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The NFL. That's Derrick Barnes' target. That's where he hopes to land soon. And he appears to be on track to reach his goal.

Barnes turned some heads while playing last weekend in the Senior Bowl, the premiere event for NFL hopefuls. The former Purdue linebacker is continuing to train in California to become a paid professional.

Barnes has an impressive resume. He was named second-team All-Big Ten by the coaches and third-team by the media last season. In 2020, the senior led the Boilermakers with 54 tackles and was second with 5.5 TFLs. He also had an interception. Barnes excelled playing at linebacker a year after spending 2019 at end.

The 6-1, 245-pound Covington, Ky., native started 33 games for Purdue from 2017-2020. He made 226 tackles with 10.5 sacks and 25 TFLs in 39 career games.

GoldandBlack.com visited with Barnes as he was training for pro day.