High expectations for tight ends Herdman, Hopkins in new offense

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Even when they weren’t the featured part of Purdue’s offense, tight ends Cole Herdman and Brycen Hopkins made an impression in 2016.

Herdman was one of the team’s most versatile players, playing attached next to the offensive line, in the alley in an H-back-type look, in the backfield and detached as a slot or, even, outside receiver. He hardly left the field, too, logging tons of snaps as a first-year starter. And he quickly proved he was one of the team’s most reliable pass-catchers, maximizing his targets with 35 catches for 344 yards. Both of those marks are the highest returning receiving totals on the team.

Hopkins, a freak athlete, maximized his opportunities as a receiver, especially, turning four of his 10 catches into touchdowns. A year’s worth of seasoning and experience was pivotal for Hopkins, who didn’t start playing football until high school.

It’s no wonder new tight ends coach Tony Levine is excited: The Boilermakers appear to have a pair of potentially really good ones in an offense that will highlight them.

“They’re doing a nice job so far,” Levine said Friday. “In just helmets in the first two practices, you think you see a little bit of toughness in them, trying to do some things, and then (putting) the pads (on Friday), it was confirmed. It’s a good group of tight ends and certainly excited about the experience those two in particular bring to the position.

“Our offense is unique in many ways and I think one of them is specifically at the tight end position. So we’re going to feature our tight ends. That’s been the history of this offense going back even when Coach Brohm was the offensive coordinator, not the head coach, and calling the plays. We’ve had a lot of success using different personnel packages — not just one tight end on the field, two even sometimes three depending on the situation and having the ability, and I see that with the group we have right now, to be able to split them out. Not necessarily being tight in the formation with their hand on the group. They will be a big part of what we do offensively.”

Purdue showed a taste of that Friday.

During team periods, Hopkins and Herdman unofficially caught seven passes and didn’t have a drop. At least three times, the quarterback used a play-action to freeze the defense, pop up and quickly deliver a strike down the seam to the tight ends over the linebacker and in front of the safety. Each one was a big yardage play, and each one an example of how pivotal the position — and those players, specifically — can be.

Asked what the role of the tight end is in Brohm’s offense, Herdman said, “I think it’s a playmaker.”

“We’re going to get a lot of opportunities to make plays for this team,” Herdman said. “I think Brycen and I are up for the challenge. We’re going to work hard and help the offense in any way we can.”

For Herdman, that could be in the form of a security-blanket-type player for the quarterback. He’d like to run deeper routes — and he probably will, especially in the seam — but he also wants QBs to know he can be trusted in third-down situations, in a “big-time situation” that needs to produce a catch. Considering he rarely dropped passes last season and showed, at times, that he could turn up field and rumble to extra yardage, he’s already done that, David Blough said earlier this week.

But Herdman wants more — to be counted on no matter where he lines up.

“Before last year, I was always kind of a hand-in-the-dirt-type guy. Last year, they split me out. So now that I have all that experience, this year really isn’t anything new,” he said. “They have me doing both, playing in the slot, in the wing, off the ball, on the ball. So it’s been good.”

Hopkins admits he feels more comfortable detached, lined up in the slot. And at 6-foot-5, 245 pounds with decent speed and length, as well as athleticism, that can make him a tough matchup for linebackers or safeties.

“I feel like that’s what I was born to do — run down the field and catch the ball,” he said. “But I understand I have to be a dual threat.”

• A couple more players found themselves on the injured list Friday. Receiver Jarrett Burgess had a boot on his left foot to start practice, joining Austin Larkin who missed his second consecutive practice while also having his foot in a boot.

New injuries from the first padded practice day included safety C.J. Parker, who’d been playing with the first-team defense. During a team period late in practice, Tario Fuller caught a pass in the flat and turned up the right sideline where linebacker Rob Simmons went low to hit him. Parker was near the collision and went to the ground immediately, clutching his lower left leg. He couldn’t even put pressure on the foot to get to the sidelines and eventually was carted off the field. T.J. Jallow and walk-on Jacob Thieneman each got the first-team reps after Parker was hurt.

Walk-on offensive lineman Eric Flaherty went down during the first physical, hitting period when he got twisted up against fellow walk-on Mike Zeigler. Flaherty immediately grabbed at his right foot/ankle area and ended up leaving practice on crutches.

• The defense had two interceptions during team periods Friday, both by linebackers. Markus Bailey snagged a one-hander and Sawyer Dawson leaped to deflect a pass and then cradled it for the pick.

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