Purdue exits the pivotal June recruiting season with 18 verbal commitments for the 2023 class, a group of early commitments that'll comprise the majority of the Boilermakers' high school recruiting class to sign in December.

While there still will be some balls in the air from the prep ranks for the next few months and some loose ends to tie up during the season and up until the winter recruiting period, this phase of the process now just serves as the lead-in to transfer portal season following the season.

Anyway, a few things about Purdue's Early 18.

More: Purdue's 2023 commitment list

Purdue's still vying for four-star defensive tackle Kendrick Gilbert of Indianapolis Cathedral, but as is, the four-man defensive line class currently in place is strong, made up of tackles Drake Carlson and Saadiq Clements and edge players Micah Carter and Will Heldt.

True defensive tackle who are — or can be — big enough to play the position in the Big Ten, but also athletic enough to not be liabilities in that regard, are difficult to come by, but Carlson and Clements profile as players who can check those boxes. The list of ready-made defensive tackles Purdue's signed over the span of many years is not a long one, and both these guys will require development, but their dimensions, athletic profiles and recruiting options suggest Mark Hagen and the defensive staff got two good ones here.

The same can be said for the two ends, Carter being that long and rangy edge-rusher type that coaches throughout every level of football are coveting more and more, and Heldt potentially being that bigger, edge-setting sort of player.

All four defensive line commits held several other P5 offers, with Kentucky's Carter and Clements having been early targets for in-state Louisville and Kentucky, with Clements also being pursued for a time by Michigan. Carlson, from Nashville, was a legitimate target for Tennessee and academic powerhouses from coast to coast. Heldt chose Purdue head to head over Iowa, his only other visit.