GoldandBlack.com's 20-year Purdue player draft: Pick No. 96
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, who's up now.
Draft ticker: Nos. 1-95
Could I possibly have made a better depth pick here than with Jaycen Taylor? I think not.
First off, we all need two good running backs. I now have two, so my fake team can rotate freely.
Second, I now have a player who I can use in different roles, because he was a true Swiss Army Knife out of the backfield for Purdue. He can be productive carrying the ball, catching the ball and intangibly in pass protection, because he's smart and fearless despite his size.
Three, he's a leader, and you saw with my last pick that even though this is a fake, theoretical exercise, that stuff matters to me. Taylor's value at Purdue went far beyond his production. He was a big-effort, big-heart sort of player, a great example for my other paper-tiger stars to follow.
Fourth, and to show you the obnoxious depths I'm taking this to, Taylor makes my No. 1 running back, Kory Sheets, better. Having Taylor's energy pushing Sheets during their career together made Sheets and Taylor alike better.
So there you go. A hell of a pick.
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