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 weekday over the next 10 weeks. Boilermakers who were on Purdue rosters between 1997-2017 are eligible for selection. The draft order is Alan Karpick, Stacy Clardie, Kyle Charters and Brian Neubert.
Nearing the end of Week 2, Charters takes Pick No. 19 ...
Draft ticker: Picks No. 1-18
Dial up the Wayback Machine as we head back to 1997 and pick up a player who only meets our criteria by a season.
But Brian Alford, my selection at No. 19, was fantastic in '97, providing a building block to what was to come offensively during the Joe Tiller Era. Alford, a deep-threat outside receiver and probably the best Boilermaker of the last 20 years, finished 1997 with a near-20-yards-per-catch average, while scoring 10 touchdowns. He had 63 receptions for 1,226 yards, nearly triple that of the second-highest Boilermaker (Isaac Jones), and he was first-team All-Big Ten.
Because '97 was his senior year, perhaps we should consider only those numbers, and they're plenty good; but he was great previously too, with 12 touchdowns as a junior, when he picked up his first first-team All-Big Ten accolade. He had 31 receiving TDs in his career, a record that still stands as the top Purdue mark.
Now, lets pair Alford with Kyle Orton, my quarterback, and see what happens. It could be a dynamic duo, with the ability to push the ball deep down the field, especially with Dustin Keller occupying defenders in the middle. One is likely to have only single coverage and that's where my offense strikes with big plays.
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