Purdue Football: Depth Chart Review – Illinois – Defense

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Purdue’s schedule hasn’t done much for much maligned defensive coordinator Kevin Kane. While I don’t think Purdue’s defense is good, it’s not as bad as early results have indicated. Illinois was their first game against a team outside the top 50, and lo and behold, the defense looked much improved.

That improvement was particularly noticeable in the front 7. The defensive line didn’t get bulldozed, which allowed the linebackers to make plays instead of fighting off 300-pound offensive linemen. The secondary still lacks a true lockdown corner, but they made some timely plays on 3rd down and came up with a crucial interception in the 4th quarter.

Illinois is just one data point, but this aligns more with what I expected coming into the season. This unit lacks top-end talent but plays hard and should be good enough for Purdue to compete against other mid-to-lower-tier Big 10 teams. Minnesota will provide the second data point on Saturday.

I expect similar results.

Defensive Line

Defensive End

1. Breeon Ishmail: Snaps – 20 – Tackles – 1
2. Keyshawn Burgos: Snaps – 30 – Tackles – 2 – T.F.L. -.5 – Sacks – .5
3. CJ Madden: Snaps – 29 – Tackles – 1
4. Aiden Solecki: Snaps – 6 – Tackles – 1

Nose Tackle

1. Curt Neal:Snaps – 31 – Tackles – 2
2. Rodney Lora: Snaps – 26 – Tackles – 2

Defensive Tackle

1. Ian Jeffries: Snaps – 26 – Tackles – 2
2. Wisdom Simms: Snaps – 21 –Tackles – 1
3. Josiah Hope: Snaps – 8 – Tackles – 1

Outside Linebacker / Edge Rusher

1. Jeremy Lewis:Snaps – 45 – Tackles – 4
2. Trey Smith: Snaps – 24 – Tackles – 1

Grade: B

For the first time all season, Purdue’s defensive line made life difficult for the opposing quarterback. Jeremy Lewis continues to prove he’s the team’s best pass rusher. He didn’t get home on Saturday but was credited with a team-high 5 pressures by PFF (Pro Football Focus). Keyshawn Burgos had 3 pressures and the only sack for the defensive line. I wasn’t sure CJ Madden would get much run moving forward, but Kevin Kane called on his veteran defensive end, and Madden delivered a QB hit and hurry.

While the pass rush improved significantly, the real step forward was the Boilermaker run defense. Granted, Ca’Lil Valentine, Illinois’s starting running back, went down with an injury in the first quarter, but I could have run through the holes that UCLA’s and Wake’s offensive lines generously provided for their running backs. Kevin Kane has shifted to a heavier defensive front that features nose tackle Curt Neal, defensive tackle Ian Jeffries, and 6’5”, 285-pound defensive end / defensive tackle Keyshawn Burgos on obvious run downs.

I’ve also been impressed with Purdue’s willingness to keep its defensive line fresh. Purdue’s defensive line room is interesting because it lacks top-end talent but has good functional depth. Kane used a consistent 4-man rotation on the inside and, with CJ Madden’s reintegration into the game plan, now has a 3-man rotation at strong-side defensive end. The only player on the line who stands out as exceptional is edge rusher Jeremy Lewis, and it’s no coincidence that edge rusher is the only position that doesn’t feature a roughly equal time share. I also like Coach Kane incorporating freshman nose tackle Josiah Hope and defensive end Aiden Solecki, sparingly, into the rotation. One way to save money is to develop and pay your own guys, and Hope and Solecki have some potentially elite physical skills to develop.

This group delivered an “A” performance for their standard. An actual “A” performance would feature more tackles for loss, sacks, and pressures, but this is about as good as you’re going to get from this collection of players. I’ve been critical of this unit’s overall talent level, but they played their asses off on Saturday despite getting beaten down in three of the first four games. They might not be elite individually, but they played hard and played together against Illinois.

Purdue can win games with this type of performance from the defensive line.

Linebacker

Middle Linebacker

Charles Correa: Snaps – 69 – Tackles – 6 – T.F.L. – 1.5 – Sacks – .5

Middle Linebacker

1. Jojo Hayden: Snaps – 55 – Tackles – 6
2. Anthony Speca: Snaps – 8 – No Stats

Weak Side Linebacker

Winston Berglund: Snaps – 24 – Tackles – 1

Grade: A

JoJo Hayden was brought in to be a run-stuffing middle linebacker, and for the first time this season, he filled that role perfectly against Illinois. His 4 “stops” (tackles that constitute a “failure” for the offense, per PFF) led the team and, almost as importantly, Illinois didn’t pick on him in the passing game. Hayden stayed in the tackle box as a physical run defender while Charle Correa was more involved in coverage and the pass rush.

Speaking of Correa, this is the first game this season he’s been able to move around and make plays instead of fighting off 300-pound linemen on nearly every down. His 4 quarterback hurries were second on the team, only behind Lewis. I thought he’d be used more in this capacity, but it’s been all hands-on deck to stop the run early in the season. At UNLV, Odom and company utilized linebacker Jackson Woodard in a similar capacity, and Woodard finished the 2024 season with 135 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, and 4 interceptions, and was named the MWC defensive player of the year. If Hayden can continue his play from last Saturday, Correa can go from making drag-down tackles 6 yards downfield to operating in the opponent’s backfield and showing up where the offense doesn’t expect him.

