Purdue football offensive line breakdown: Transfers add depth
WEST LAFAYETTE — When Matt Mattox abruptly resigned as Purdue football's offensive line coach, Ryan Walters turned to a trusted colleague.
Walters dipped into his time at Missouri and hired Marcus Johnson, the former Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman who'd spent time at Duke and Mississippi State before going to Missouri.
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Without hesitation, Johnson came to West Lafayette in March to coach Purdue's offensive line.
"We need to continue to create chemistry and cohesion because there's a lot of new faces," Johnson said of his offensive line group. "Guys coming from different walks of life in different places, but at the end of the day, we've got to find the right five and put them in the right spot."
Mixing and matching Purdue football's line
One thing Johnson has implemented is cross training his linemen to know every position.
There's always injury casualties, especially in the trenches, and Johnson's goal is to have the best five players on the offensive line without them being restricted to being a center, guard or tackle specifically.
"As an offensive lineman, there's five people working as one," said sixth-year lineman Daniel Johnson. "It's natural to gravitate towards your guys and rely on them with everything."
Johnson was used late last season, his first with Purdue after transferring from Kent State. Eric Miller, an expected leader of the offensive line, transferred to Louisville after the spring season.
Purdue made up for transfer portal departures through its incoming freshmen and by dipping into the portal itself, plus has returning Manamane Moussa, Marcus Mbow and Gus Hartwig, who were offensive line standouts last season. Hartwig is still nursing a knee injury he suffered last season.
Competitive, tough and discipline
Jalen Grant was a three-year starter at Bowling Green at left guard and center. He arrived at Purdue last spring and quickly fit in, romming with Mbow and Moussa and buying in to Purdue's CTD mantra − competitive, tough and discipline.
"You're coming in from a different school and you don't know the culture," Grant said. "You have those things you have to learn, so I wouldn't say I came in feeling like a leader. I just came in trying to be a good teammate and now those guys are my brothers."
Purdue also brought in Austin Johnson, a former starter at Colorado, Ben Farrell, who was a standout at Indiana Wesleyan, UNLV's starting left guard Preston Nichols, former Missouri starting left guard Luke Griffin and Bakyne Coly from NAIA program Lawrence Tech.
"The portal is important, but it's got to be the right mixture to get guys out of the portal to make sure they fit your culture as well," Marcus Johnson said.
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue football offensive line breakdown: Transfers add depth
