Last week I looked at changes in the rosters in the B1G East so far in the offseason. Today we will do the same for the B1G West. The NFL Draft declaration date has come and gone, so we have some more clarity, though transfers are still in the process of deciding. As I said with the East piece, my plan is to come back through in a couple months and take a look at how the dust settled on these respective rosters. 

Purdue

EXITS

The Boilermakers have had a busy offseason, with their most notable exit being coach Jeff Brohm. With a new regime in, you'd expect quite a bit of turnover and there's plenty of it. Graduation/the NFL has taken all three of their stars in the passing game, QB Aidan O'Connell, WR Charlie Jones, and TE Payne Durham, as well as a huge chunk of their pass defense, starting corners Cory Trice and Reese Taylor, as well as HSP Jalen Graham and LB Kieren Douglas. They will be returning most of the OL and lead back Devin Mockobee, but that's a lot of experience and production to make up, before we even get into the portal subtractions.

To the portal the Boilermakers lost Spencer Holstege, a starting G for this year's team, as well as three useful pieces on the defensive line, Lawrence Johnson and Branson Deen, who were starter-ish rotation pieces at defensive tackle, and starting DE Jack Sullivan. All four of those players opted to pack their bags for warmer weather, with Deen opting to head to Miami, Johnson to Auburn, Holstege to UCLA, and Sullivan to rival USC. Reserve RB Kobe Lewis bailed for FAU as well, and then an assortment of bench names I am not familiar with are in the portal as well. It's going to be a pretty different Purdue team that shows up in Ann Arbor to play the Wolverines in the fall than the one we saw in Indianapolis a month ago. 

ACQUISITIONS

Well we can start with the new HC Ryan Walters, who is replacing Brohm. Walters, who turns 37 tomorrow, is considered a top young mind in coaching circles after presiding over elite defenses back-to-back seasons at Illinois, where he had minimal talent to work with. Seemed like a smart hire to me and he's reshuffled the coaching staff, bringing new DC Kevin Kane with him from Illinois (he was the associate head coach and OLB coach) and hiring new OC Graham Harrell, of Texas Tech QB fame from the late 2000s, away from West Virginia. Kane will help him rebuild the Purdue defense, while Harrell will ensure continuity with Brohm's Air Raid scheme. All three of these coaches are under the age of 40, so this is an exceptionally youthful staff. 

The biggest question for the Boilermakers with Aidan O'Connell leaving is what will happen at QB. Their big add out of the portal was QB Hudson Card from Texas, a high 4* prospect in the 2020 class who got passed over for Quinn Ewers in Austin, but played some when Ewers was injured this past season and did fine. Card seems to be the favorite to start, though Purdue managed to keep Brady Allen, their Class of 2022 QB who was a solid 4* himself, in the fold. Allen originally had his name in the portal, but pulled it out to return to Purdue, suggesting there will be a legitimate QB competition here. 

Elsewhere Purdue has added a few supplemental pieces, Isaiah Nichols (DT) and Anthony Brown (S) from Arkansas, the former being a middling rotational piece on the DL, while the latter got a redshirt as a true freshman this past season. They also got interior OL Jalen Grant, a two year starter at Bowling Green, to jump on board. None of these strike as particularly high impact additions, and I would expect them to add some more as the next few months roll along and the new staff gets their feet under them properly. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: more or less chaos]

[Bryan Fuller]

Iowa

EXITS

Quite a bit of movement going on in Iowa City, as the team is dealing with significant losses on both sides of the football. As has been discussed a decent bit, Iowa took a sizable hit in their receiver room, losing Keagan Johnson (KSU) and Arland Bruce IV (OKST). Bruce was 4th on the team (2nd among WRs) in catches, while Johnson dealt with injuries this year but was the most highly touted WR on the roster. They did convince Nico Ragaini to come back, but the depth has been thinned and a hole is left open. At QB, Alex Padilla has mercifully entered the transfer portal, while it sounds like Spencer Petras is back with the intention of transitioning into a player/coach sort of role. Iowa also lost #3 RB Gavin Williams to the portal, though that is not the biggest loss in the world. Far more important is the graduation of star TE Sam LaPorta, their leading passcatcher on the season. 

The fearsome Hawkeyes defense will be reloading this offseason after the hits they've taken. Most of these are to the NFL/graduation, and they are big losses. Lukas Van Ness, their best passrusher, is off to the draft and is expected to be selected highly, while both veteran LBs, star Jack Campbell and Seth Benson, are moving on. Longtime star corner Riley Moss and longtime star S Kaevon Merriweather are also off to the NFL, while rotational LB Jestin Jacobs and rotational CB Terry Roberts have entered the portal. In total, that's five starters + "two next man up" type bench players. There is some returning talent, CB Cooper DeJean and S Quinn Schulte will be back, as well as a lot of pieces along the DL, but 4/5 of the guys who were starred (or should have been) on the FFFF diagram defensively are gone. 

