Roster breakdown

Purdue's roster is younger than ours despite carrying more upperclassmen — their 1.49-year average experience trails our 1.91, and with 15 redshirts in the mix the developmental pipeline is doing real work, though we can't assess transfer volume at all since the site publishes no prior schools. Their offensive continuity is a genuine problem heading into this game: 21% of receiving production and 36% of rushing production return, versus our 39% and 73%, meaning they're asking a lot of new contributors on the ground and through the air even as the QB room (5 on roster) stabilizes the pass game at 85% return. Blue-chip talent is a wash — both programs sit at 17% of matched recruits with nearly identical averages (3.13★ vs. our 3.18★) — but their OL is physically lighter at 303 lbs average versus our 314, and their DL at 282 lbs is a full 32 pounds per man below our front. The DMV thread is thin — Puccinelli, Burgos, Owens, and Johnson are the four locals — and 19% of the roster walks out after this season as SR/GR, so Purdue is managing a meaningful 2026 roster cliff on top of their current continuity gaps.