Purdue Football: Building For the Future – Volume 1

As we enter the home stretch of what has been both hope-inspiring and, depending on the week, frustrating season, I thought it would be interesting to project what Purdue football looks like in the not-so-distant future. Purdue’s roster took a Zach Edey step forward this season, but the bar was set low, possibly under the ground, given the 2025 roster. Improvement was inevitable. To paraphrase Clark Griswold, “Worse! How could things get any worse? Take a look around, we’re at the threshold of hell.” Even the most ardent Purdue critic has to agree that the Boilermakers have taken a step back from the threshold of the football damned, but not being one of the worst teams in Power 4 football seems like a lackluster goal. At this point, Purdue’s roster is still closer to the bottom of the Big 10 than the middle in terms of overall talent, but that should continue to improve with another season of recruiting and portal additions. The further this program gets from the Ryan Walters stink, the better.

As an English Major, my usual modus operandi is to only make claims I can support with evidence. You may not agree with the evidence I present, but I do my best to avoid the proverbial “hot take.” My opinion means next to nothing, and I may be giving myself more credit than I deserve. This post, however, will mostly be my opinion, and I don’t have as many facts as I’d like to back it up. Consider yourself forewarned. This is mostly for my entertainment.

Building a roster in the new era of college football

Based on what I’ve observed while writing about three different college football programs (Purdue, Kansas State, Clemson), I’ve come up with what I feel is the best way to build the roster at Purdue, or really, any school in Purdue’s tier of college football.

The best way to build a roster is to combine recruiting and player development with a judicious use of the transfer portal. I know, I know, you’re probably in shock after reading such incredible wisdom, but let me attempt to explain.

Recruiting

In the past, programs lived or died by their ability to pick which 17- and 18-year-old high school seniors would become high-level college football players. Coaches obviously looked for certain traits, but player evaluation and recruiting in general were more art than science. Sometimes you landed a Drew Brees, and sometimes you ended up with a Brandon Hance.

The advent of the recruiting websites put recruits in tiers that looked like this:

5* – Elite traits usually paired with elite high school production. These players should be ready to go straight out of the box. Purdue’s only 5* recruit in the last decade was George Karliftis.

4* – Elite traits and elite high school production, but something is missing. Rondale Moore and David Bell were both 4* recruits. Rondale was a 4* because of his size; Bell was a 4* because of his speed. Since you’re reading this on a Purdue blog, I assume you already know those limitations were overemphasized, given Moore’s game-breaking speed, quickness, and lower-body strength, and Bell’s ability to catch anything within his area code, regardless of the coverage. 4* players are expected to contribute within their first 2 seasons.

3* – This tier includes players with high-level production in high school but lacks the elite physical traits of 4* recruits coming into college. Markell Jones is a good example of a 3* player who put up video-game numbers in high school but didn’t have elite speed or agility. Occasionally, you find a hidden gem like Dylan Thieneman, but those are few and far between. This is the tier of player that makes up the bulk of Purdue’s roster.

2* or not ranked – This tier is where you get preferred walk-ons like Ethan Trent. They’ve got something the coaches like, but it’s tough to project them as being more than deep-depth or practice players. The obvious exception to this is Aiden O’Connell.

The “Blue-Chip Ratio” has been a fairly consistent dividing line between the haves and have-nots in college football since Bud Elliott introduced it in 2013. The basic idea is that teams with a blue-chip ratio of over 50% (more 4* and 5* recruits than 2* and 3* recruits) are legitimate national contenders, while teams below that threshold are basically the field. For a more in-depth breakdown of the blue-chip ratio, I found this BCS Football article to be an excellent resource (click here for the article).

Last season, Indiana broke the blue-chip ratio, which makes sense because Coach Cignetti focused on bringing in proven, productive players from the transfer portal, with little concern about their high school rankings. This is good news for Purdue, as the Boilermakers haven’t even flirted with a 50% blue-chip ratio since its inception.

Before the transfer portal, there was only one way forward: hoard as much high school talent as possible, then let the cream rise to the top. Now, there’s a second path to the upper echelon of college football: a mix of recruiting and the transfer portal.

