Today, two younger guys who weren’t even on the official roster until this week!
In the new landscape of college sports, we’re all quickly learning that summertime jersey numbers are very much subject to change and new players will be listed on the roster later than they used to be. The two players we highlight today got added to the team’s official website in the past week.
First up in celebrating 52 days until the start of the 2025 season, we have Marcus Moore, Jr. Moore is a defensive lineman who transfers to Purdue from Akron and will be classified as a redshirt sophomore. The former Zip started eight of twelve games for Akron last year, recording 31 tackles and one tackle for loss. He also recovered a fumble against the Ohio Bobcats.
Based on his stats, you can tell the kid is meant to attract double teams. At (Massillon) Washington High School in Massillon, Ohio, the 6’1” 310-pound Moore earned himself a three-star rating from multiple recruiting services and was one of the top 100 prospects out of Ohio for the class of 2023 as per 247.
Especially with three years of eligibility remaining, I see Moore becoming a valuable part of team depth in the immediate future and, later on, could definitely become a top option at nose tackle. I’d imagine he does get some playing time this year in cleanup duty en route to a bigger role down the line. He’s a good fit in what will be a multiple 4-2-5 defense in Barry Odom’s first year at the helm (or rather in the locomotive engineer’s chair).
He’ll have some good mentors ahead of him in Jamarrion Harkless and Jamarius Dinkins. Just ahead of Moore on the depth chart will be one of yesterday’s featured Boilermakers, incoming senior transfer Josh Burney out of DII’s Fort Valley State.
On the opposite side of the ball, also wearing #52, is Seaton “Rocco” Daly IV. He’s so new he doesn’t even have any biographical information on Purdue’s website, but being the investigative reporter I am, I found the kid’s LinkedIn, gang.
We have a pretty interesting cat, here. A six-foot-tall 230-pound offensive lineman from Park City, Utah, he’ll be a scout teamer for the time being. Speculating, but I could envision this evolving into an eventual long snapper role. He’s also a member of the Boilermakers’ rugby team and, in high school, was both a ski instructor and youth football coach. Imagine an offensive lineman big being graceful on skis. Heck yes, Rocco.
You know what straight-line downhill ski tracks look like? TRAIN TRACKS.
Daly was admitted to be a mechanical engineering student out of Park City High School. It’s very odd that I have actually been by that high school. It’s very nice.
In his senior year at Park City HS, he played 97% of offensive snaps as an interior offensive lineman, helping lead the team to over 2,800 rushing yards, 31 rushing touchdowns, and an 11-2 record.
Welcome, Marcus and Rocco! Boiler Up!