In case you're wondering, OC Brian Ferentz is NOT one of the exits. The Iowa site "ourquadcities.com" has the latest headline "stop waiting for Brian Ferentz to be fired; why he'll be back in '23". Fun! 

ACQUISITIONS

Iowa's two biggest adds were, yup, QB Cade McNamara and TE Erick All. No need to litigate that! Besides those two, there are only two other names of note that the black and gold have scooped up, both on the offensive side. To fill the Bruce/Johnson hole at WR they got Seth Anderson, who was a very good receiver as a true freshman at Charleston Southern. How that will translate to a P5 program, I am not sure.

Speaking of translation questions, their other add was at OT where they got Daijon Parker out of Saginaw Valley State(!!), which is a leap all the way from D2. Iowa could definitely use help on the OL, but a bit of a gamble to expect a D2 player to jump in and be that help. There are no defensive acquisitions right now, as it seems like Iowa will rely on Phil Parker's factory pumping out new models for 2023 to replace all the talent they lost. Which, given the history, isn't the worst bet in the world. 

[Patrick Barron]

Illinois

EXITS

As you may suspect for a program that is now legitimately good(??), Illinois doesn't have too much turnover going on, and what does exist is NFL/graduation attrition. That latter bucket is substantial, losing QB Tommy DeVito, whom the NCAA denied a One More Year waiver, star RB Chase Brown, star RT Alex Palczewski, C Alex Pihlstrom, and TE Luke Ford on offense. Doesn't get that much better on defense either, where superstar CB Devon Witherspoon is likely to go in the first round of the NFL Draft, and was followed out the door by starting safeties Sydney Brown and Kendall Smith, as well as nickel Quan Martin. In other words, the secondary has been blown to bits. 

The transfer portal category is pretty sparse, which is a sign that things are humming pretty well in Champaign. The Fighting Illini have had just four players enter the portal by my count, with WR Brian Hightower being the only significant contributor to go that route. The others, CB Daniel Edwards, OL Matt Fries, and DL Verdis Brown were not players I was familiar with. In other words, Illinois has old school attrition, but has been mostly untouched by the vicious cycle of chaos that the modern transfer portal has wrought on some programs. Good for Bert. 

ACQUISTIONS 

Just like the little movement through the portal on the exit side, Illinois hasn't landed much of anything on the acquisition side portal-wise either. So far they have just two players of note, both on offense. As a developmental TE option they landed Tanner Arkin from Colorado State, who had 14 catches for 116 yards on a Rams team that rarely ever had the time to throw the ball at all due to their pass protection catastrophe. Arkin was a Class of 2021 recruit, so he comes with lots of eligibility. The other pickup was at QB, where Illinois got a commitment from Luke Altmyer from Ole Miss, a former 4* prospect who just finished his second season in Oxford. Altmyer lost the QB competition to Jaxson Dart in the offseason and promptly entered the portal having attempted 54 career passes. Hard to know what he will be in Champaign. 

There are some changes on the coaching side, with DC Ryan Walters exiting for the HC job at Purdue. To replace him, Bielema stayed in house and decided to promote DBs coach Aaron Henry. Considering that Henry was directly coaching Kerby Joseph (2022 3rd rounder of the Lions) and Witherspoon, that seems like a pretty good resume for promotion. 

[Bryan Fuller]

Minnesota

EXITS

The Gophers have finished off another nine win season under PJ Fleck and are undergoing some change in the offseason. They are losing notable contributors on both sides of the ball, with RB Mo Ibrahim finally moving on to the NFL, as well as All-American C John Michael Schmitz, both of whom are huge holes to fill. Schmitz is part of an entire starting IOL group that is departing, with guards Axel Ruschmeyer and Old Friend Chuck Filiaga graduating. Longtime QB Tanner Morgan is out of time too, though he was not the starter much of the season due to injury. On the defensive side of the ball, All-B1G LB Mariano Sori-Marin is also graduating/dipping his toes into the NFL, with starting DL Thomas Rush, CB Terrell Smith, and S Jordan Howden following him. This was a pretty veteran Minnesota squad, and now we see the fallout from that. 

The transfer portal hasn't done much to affect Minnesota, however, losing a couple players of note but nothing hugely consequential. Their biggest loss was poached in-conference, when starting nickel Michael "Flip" Dixon decided to "flip" (zing!) to Rutgers [*crowd starts hurling tomatoes at me*]. Braelen Oliver was a sorta starter at LB and has since transferred to Georgia Tech, while the remaining names who even saw the field, DL Gage Keys and Austin Booker, and S Jalen Glaze, were all buried on the depth chart, injured, or primarily special teamers. 

