Purdue Defensive Tackle Branson Deen Enters NCAA Transfer Portal
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue starting defensive tackle Branson Deen announced Monday that he is exploring other options in college football via the transfer portal. The redshirt senior graduated with a degree in industrial engineering technology.
I have entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.
— Branson Deen (@beedo317___) December 19, 2022
Deen has appeared in 11 games for the Boilermakers this season, tallying a career-high 27 total tackles and 4.0 tackles for loss including 2.5 sacks while ranking second on the team with four quarterback hurries.
An in-state recruit out of Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis, Deen joined the football program as a three-star recruit in the class of 2018. After redshirting as a true freshman, he has played in 31 games, recording 72 total tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks to go along with one pass deflection and one forced fumble.
As one of the leaders on Purdue's defense, he helped the unit account for 28 sacks in 2022, resulting in 192 yards lost for opposing teams. The Boilermakers were the eighth-ranked rushing defense in the Big Ten, allowing 136.2 yards on the ground per game.
In the first seven games of the year, Purdue didn't allow a single 100-yard rusher. The team gave up just 31 yards rushing on 10 carries to Penn State running back Nick Singleton in the season opener. Singleton has recorded 941 yards and 10 touchdowns on 149 attempts this season and was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
In a 20-10 road victory over Minnesota, the defense only allowed 47 yards rushing despite ending the regular season as the conference's second-ranked running offense. The Golden Gophers were without star running back Mohamed Ibrahim for the matchup, and backup Bryce Williams could only manage 35 yards on 11 carries.
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.