Purdue Football: Depth Chart Review – Washington – Defense

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I struggle with these. I feel like I come off as a Kevin Kane defender, but that’s not my intention. To be honest, I’m ambivalent about Kane. Purdue could fire him tomorrow, and I wouldn’t argue against it. I’m ambivalent because he’s not the main problem on defense. I don’t think firing him mid-season would make a difference either way. In this game, Washington ruthlessly attacked the Boilermakers’ lack of depth, and Kane doesn’t play cornerback or linebacker.

The Boilermakers lost starting cornerback Hudari Hines on the first play of the game, while making an interception. Purdue has only played 2 corners all season. Washington attacked the backups and forced Kane into zone coverage with their air raid offense. Zone coverage hasn’t been Purdue’s strong suit, but they really had no choice.

Purdue effectively has 2 linebackers; Washington attacked the alleys in their run game, where 3 linebackers would have been extremely useful. Then Correa went down, and things went from bad to worse. Kane tried to move pieces around and bring in solutions off the bench, but in reality, Purdue’s bench doesn’t have many. This was going to be a tough matchup anyway, but losing Hines and later Correa was insurmountable.

This defense is still a year away from having the talent and depth to make in-game adjustments. Whoever calls the plays in 2027 will be in a much better position than Kevin Kane is this season, in terms of personnel. Hopefully everyone gets healthy with the off week, and the defense returns to full strength against Penn State.

*All stats from Pro Football Focus

Defensive Line

Defensive End

1. Keyshawn Burgos:Snaps – 40 – Tackles – 1 – Sacks – 1
2. CJ Madden: Snaps – 19 – Tackles – 1
3. Breeon Ishmail: Snaps – 10 – No Stats
4. Aiden Solecki: Snaps – 10 – Tackles – 1

Nose Tackle

1. Curt Neal:Snaps – 35 – Tackles – 1 – T.F.L. – .5
2. Rodney Lora: Snaps – 34 – No Stats

Defensive Tackle

1. Ian Jeffries: Snaps – 30 – Tackles – 4 – TFL – .5
2. Wisdom Simms: Snaps – 14 – No Stats
3. Josiah Hope: Snaps – 10 – No Stats

Outside Linebacker / Edge Rusher

1. Jeremy Lewis:Snaps – 38 – Tackles – 4 – T.F.L. – 1
2. Trey Smith: Snaps – 13 – No Stats

Grade: C

I was ready to tear into the defensive line, but after taking a look at the stats, while they weren’t great, they also weren’t the problem, or, at least, the main problem.

Washington rushed for 197 yards, which normally indicates that they dominated up front, but this game was an exception. The interior defensive line held their own. Only 36 of those 197 yards occurred between the tackles. The Huskies attempted 7 rushes in the A gap and only picked up 14 yards (2 YPA), 2 rushes for 10 yards in the “B gap (5 YPA), and 5 rushes for 12 yards in the C gap (2.4 YPA).

Purdue’s run defense struggled outside the tackles. They ran 6 times and gained 49 yards (8.2) outside the LT/TE, and 7 times for 101 yards (14.4) outside the RT/TE. Purdue dominated Washington’s offensive line between the tackles but had no answer for their perimeter speed. The Huskies’ leading rusher, Trey Cooley, did all his damage on 2 runs off the right end for 96 yards. He broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage on both runs, then hit the gas and rampaged through the secondary.

Here’s the deal: Purdue decided to beef up their defensive line after Wake Forest and UCLA. Keyshawn Burgos is a cheeseburger away from being a defensive tackle. Jeremy Lewis has decent speed and played well, making 4 tackles, recording one of Purdue’s 4 QB hurries, and batting down a pass, but he’s faster going north and south than east to west, if that makes sense.

Speaking of the pass rush, that’s another spot where it’s hard to blame the defensive line. The frustrating part of playing against an air-raid offense like Washington’s is that when it’s humming, the defensive line doesn’t matter. The ball hits the quarterback’s hands, and the ball is out of the quarterback’s hands. I’m willing to bet that Washington quarterback Elijah Brown knew where he was going with the ball before the snap 95% of the time. Their head coach, Jedd Fisch, has an NFL background and created the matchups he wanted, then had Brown throw the ball to that matchup.