Transfer Portal

Recruiting sites now hand out star ratings for portal players, but I have my own way of sorting transfers into tiers. For continuity, I’ll stick with the star-rating metric.

5* – P4 players named first- or second-team All-Conference. You know exactly what you’re getting from 5* transfers because you’ve seen them play at an elite level against other P4 players. The aforementioned Dylan Thieneman is the perfect example of a 5* transfer. Oregon knew what they were buying when they dropped the bag on Thieneman.

4* – P4 starters or elite G5 (I don’t know if G5 is still a thing, but I mean every team outside the Big 10, SEC, ACC, and Big 12) players. I consider an elite G5 player to be someone who was named first-team all-conference in their former conference. This is the tier that took Indiana from the outhouse to the penthouse.

3* – P4 reserves with experience or long term G5 starters. Like 3* recruits, this will be a mixed bag. You pay for certainty in the transfer portal. This tier of players has some experience, but either haven’t been able to break through and win the starting job at their previous school in the case of P4 players) or haven’t performed at an elite level at the G5 level but have significant experience and enough physical ability to compete at the P4 level. Fame Ijeboi is the best-case scenario for a P4 non-starter with some experience. A player like Mister Clark is a good example of a long-term G4 starter. These players have shown something at their previous school that warrants a closer look.

Wildcards – P4 players with little to no experience, players from outside the FBS, and bounce-back transfer portal players who were considered misses at their previous stops. These players are like lottery tickets. If you need them to perform, you’re in deep trouble, but every now and then, you might hit it big. Ryan Walters loved to gamble in this tier with players like C.J. Smith and Nyland Green from Georgia, who, in theory, were high-level players coming out of high school but, in practice, couldn’t get on the field for UGA. Current Boilermaker Travis Terrell is an example of a productive player from outside the FBS who is trying to make the jump to a P4 team, and Elo Modozie fits the bounce-back player archetype. He was good at Army, but was a non-factor for UGA, and is now a non-factor for Purdue.

Player Developement

Purdue is a developmental program. Its roster mainly consists of 3* recruits, 3* transfers, and wildcards. Barry Odom’s job is to turn 3* recruits, transfers, and wildcards into 4 and 5* players.

Teams like Ohio State start with 4 and 5* recruits and transfers and tend to avoid wildcards.

The Boilermakers have to project what a player will become; Ohio State knows exactly what it’s getting. Coach Odom has to build his own 4 and 5* players from 3* recruits; Ryan Day gets to pick which 4- and 5-star players he wants on his team.

Budgeting

As a general rule of thumb, it costs more to sign players out of the portal than to sign them out of high school. It’s cheaper to develop your own players than to sign someone else’s.

In an ideal world, Purdue needs to develop their recruits and use the portal to fill holes or bring in a player with elite traits. The worst thing a program can do is use the transfer portal to fill out its depth chart. That’s what Barry had to do last season, and we all saw the results. The more players you sign from the portal, the lower the quality of transfer you can afford.

The Boilermakers had to sign 52 players from the portal in 2025 to field a team. This season, they needed only 29 portal players, and the difference in overall roster talent is clear. Next season, I’d love it if Coach Odom could get that number under 20. That would let Purdue be more selective in the portal and bring in higher-caliber players instead of paying a premium to fill out the depth chart. It would also allow them to significantly cut back on wildcard players on the roster.

Position Hierarchy

Some positions are easier to fill than others, and that should guide where you put your money first.

Offense

1. Quarterback
2. Tackles
3. Interior Offensive Linemen
4. Running Back
5. Wide Reciever
6. Tight End

The quarterback is the most important player on the team. Without a quarterback, your ceiling is much lower, no matter how good the rest of your roster is. Clemson is the perfect example of a good overall roster without a quarterback. They have two future NFL players at wide receiver and probably at least one NFL tight end, but it doesn’t matter because they don’t have anyone who can get the ball to those skill players. Dabo would have been better served letting one of his elite wide receivers walk and using that money to bring in a known quantity at quarterback, even if that quarterback isn’t as talented. I’d happily trade a top-tier wide receiver for a functional quarterback because, right now, Clemson’s top-tier wide receivers look average with a true freshman at the helm of the offense.

