2008 Purdue Boilermakers

Written June 12, 2008 by Jason Lowry

It’s that time of year where the football season is just around the corner, and Jason Lowry is ready to make his 2008 Purdue Boilermakers football predictions. Coming off a disappointing season where they finished the Big 10 season at 3-5 after starting the season 5-0 including 4 non-conference wins. In what head coach Joe Tiller is calling his last at Purdue the team will be returning 14 starters in hope that they can make his last year something special. The Boilermakers will have to do without star tight end Dustin Keller who went in the first round, and two of their starting linebackers Cliff Avril and Stanford Keglar as well. Lets take a look at exactly what this team is bringing on both sides of the ball in the upcoming season.

Offense:
The offense will be led by third year starter Curtis Painter, who could end up being the best the Big 10 has at the position. In the final game of the year the Boilermakers used a no huddle offense to beat Central Michigan in the Motor City Bowl, and it might end up being more of a regularity this season. As good as Painter might be, he might have trouble finding reliable receivers to throw the football to. Senior Greg Orton should be solid at one of the spots, but fellow seniors Aaron Valentin and Joe Whitest are both inexperienced in big games. At running back the Boilermakers will have a senior duo in Jaycen Taylor and Kory Sheets who combined to rush for more than a 1,000 yards in each of the last two seasons. The big question around the offense is whether or not the offensive line will be able to produce this season, all 3 returning starters from last year missed spring practice with nagging injuries. It will be an old line with 4 seniors and 1 junior expected to start the season.

Defense:
The defense returns 6 starters and are much better off up front than in the secondary. They return 3 starters on the defensive line and as it looks now they will start sophomore Ryan Kerrigan at the open spot at end. The team is stocked at the tackle position, but seniors Ryan Baker and Alex Magee are the best of the bunch. Anthony Heygood is the only returning starter at linebacker after losing two guys to the draft. It looks like they will have to due with Kevin Green and Jason Werner. The secondary does have some talent with returning safety Brandon King and corner David Pender. Senior Tori Williams will try and make another comeback as he has missed the last 3 seasons with 3 different injuries. Look for Royce Adams to hold down the other corner spot, and have some solid depth behind them in sophomores Josh McKinley and Charlton Williams.

Prediction: 8th in the Big 10
Even though this team will have one of the best quarterbacks the Big 10 can offer, there are just too many question marks surrounding the offensive line and the secondary. We could be way wrong and Tiller might get his guys to play at a level far better than expected, and maybe this team can go something around 8-5 again with a much better record in the Big 10. We are thinking more like a 6-6 season though, sorry Boilermaker fans.

Professional Handicapper Jason Lowry is working his way through all of the big teams for the upcoming season. If you are looking for a great place to get started for the upcoming betting season, head over to BetUS.com and get an account up and running today.

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

No comments yet, but your thoughts are welcome!

Comments

Got something to say?