Purdue’s defensive line is night-and-day better between the tackles than earlier this season, but they had to sacrifice speed to make it happen. Washington exploited that on Friday night.

Linebacker

Middle Linebacker

Charles Correa: Snaps – 50 – Tackles – 4 – T.F.L. – .5

Middle Linebacker

Jojo Hayden: Snaps – 62 – Tackles – 7 – T.F.L. – 1 – INT – 1

Weak Side Linebacker

1. Winston Berglund: Snaps – 31 – Tackles – 2
2. Tre Moore: Snaps – 6 – No Stats

Grade: C-

Once again, this is a much higher grade than I expected before starting this article. Correa did a decent job getting to the ball and bringing the ball carrier to the ground. The problem was Washington running away from Correa. Once again, full credit to Jed Fisch. Purdue plays two linebackers. Hayden is the thumper between the tackles, and Correa is the sideline-to-sideline linebacker. Washington ran away from Correa and made him chase the ball from behind the play.

I don’t necessarily think Hayden had a bad game either. He led the team in tackles, pulled down his second interception of the season, and had a bone-rattling hit on Washington’s quarterback that was flagged for an absolutely egregious roughing-the-passer penalty that cost Purdue 4 points, after seemingly stopping the Huskies inside the red zone.

Purdue’s 3rd linebacker was the problem. One way to counteract a team running outside the tackles is to shift from a 4-2-5 alignment to a 4-3-4. Correa takes the strong side, Hayden stays in the middle, and Berglund handles the weak side. Winston Berglund has played well this season, but he’s better in coverage than he is as a run defender. Washington saw Berglund on the edge, liked the matchup, and ran his direction. Yes, he also got burned for a quick-hitter touchdown pass from the 1, but that could happen to anyone.

The Boilermakers’ main issue in this game was their lack of depth at both linebacker and in the secondary. Purdue has two linebackers; Washington forced them to use three, then exploited the weak link. That was magnified further when Correa got his bell rung in the 2nd half, and Kane was forced back into a 2-linebacker setup because there’s no 4th linebacker. It was supposed to be Penn State transfer Anthony Speca, but that hasn’t worked out. They tried San Diego transfer Tre Moore, but that only lasted 4 snaps.

This is a case where Purdue needs their young guys to develop and provide depth. That depth doesn’t exist on this roster. Maybe it will in the future, but there’s a big gap between Correa and Hayden, between Hayden and Berglund, and a similar gap between Berglund and the 4th linebacker.

Correa and Hayden were fine, but Purdue’s lack of depth was on full display.

Secondary

Right Cornerback

Don Saunders: Snaps – 63 – Tackles – 5 – T.F.L. -.5 – Targeted – 6 – Rec Allowed – 6 – Yds – 79

Left Cornerback

1. Hudari Hines:Snaps – 1 – Tackles – 0 – Targeted – 1 – Int – 1
2. Dee Newsome: Snaps – 43 – Tackles – 5 – T.F.L. – 1 – Targeted – 4 – Rec Allowed – 4 – Yds – 53
3. Ryan Turner: Snaps – 16 – Tackles – 2 – T.F.L. – 1 – Targeted – 3 – Rec Allowed – 3 – Yds – 59

Nickel Corner

Smiley Bradford: Snaps – 38 – Tackles – 2 – T.F.L. – .5 – Targeted – 3 – Rec Allowed – 2– Yds – 25 – Int – 1

Corner Grade: D-

I’m going to say something controversial. This entire game changed with Hudari Hines’ interception on the first play from scrimmage. If he doesn’t sprain his leg while the receiver pulls him down from behind as he makes the interception, this game looks different. I don’t know if the outcome changes, but Washington’s offense wouldn’t have spent the whole game picking on Purdue’s backup cornerbacks.

Coming into this season, Purdue was confident in 4 of their corners: Don Saunders, Haduri Hines, Mister Clark, and Smiley Bradford. When the Boilermakers play man coverage, Saunders covers the taller boundary receiver, Hines handles the field receiver, and Clark and Bradford play in the slot over the smaller, quicker receivers.

Clark started the season against Indiana State, got injured, and hasn’t been seen since. That left Purdue with one slot corner. Hines can, in theory, handle a second, quicker receiver, but he can’t do that while injured on the sidelines. Purdue’s 5th corner, Dee Newsome, is a boundary corner like Saunders. He’s long and physical but not particularly quick. In theory, he’s better at covering downfield than across it.

