defense needs to replace.
Fifth year senior Anthony Watts and junior Branson Deen will be the two likely candidates to mitigate any loss on the interior of the line with Neal gone, but junior Lawrence Johnson should also be ready for more playing time after spending last year as the fourth option in the rotation of the line.
On the edge of the line, Purdue needs to find players who can disrupt the passing game for opponents through sacks or pressures. The Boilermakers’ leading pass rusher, George Karlaftis, returns this year but only had two sacks in after a injury-filled 2020. Purdue will most likely be looking to Karlaftis to raise his game and hopefully remain healthy so he can provide more of a threat on the edge while attempting to find someone on the other side to assist with the pass rush.
One option may very well be senior DaMarcus Mitchell, who operates at both the linebacker and edge positions. It’s possible that Lambert will move Mitchell to the edge and not utilize him at linebacker as much in hopes of generating that pass rush Purdue needs.
A dark horse candidate for playing time on the edge could be sophomore Sulaiman Kpaka, who was the only other player besides Neal on Purdue’s roster to have a PFF grade on defense over 70. Still, he only saw 19 snaps last year so the sample size is very small, but if the PFF grades are accurate they could point to a player who could find the field more with his play.
Newcomers Ready To Roll
With the transfer portal becoming a more prominent tool in college football, roster building has become a potentially easier tasks for coaches and staff across the country. That is no different at Purdue.
Jeff Brohm and his staff have brought in five transfers this off-season, two of which could see significant playing time for the Boilermakers in 2021.
At cornerback, Purdue brought in senior CJ McWilliams who transferred from Florida. With the Gators, McWilliams saw playing time mostly in the slot as his slight frame allowed him to better match-up with the quicker inside receivers. At Purdue, he will have a chance to secure a starting spot in the secondary under Lambert’s new scheme.
Purdue also managed to secure the transfer of former 4-star defensive lineman Joseph Anderson, where the sophomore will compete with others on the roster for playing time on the line. If Anderson can prove in the practices after spring he is the best option after Karlaftis for generating pressure, he should see plenty of time on the field this fall, perhaps allowing Lambert to use DaMarcus Mitchell in other ways and making the defense more versatile.
And speaking of Karlaftis, the true freshman and 4-star linebacker Yanni Karlaftis could press for time if he shows between now and fall to have grasped the new defense installed by Lambert.
Having an athletic though young linebacker in Yanni roaming the field his freshman season might be ideal for Brohm and the Boilermakers, as they can get any learning curves out of the way and pave the path to the next few years of an impact player at linebacker.