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.
Karpick's first pick in the ninth round ...
Draft ticker: No. 1-32
Joe Tiller loved Mark Fischer.
He loved his street fighting mentality and Fischer's leadership ability to hold together an inexperienced offensive line in 1997. That '97 line, prior to the season, was reminiscent of what new coach Jeff Brohm faces heading into the 2018. It was woefully short on proven depth.
But Fischer earned Tiller's trust at the most important position on the O-line, left tackle. That ended up being so critical to the development of Tiller's program, as it allowed Tiller to redshirt Matt Light, who would become the Boilermakers left tackle for the '98 season after Fischer's graduation.
Yet for the development of my team, I will move Fischer back to guard, a position he held down for Coach Jim Colletto in his sophomore year, as he proved very capable blocking for Mike Alstott's record senior season.
The left side of my line is pretty staunch, and it remains flexible to move Okobi to guard or to possibly move Fischer to right tackle, should it be warranted depending on how the rest of this draft shakes out.
I am really starting to like my team.
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