GoldandBlack.com's 20-year Purdue player draft: Pick No. 94
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 finishes her defense next.
Draft ticker: Nos. 1-93
Down to my second-to-last pick, probably makes sense to finally fill out my starting defense. I've waited this long because there hasn't been a defensive end that's jumped out at me like a must-have guy anymore. Again, my biggest regret in this draft is not taking Ray Edwards when I wanted him and thinking he'd hang around.
So I'm going to go with another potential outside-of-the-box pick here and taking another current player, Gelen Robinson. Though Robinson is moving inside for his senior season, he'll play end for me. And he'll give my line an element it could use: A good run-stopper on the edge who also can rush the passer, especially against the collection of right tackles my colleagues have selected. Robinson has bulked up to about 270 pounds, but he's ridiculously strong and still has a bit of uncommon quickness to him for that size. Seriously, he'll toast Kevin Pamphile and be a considerable handful for Brandon Gorin and Ian Allen.
Had Robinson not had a bit of a breakout season last year, he obviously wouldn't have been a candidate. But he was impressive — and not just with the team-high-tying 5.0 sacks or the 61 tackles for an end (third-highest on the team). But he showcased more of a motor than he had previously in his career and he also played more snaps than anybody else on the defense, showing durability and a willingness to work. Would suspect in my fake defense, he'd be able to at least duplicate those types of numbers with the incredible talent all around him.
Of course, selecting a guy who's not finished with his career means his numbers won't be as good, but I'm OK with that because of Robinson's upside. And, again, because the rest of my defense is stout.
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