Saunders, Hines, and Bradford have gone the distance in every game outside of garbage time for a reason. Newsome wasn’t terrible, but Kane is significantly more comfortable playing man coverage with Saunders and Hines. If you’re wondering why Purdue spent so much time in zone defense in this game, after playing a good bit of man coverage over the last two wins, it’s the Hines injury.

Washington’s wide receiver room made things even worse. The Huskies’ leading receiver in this game, Chris Lawson, would have been matched up with Hines all game. He’s a 6’0”, 185-pound slot receiver, and Purdue only has one slot corner. He targeted that slot corner, Smiley Bradford, once, and Bradford picked it off. He’s not a good matchup for Saunders, but Don held his own, giving up 2 receptions for 27 yards, mostly in front of Saunders’ zone coverage. He had two receptions against Dee Newsome for 41 yards, including 18 yards after the catch, and one reception against Ryan Turner for 32 yards, with 21 yards after the catch.

Their second leading receiver, Dezmen Roebuck, is a 5’11”, 190-pound slot receiver. I’ll remind everyone again that Purdue has only one slot corner. Washington targeted Roebuck only once when Bradley was in coverage. The only other time he was targeted when matched up against one of Purdue’s starting corners was on the first play of the game, which ended in the Hines interception. He caught 1 pass for 23 yards on Ryan Turner, 1 pass for 25 yards vs. JoJo Hayden, and 2 passes when lined up against safety John Slaughter, including a touchdown on the goal line. Fisch punished Purdue’s lack of secondary depth by going 4-wide, then moving Roebuck into the backfield. That’s how he ended up matched up against linebackers and safeties all game.

Purdue tried senior corner Ryan Turner for 16 snaps. Washington threw the ball on 9 of those snaps and targeted Turner 3 times. He gave up 3 receptions for 47 yards. When Fisch saw him on the field, his eyes lit up, and he went right at Turner, forcing Purdue to put Newsome back in the game.

Much like at linebacker, Washington attacked Purdue’s depth. They capitalized on the Hines injury, forced Purdue into a zone defense, and then attacked the backups. Saunders gave up 6 receptions, but he’s much better in man coverage than in zone. Most of those six receptions came from crossers running through his zone, not man coverage, where Saunders is at his best.

I really need to repeat how impressed I was with the way Washington attacked Purdue’s weak spots. This was a coaching clinic.

Free Safety

1. John Slaughter:Snaps – 57 – Tackles – 6 – Targeted – 2 – Rec Allowed – 2 – Yds – 23
2. Vi’Naz Cobb: Snaps – 4 – No Stats

Strong Safety

1. Jaden Mangham:Snaps – 19 – Tackles – 3 – Targeted – 1- Rec Allowed –1 – Yds – 15
2. Justin Denson Jr.: Snaps – 40 – Tackles – 7 – Targeted – 1 – Rec Allowed –1 – Yds – 17

Safety Grade: F

Purdue needed more from John Slaughter in this game. At 6’2”, 210, he has the size to help more against a run game that terrorized Purdue in the outside alleys. That’s where Slaughter should live. He was lined up as a box safety 33 times and as a slot corner 10 times. PFF has him down for 4 tackles as a run defender with 1 stop and 1 missed tackle. That’s not good enough.

At the other safety spot, Jaden Mangham started the game but quickly made way for Justin Denson Jr. I’m not sure why, because Denson Jr. was worthless in run defense, and Purdue needed their safeties to counter Washington’s outside run game. He was on the field for 26 run attempts and recorded 3 tackles and a missed tackle. His average tackle depth was 12 yards downfield. Purdue needed him to be more of a factor in stuffing the outside runs, and he didn’t get the job done.

With the Boilermakers forced into more zone looks, Slaughter and Denson Jr. made most of their tackles, bringing down Washington wide receivers after another first-down reception. Slaughter lined up at slot corner with the Huskies inside the 5-yard line, and Jed Fisch immediately burned him for a touchdown with slot receiver Dezmen Roebuck. Again, kudos to Fisch, because that wasn’t a fair fight. Roebuck got him to stop his feet at the top of his route, and it was all over but the touchdown.

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