Winston Berglund has finally found his niche in the Purdue defense. Kane wants to keep two linebackers on the field at all times, but that’s an issue on 3rd down because of Hayden struggles in coverage. When healthy, Berglund has bounced between safety and linebacker throughout his career. That’s the exact skill set Purdue needs at linebacker on passing downs. He’s the coverage linebacker on 3rd down, which gives Correa more freedom to make plays instead of chasing running backs and tight ends downfield. The closer Correa can stay to the line of scrimmage, the better.

Elite linebacker play has been a staple for Barry Odom’s defense throughout his coaching career. That’s not surprising, given that he played linebacker for Missouri. I think he found the right mix on Saturday, with Hayden, Correa, and Berglund all playing their roles effectively. Winston Berglund could be the player who unlocks the linebackers and allows the Hayden/Correa pairing to flourish; now he needs to stay healthy.

Secondary

Right Cornerback

1. Don Saunders: Snaps – 61 – Tackles – 6 – T.F.L. – 2 – Targeted – 9 – Rec Allowed – 8 – Yds – 72
2. Dee Newsome: Snaps – 9 – Tackles – 2 –Targeted – 1 – Rec Allowed – 1 – Yds – 21

Left Cornerback

Hudari Hines:Snaps – 68 – Tackles – 1 – Targeted – 11 – Rec Allowed – 4 – Yds – 41 – Tds – 2

Nickel Corner

Smiley Bradford:Snaps – 58 – Tackles – 2 – Targeted – 2- Rec Allowed – 2 – Yds – 41

Corner Grade: B-

Purdue asks a lot of its corners. Saunders, Hines, and Bradford spend most of their time playing man coverage without much help from the safeties. Saunders and Hines weren’t perfect, but they didn’t allow Illinois easy receptions and limited yards after the catch. They were targeted a combined 20 times and only allowed 3 receptions of 10+ yards. Saunders did a great job of playing physical on the outside in the screen game and was credited with 2 tackles for loss. I’ll take that every game from this pairing, because you also saw their limitations on Saturday.

Neither Saunders nor Hines is a true lockdown corner. Both are good corners and would be fine as the second corner in most defenses, but one of them has to match up against the opponent’s WR1. Against Illinois, that was Collin Dixon. Dixon was targeted 6 times when lined up against Hines and had 3 receptions for 39 yards, 3 1st downs, and a touchdown. Dixon was targeted 5 times when lined up against Saunders and caught 4 passes for 51 yards and 2 first downs. Overall, Dixon was targeted 14 times, caught 10 passes for 116 yards, and had 7 first-down receptions and a touchdown.

If you take Dixon out of the equation, Hines was targeted 5 times and gave up 1 reception for 2 yards (unfortunately, that one reception was a 2-yard touchdown catch by Ty Robinson). Saunders was targeted 4 times and caught 2 passes for 18 yards. Good receivers will make some plays against this pairing. The key is to limit the damage to short and intermediate routes and not miss tackles. They did that on Saturday.

While Saunders and Hines can trade off duties on WR1, Bradford is on an island against the opposing slot receiver all game. The book on Smiley is that you can get deep on him if you win at the line. He doesn’t have the length to knock the ball down from the trail position. Hudson Clement’s two catches on Bradford were both downfield seam shots. I don’t think Purdue can do much about that right now. Everyone wants an aggressive, blitzing defense, but the trade-off is either playing a loose zone and giving up easy receptions or playing tight man and risking deep shots in single coverage if the blitz doesn’t get home.

Free Safety

John Slaughter:Snaps – 69 – Tackles – 4 – Targeted – 2 – Rec Allowed – 1 –Yds – 12 – Int – 1

Strong Safety

1. Jaden Mangham:Snaps – 29 – Tackles – 5 – Targeted – 0
2. Justin Denson Jr.: Snaps – 49 – Tackles – 2 – Targeted – 1 – Rec Allowed – 0 – PBU – 0
3. Dax Noles: Snaps – 4

Safety Grade: A

Coach Kane has settled on a safety rotation that mirrors his linebacker rotation. Slaughter, like Correa, plays every snap, while Mangham and Denson Jr. are used situationally. Denson Jr. tends to be on the field more on potential passing downs, while Mangham shows up more on run downs. The Mangham/Denson combo at safety combined for 7 tackles while allowing only one reception. That’s starter-level production.

Meanwhile, Slaughter is neck and neck with Correa for the team’s best defensive player. He leads the team in solo tackles with 20 and has been solid as the last line of the Boilermakers’ defense at free safety. Just as important, he’s only missed two tackles this season. That’s what you need out of a free safety. When something goes wrong, Slaughter keeps it from getting worse, and when he’s in position to make a play, he makes it. That showed up in the 4th quarter when Purdue’s pass rush harassed Houser into launching a deep prayer, and Slaughter denied it with an interception. If he knocks it down, Illinois has the ball 2nd and 10 at the Purdue 47. His interception forced Illinois to burn through their timeouts on defense on Purdue’s following drive.

Shout out to defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach Charles Clark. The secondary has held together remarkably well, considering the circumstances.

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