GoldandBlack.com's 20-year Purdue player draft: Pick No. 11
To help commemorate the 20-year anniversary of Purdue's magical turnaround 1997 season, GoldandBlack.com's staff will break up the rosters and select the best players to wear a Boilermaker uniform since Coach Joe Tiller's first season on the sidelines.
GoldandBlack.com's 20-year Purdue player draft will have 100 players chosen — two picks each day over the next 10 weeks. Boilermakers who were on the Purdue roster between 1997-2017 are eligible for selection. The draft order is Alan Karpick, Stacy Clardie, Kyle Charters and Brian Neubert.
Charters has his third pick, No. 11 overall ...
Draft ticker: No. 1 | No. 2 | No. 3 | No. 4 | No. 5 | No. 6 | No. 7 | No. 8 | No. 9 | No. 10
Not only do I want to build a talented team, but I'm looking for one with an edge, too.
And no one exemplifies that better than center Nick Hardwick. It's why he's the first pick in the second week of our draft, the second offensive lineman taken overall.
Most know of Hardwick's personal story, being a football novice — he was a member of state champion Lawrence North in Indianapolis who had quit football in ninth grade — before walking on at Purdue. He practiced as a defensive tackle for a season, then started as a guard in 2002 before moving to center as a senior the following year.
And there, he blossomed more than anyone could have guessed only a couple years earlier, becoming second-team All-Big Ten.
Why?
Hardwick has an incredible work ethic, one that allowed him to keep pressing toward an opportunity when he had very little football knowledge. But wrestling helped him transition, understanding leverage and push, will and fight. And once he could combine all his attributes as a senior, he became a great one.
And I want Hardwick in the middle of my offensive line, because he's an anchor who others will follow.
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