Once you lock down your quarterback, the offensive line comes next. Ideally, offensive tackles are 6’4″ and over 300 pounds. Only 0.2% of the US population is over 6’3″, which drives up tackle prices because very few people are big enough to play tackle for a P4 college football team. If you’ve got a quality offensive tackle on the roster, you need to keep him; if you don’t, you need to go out and sign someone else’s quality tackle. That’s a pricey proposition. Guards and centers are a little easier to come by, because they can be a little shorter. There are more interior lineman-sized players than tackles, which makes them cheaper to acquire.

After the offensive line, you get to skill-position players. It’s harder to find a quality running back than a quality wide receiver or tight end. Most offenses feature 3 wide receivers and 1 running back on the field at the same time. That means the portal has fewer experienced running backs than wide receivers or tight ends.

Wide receivers and tight ends are interchangeable. If you’re a run-heavy offense, it’s probably better to invest in a tight end before a wide receiver. If you’re a more passing-centric team, wide receivers should probably come before tight ends.

Defense

1. Defensive Tackle
2. Defensive End
3. Linebacker
4. Safety
5. Corner

What holds true on offense also holds true on defense. There are fewer big, strong, athletic people than small, fast, athletic people. That makes big people more expensive than small people in the transfer portal. I don’t care how good the rest of your defense is; if you don’t have the big men in the middle, it’s going to be tough sledding.

After defensive tackles get paid, defensive ends are next, for the same reason. Defensive ends are smaller than defensive tackles, but they’re bigger than linebackers. A pass rush helps limit the opposition’s quarterback, and if you can limit the opposing quarterback, life is significantly easier for your linebackers and secondary.

I think linebackers are more valuable than safeties. Most teams only play 2 linebackers these days. That means fewer experienced linebackers are available, and there are fewer linebacker-sized people than safety-sized people. Beyond that, one of your linebackers is usually the quarterback of the defense.

Like wide receivers on offense, more players in the population are secondary-sized. If you want to play more man coverage, maybe you bring in your CB1 before your starting safeties. If you play more zone, you might value safeties more. It depends on the defense, but generally, the portal has more quality safeties and corners than defensive linemen and linebackers.

Depth

In 2025, Purdue couldn’t field a functional starting lineup on either side of the ball. This season, the starting talent has improved, but the depth hasn’t caught up. I attribute that to the number of portal players Coach Odom had to sign to field a team last season. As I mentioned above, Purdue needs to build their roster with recruits and fill in with portal players. At this point, Purdue still has to fill its second unit with portal players. My hope is that next season, you’ll see more homegrown Barry Odom players in the second unit. A few encouraging signs have emerged, especially from Purdue’s 2026 recruiting class in recent games.

Someone asked me to take a look at Barry Odom’s recruits in a feed post. That’s the group Purdue needs to move in 2027 to raise its ceiling. Here’s the snap count for Odom recruits in 2026.

