A season ago, injuries absolutely decimated the Purdue football offensive line.
At various points last season, Purdue football was without Marcus Mbow, Gus Hartwig, Luke Griffin and Mahamane Moussa, forcing head coach Ryan Walters and the offensive staff to go patchwork to fill the voids.
“Especially up front, we got hit with an injury bug like I’ve never really seen last year,” Purdue football offensive coordinator Graham Harrell recently told the media. “What I was most proud of from those guys — no excuses. But they never blinked. And, to be honest with you, towards the end, I thought they played as well as they had played all year. That was with a really beat-up unit.
“Adding depth to that position was obviously going to be super important for us. You don’t want to get to the point where you feel like you can’t even practice. I think we added talent and quality depth there.”
Adding depth at the offensive line was exactly what Walters and his staff did during Purdue football’s off-season, as the Boilermakers hit the transfer portal hard.
“We added six offensive linemen and the smallest one is 6-foot-4, 315 pounds,” Walters said. “Definitely got bigger. This is the Big Ten, so you’ve got to be big.”
Among those Purdue football added include: Notre Dame transfer Joey Tanona, New Mexico transfer DJ Wingfield, Ball State transfer Corey Stewart and Indiana transfer Joshua Sales. All of them are joined by JUCO standouts Jaekwon Bouldin and Rod Green, as well as returning linemen Hartwig, Moussa and Mbow.
Despite the faces and talent, Walters admitted he was not ready to name a starting five when pressed on the matter recently.
“We’re not close. Nowhere near close. We still have how many days until the 31st? We’ve got time and we’ll take our time. When people start to separate themselves, we’ll make that decision,” Walters said.
Walters has a little more time to cement his offensive line, as Purdue football opens the 2024 season on August 31 when Indiana State travels to Ross-Ade Stadium.
Thank you for reading Boiler Wire, the market’s new Purdue sports outlet. Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news and insights on your favorite Purdue athletics. For feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email us at sportswriterpg@gmail.com or direct message us on our social media. Boiler Up!
