GoldandBlack.com's 20-year Purdue player draft: Pick No. 78
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 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.
Clardie, still needing a starting QB and RB, goes with a bit of a twist ...
Draft ticker: Nos. 1-77
This is what I wrote when my next pick left Purdue:
"Justin Sinz just may have been the perfect Boilermaker. In terms of production based on the amount of snaps, few players on Purdue’s team the last two years were better. And he’s been a prime example for success off the field, too, as one of the program’s best students, a member of the CoSIDA Academic All-District V team and a graduate. He also earned respect of teammates with his leadership style, allowing him to be selected as a captain this season."
Is it weird to kind of quote yourself? Of course. But that so sums up why Sinz is my selection here — in another one of my draft twists.
Do I need a quarterback? Yep. A running back? Yep. Another defensive end? Yep.
But after focusing on building my defense for so much of the beginning of the draft, going against character a bit for someone who loves offense, I wanted to make sure my offense had the traits that I like in one: An aggressive, dirty front line with tons of versatility at the skill positions.
With Sinz — one of the most sure-handed guys on my entire team — to go with playmaking Tim Stratton, I can easily slip into a double tight end-look and slip Stratton or Sinz into the slot. Sinz is a smart dude, too, so I know he'll be able to adjust to whatever shifts I decide to run with my fake offense and its versatile play-calling. (Shoot, as a former high school QB, maybe I'll have Sinz sling it on some kind of trick play.)
And who knows? Maybe I'll go on a running back, uh, run and take two to allow even more flexibility. Look out all of those standard 4-3 defenses of my colleagues.
Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?
Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook
More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2017. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.