1. LG – Marques Easley – 365 Snaps – While not technically an Odom recruit, 2027 will be his 3rd year in the program. I don’t think Georgia has much to do with his development, so I consider him an Odom guy now. He should start in 2027.
2. RT – Rico Schrieber – 259 Snaps – Schrieber is ahead of schedule, but I like him more as the third tackle on the roster than as a 2027 starter. That might change over the back half of the season, but keep in mind, he still has 4 seasons of eligibility remaining. Ideally, he’s the third tackle on the roster, keeps gaining experience, and takes over a starting spot at one of the tackle positions in 2028.
3. DE/OLB – Jeremy Lewis – 251 Snaps – Lewis entered with a strong reputation after winning a National Championship at the JuCo level in 2025. He’s done nothing but impress since earning a spot in the starting lineup and could be one of the Big 10’s better pass rushers next season.
4. DB – Breeon Ishmail – Again, not technically an Odom recruit, but he didn’t do anything of note during his season at Michigan. He’ll compete for the starting job at strong-side defensive end in 2027, but I see him more as a quality reserve than a starter. I could be swayed by a strong finish to 2026.
5. LG – Brock Brownfield – 133 Snaps – He was the talk of fall camp and started his first game in a Boilermaker uniform. Unfortunately, he got dinged up early, and Easley stepped in and has secured the starting role. In my opinion, Easley should have been the starter from the jump at left guard. It takes a true freak of nature to start on the interior of a Big 10 offensive line as a true freshman, and while Brownfield has potential, he’s not that type of player. Like Schriber, I think his ideal role in 2027 is the first guard off the bench, but he could also factor in at center. He’ll be good, but hopefully Purdue doesn’t have to force a 3* true freshman into the starting lineup moving forward.
6. TE – Jackson Berryman – 127 Snaps – At 6’8″, 280, Berryman is a massive tight end who could potentially end up at one of the tackle spots by the end of his career. He’s played in every game this season after redshirting in 2025. He’ll be Purdue’s best blocking tight end in 2027.
7. WR – Tra’Mar Harris – 108 snaps – Harris is already in Purdue’s wide receiver rotation and is its top redzone target. He should compete for the starting job in 2027.
8. TE – Cooper McCutchan – 67 snaps – Like Berryman, he’s mostly used as an extra run blocker, but he caught 2 passes in garbage time against Notre Dame. I’m not sure he’s ready to start as Purdue’s TE1 next season, but he could develop into the starter by 2028. I think Purdue will need to hit the portal for TE1 for 2027.
9. TE – Ar’Mari Towns – 53 Snaps – If Purdue’s starting TE in 2027 is on the current roster, Towns is the guy. He has the highest ceiling of any tight end on the roster, but I think he’s probably another season away from being a legit TE1. He’s more of a jumbo receiver than a balanced tight end. I like the talent, but he needs more seasoning.
10. RT – Terrell Berryhill Jr. – 49 snaps – He’s another intriguing true freshman offensive lineman. Like Schrieber, I don’t think he should start in 2027, but he could make a quality pairing with Rico in 2028 if he keeps progressing. If Purdue can pull 2 starting tackles out of the 2026 recruiting class, roster construction for 2028 gets much easier.
11. DT – Josiah Hope – 44 snaps – Purdue’s highest-rated 2026 recruit has seen some action as a true freshman. Ideally, he’ll be in the rotation in 2027 and a starter in 2028.
12. DE – Aiden Solecki – 40 Snaps – He’s another talent true freshman who has forced his way into the rotation this season. Like Hope, I’ll need to see him in the regular rotation in 2027 before I’m comfortable with him competing for the starting strong side defense end job in 2028.
13. QB – Evans Chuba – 43 Snaps – Like Easley, he’s not technically an Odom recruit, but Odom is mainly responsible for his development. I like him as QB2 in 2027, but he still needs significant development to compete for the starting job in 2028.
14. WR – Brandon Kinsey – 15 Snaps – There was a ton of hype surrounding Kinsey in both spring and fall camp. Some Purdue talking heads pushed him as a potential starter. I wasn’t buying it, but I think he could step up, fill a reserve role in 2027, and compete for a starting job in 2028.
15. Ricky Sampson – 4 Snaps – He’s another receiver who was overhyped in the offseason. The JuCo product looks the part but hasn’t shown up on the field in any meaningful way. He wasn’t on campus for spring practice and didn’t make up any ground on Purdue’s current receiver group.
16. Jett Goldsberry – 8 Snaps – The Purdue legacy could have been Purdue’s highest-rated 2026 recruit if he didn’t blow out his knee in the high school playoffs. It’s impressive that he’s been able to come back and play at all this season. He’s another potential 2028 starter.
17. Emoni Smith – 2 Snaps – I feel terrible for Emoni. He got tossed into a key game at the end and couldn’t make a much-needed tackle. Hopefully he shakes it off and is ready to contribute in 2027.

To Be Continued…

If you’ve made it this far, I appreciate you sticking around. This got a little disjointed at the end. I’ve got more thoughts on which players Purdue should bring back for 2027, but those will have to wait until after the Penn State victory.

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