Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 2 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 44-19vs Indiana State | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 36-38vs Wake Forest | 7 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 7 tackles |
| Total | 9 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 |
#21
Justin Denson Jr.
Sophomore defensive back on Purdue's 2026 roster.
6′2″ · 200 lb · Providence, RI
Transferred Michigan State → Purdue for 2026
Recruiting
3★
CB recruit
No. 776 nationally · Signed with Michigan State
No college snaps yet.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
2 defensive back on Purdue's 2026 roster.
- Signed as a 3-star recruit to Michigan State in 2024.
- Transferred from Michigan State to Purdue in 2026.
Justin Denson Jr.
Across three seasons and two programs, two head coaches: Jonathan Smith and Barry Odom. The receipt on tape: 7 tackles, 0.5 TFL against Wake Forest, Week 2, 2026.
9 TACKLES · 0 SACKS
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
- season totals
- head-coach lineage
- game log
His career
20245 games
- Signed with Michigan State3-star out of Wyoming Seminary
2026
- Entered the portal
- Entered the portal
- Entered the portal
Career arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
2 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
2 coaches2024
Ryan Walters
Purdue
Coaching transition mid-career: Ryan Walters → Barry Odom. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Where He Ended Up · Transfer
Transferred to Purdue
2025Michigan State
2026Purdue
2026 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
2024Michigan State5-7HC: Jonathan Smith · Balanced, slow tempo
2025Michigan State4-8HC: Jonathan Smith · Balanced
2026Purdue1-1HC: Barry Odom · Balanced, fast tempo
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: tackles (0th percentile).
Box-score production (6)
Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.
Splits & context
Splits
Per-game splits
Through 2 games: 4.5 TKL/g, 0.2 TFL/g, 0.0 SACK/g, 0.0 PD/g — splits start at 3 games.
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Barry Odom
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Awards
Player standing · 2026
Backup
On the two-deep and pushing for snaps.
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Purdue | 9 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2025 | Michigan State | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2024 | Michigan State | 13 | 10 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 24 | 14 | 0.5 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2026
W 44–19
Game log
The secondary · Purdue
- #6Mister Clark57 tackles · 2025
- #4Hudauri Hines32 tackles · 2025
- #2Jaden Mangham30 tackles · 2025
- #1Smiley Bradford30 tackles · 2025
- #21Justin Denson Jr.2 tackles · 2025
20 more on the roster · Purdue team page
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology