Ryan Walters and the Boilermakers landed a priority target on the defensive side of the ball on Monday morning, as 2025 three-star defensive end Landon Brooks announced his commitment to Purdue via X.

The Muncie, Indiana native had been on outside linebackers coach Joe Dineen's radar dating back to last fall, and now the in-state native is a part of the Boilermakers' 2025 recruiting class. Brooks chose Purdue over offers from Missouri, West Virginia, Michigan State, Illinois and Indiana, among others.

"Oh man, it's a dream come true. Like it's something every little boy like me dreamed of playing football and all I wanted to do is play at the next level. I always said to people I'm gonna play at Purdue one day. Everybody just laughed at me, they all laughed at me and now it's really coming true," Brooks told Boiler Upload.

During his breakout junior campaign in 2023, which saw a flurry of Power 5 offers come his way, Brooks racked up 75 total tackles, including 24 tackles for loss and ten sacks.

At 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, Brooks provides an intriguing skillset to the table for the Boilermakers. Brooks has an excellent get off to pair with impressive speed for the edge rusher position, which resulted in the future Boilermaker living in the backfield last season. The Delta High School product also has a seven-foot-two wingspan at his disposal, which makes him a factor in the passing game.

His game and physical traits resembles those of current Purdue sophomore edge rusher Will Heldt, who the coaching staff is extremely high on. Delta's defense also allows Brooks to get a taste of the same role he'll serve in West Lafayette, standing up on the edge.

Brooks steadily improved his pass rushing abilities over the last year after thriving more in the run game at Delta, which he credits working with a pass rush trainer.

"I would say at the beginning of the year it was mainly just my run stopping ability because I'd never worked with a trainer on pass rush and it was just kind of just self taught," Brooks said. "Eventually it just became muscle memory and my pass rush just got so much better late in the year. So then after that it was kind of like dynamic, my stats blew up towards the end of the year."

Brooks believes that under Joe Dineen's tutelage, he can step in and have an impact with the Boilermakers early in his career.

"My main thing is just get to the quarterback and his best attribute is coaching that. So the way they scheme their defense, it's made for people like me," Brooks said. "Coach Dineen told me he has high hopes for me playing my freshman year or being in the running."

Purdue now has a pair of front seven members in the 2025 recruiting class as Brooks joins fellow three-star defensive end Rashad Jones in next year's haul. The addition of Brooks also gives the Boilermakers their fifth commitment of the cycle, moving them into the top 25 in the Rivals team recruiting rankings.