One final note here, OC Kirk Ciarocca also packed his bags for Piscataway, where Schiano is reportedly going to pay him $1.4 M (!). Fleck decided to promote internally to fill that hole, moving WR coach Matt Simon and former TE coach (now QB coach) Greg Harbaugh Jr. to be Co-OCs for this upcoming season. 

ACQUISITIONS 

Minnesota's been reasonably busy in the portal, looking to reboot their offense by dipping into the same well that PJ Fleck once came from, the Western Michigan Broncos. They have copy and pasted both WMU's starting WR and RB, Corey Crooms and Sean Tyler. Crooms has over 750 receiving yards in back to back seasons, while Tyler rushed for 1,000 yards this past year, both being named All-2nd Team MAC. The Gophers also picked up Charlotte WR Elijah Spencer, who caught 57 balls for 943 yards in 2022 for the 49ers. All three of these players will have to make the leap to P5 football, but all three were highly successful at the G5 level and thus are decent lottery tickets to acquire.  

The defensive side has several pickups who seem to be instant contributors. Fleck also nabbed one of WMU's starting LBs in Ryan Selig, who PFF graded out as "okay" in 2022. The maroon and gold picked up a rotational edge from UNC in Chris Collins, whose grades are also middling. Their biggest land on defense may be Jack Henderson, a DB from Southeastern Louisiana, who was a 2x All-Southland Conference honoree and one of the best DBs in the FCS. He's another player that we have to see make the leap to higher competition, but I've always been in favor of plucking players who are stars of the FCS and giving them a shot. 

[Patrick Barron]

Wisconsin

EXITS 

Wisconsin has seen a solid amount of turnover as you'd expect, making a coaching change and all. They lost a number of pieces to the NFL/graduation, including starters (or near-starters) at LB (Nick Herbig), NT (Keanu Benton), CB (Jay Shaw/Justin Clark), and S (Jon Torchio). That's a decent bit to stomach, and you can toss in OL Joe Tipmann in this as well on the offensive side. Thankfully, portal losses weren't as extreme, rotational corner and little used TE Semar Melvin and Jaylan Franklin, respectively, going to Michigan State, reserve RB Isaac Guerrendo headed to Louisville, and S Titus Toler going to Boise State. The most notable portal loss was probably QB Graham Mertz, which is not necessarily a bad thing [Mertz picked Florida]. Wisconsin did lose 3* true freshman DL Tristan Monday to Arizona State, but that brings this section to a close and all things considered, not too bad. Bringing back Braelon Allen was huge for the Badgers. 

ADDITIONS 

This is where it gets messy. Let's start with the coaches. Luke Fickell is in, and it means new coordinators as well. Jim Leonhard is out as DC, and Fickell is bringing his DC from Cincy, longtime Dantonio disciple Mike Tressel, with him. The plan appears to be to transition Wisconsin from the 3-4 they've been since the beginning of time to a 3-3-5. Speaking of changes from the beginning of time mold, old school big boy football is out on the offensive side of the ball, and the Air Raid is in. New OC Phil Longo, hired away from North Carolina, is promising sweeping changes. 

That begins with player personnel at the QB and WR positions, where Longo and Fickell have undergone an "everything must go" situation and are importing brand new rooms at both spots. By my count they've landed three new QBs, one to be the immediate starter and two Class of 2022 transfers who will battle for the right to be the QB of the Future. The immediate starter is SMU's Tanner Mordecai and he's legit. Mordecai has thrown for 30+ TDs and over 3,500 yards in each of the past two seasons for the Mustangs. Those vying to be the future are Nick Evers of Oklahoma and Braedyn Locke of Mississippi State, both of which were 4* prospects in the '22 class. Talk about a shakeup. 

It gets busier at WR, where the Badgers have imported four new players. Quincy Burroughs and Will Pauling followed their head coach from Cincinnati, neither of which being used much this past season but will look to see their roles grow in the future. Out of USC they acquired CJ Williams, also a 4* 2022 recruit who will be a popular breakout pick in 2023. Wisconsin got one receiver with stability and experience in Bryson Green of Oklahoma State, who had 36 catches for 584 yards in 2022 for the Pokes. 

The remaining transfer additions at this juncture are assorted and more random, dotting other positions across the roster. Jeff Pietrowski was a good EDGE for MSU back in 2021 but missed most of this past season with injury. He is set to join the Badgers defense and could be a starter. Darian Varner will join Pietrowski at the EDGE position after starting at Temple and receiving solid PFF grades in doing so. Jason Maitre comes aboard from Boston College after being a starting DB for the Eagles, and he projects as a starting nickel. Finally, back on offense, Wisconsin has added two more Cincy guys to fortify the OL, tackle Joe Huber, the starter at RT for the Bearcats and a PFF favorite, as well as Jake Renfro, who was a 2021 starter on the interior, receiving All-AAC honors before injuries marred his 2022 campaign. Both guys figure to be starters. 

[Bryan Fuller]

Northwestern

EXITS

Northwestern hasn't lost too much to the portal, but they did lose big names to the NFL decision day. Star OT Peter Skoronski, starting RB Evan Hull, and two of their better defensive players, DE Adetomiwa Adebawore and CB Cam Mitchell, all have thrown their hat in the NFL ring, which hurts a team that didn't have too many good players to begin with. As for the portal, they lost WR Malik Washington and DB AJ Hampton Jr., who were both assumed to not be back anyway, so it didn't come as a major shock to Northwestern bloggers. The other losses tended to be concentrated at DT, where the exits of Jason Gold Jr., Jordan Butler, and Austin Firestone, one of their best 2022 recruits, has hollowed out the depth. Other than that, not much to say, as they thankfully didn't have any stars portal out like S Brandon Joseph did last offseason. 

ACQUISITIONS 

Uhhhhhh. They got WR Cam Johnson from Arizona State! He had only 10 catches this past season, but had a 56 catch, 545 yard season back in the COVID year, so that's neat! But as of right now, that's the only portal addition for Northwestern, who lack any sort of NIL fund and have massive academic hurdles to adding players. So.... yeah. 

[Bryan Fuller]

Nebraska 

EXITS 

Coaching change in Lincoln means roster shuffling in Lincoln. Promising young LB Ernest Hausmann decided to pack his bags and head to Ann Arbor, being the most high profile Nebraska departure. The Huskers did lose a 4* 2022 prospect at CB in Jaedan Gould, who picked Syracuse, but otherwise the rest of the portal out names for Nebraska are players who rarely saw the field and are going down the ladder in terms of programs. The likes of Rice, UNI, WKU, and Florida A&M are the landing spots for this group of players. One does stand out, and that is All-Name Team legend Decoldest Crawford, who is heading out for Louisiana Tech.

As for the NFL, Nebraska mostly lost the players you'd expect. EDGE was harder hit, where Garrett Nelson, the lone starred defender on the FFFF diagram, and ex-TCU transfer Ochaun Mathis, are both declaring for the NFL. On offense, Dangerman and star WR Trey Palmer unsurprisingly put his name in the NFL Draft. Nebraska wasn't good enough to have any other players leave for the NFL and be notable enough to make this section. 

ACQUISITIONS 

New head coach Matt Rhule has started to build his new staff, hiring Marcus Satterfield away from South Carolina to be the new OC of the Huskers (Satterfield was SCar's OC). On defense he stole Syracuse's DC Tony White and the plan seems to be to run a modern spread on offense and a 3-3-5 on defense. The biggest question with the roster was at QB, where Casey Thompson returns, but will be working his way back from injury in the spring. That led Rhule to chase Jeff Sims out of the portal to push Thompson and provide another option. Sims was Georgia Tech's starter to begin the season before eventually winding up in the portal. He had 5 TDs to 3 INTs through the air on 58.5% completion, as well as 302 rushing yards, a true dual threat athlete. 

So far Rhule and White have worked to add talent to the defense the Mel Tucker way, scooping up ex-highly touted recruits who have not found any playing time at big time SEC programs. This includes three DL/EDGE players, Elijah Jeudy and MJ Sherman of Texas A&M and Georgia, respectively, as well as OLB/EDGE Chief Borders and CB Corey Collier from Florida. All of these players were either high 4* or 5* players in the 2020-21 classes who have seen less than 100 snaps in a season since then. Will they work out? Maybe. Do players in this mold work out typically? No. 

On offense they've added some more known pieces. At WR they have reeled in Billy Kemp IV, who had an injury riddled season in 2022 at UVA but had 600+ receiving yards in both 2021 and 2020 and would seemingly project as an instant-impact piece. Ben Scott was ASU's starting C last season and now will be headed to Lincoln where he can slot in immediately on the line. Lastly, Nebraska landed former 5* TE Arik Gilbert from Georgia this week. Gilbert was a top five national player in the 2020 class who signed with LSU and played a lot as a true freshman for the Tigers. He then transferred back to his home state Dawgs but dealt with personal issues in 2021 and then was buried on the depth chart in 2022, opting to enter the portal again. It's a bit unknown what Gilbert could give the Huskers, but the talent is there.