MORE 2020 WALK-ONS: QB Jack Albers | LB Hayden Ellinger | LB Zac Tuinei | OL Gus German | QB Andrew Hobson
Next season, Purdue will have not one, but two, Dellingers on the roster with the recent pledge of Edward Dellinger.
Edward Dellinger is the younger of Boilermaker kicker J.D. Dellinger, who will be a fifth-year senior next season. Like older brother J.D., Edward is a kicker, coming to West Lafayette as a preferred walk-on. The big question: Is Edward better than J.D.?
“I’d like to think so,” said Edward Dellinger, who like J.D. works with North Carolina-based kicking coach Dan Orner who kicked for the University of North Carolina and Michigan State.
Time will tell. J.D. Dellinger should be one of the best kickers in the Big Ten in 2020, coming off a season in which he earned consensus honorable-mention All-Big Ten honors after hitting 13-of-16 field-goal attempts following a redshirt season in 2018. Dellinger also made all 35 of his extra points in 2019. And he drilled a career-long 53-yard field goal vs. TCU last season while also making a game-winning 39-yarder in the final seconds at Northwestern. Edward Dellinger became familiar with Purdue while visiting West Lafayette to watch brother J.D., a scholarship kicker who was recruited by Darrell Hazell.
“Ever since my brother started going to Purdue, it’s always been a place I definitely have been looking at not just for football but for school,” said Dellinger, who wants to major in economics. “So, it was kind of a no-brainer for me to be able to play football and go to such a good school.”
The 6-3, 185-pound Dellinger came to camp last summer and earned a PWO offer from then-special teams coach Kevin Wolthausen. Dellinger got in touch with new special teams coach Marty Biagi, who visited Dellinger last Friday in North Carolina.
“It was a real good visit,” said Dellinger, who plays the guitar and sings in the school choir. “So, I just decided to commit on the spot.”
Dellinger says he had PWO offers from Nebraska, Liberty and Fordham after playing at Charlotte Country Day School, which went 9-1 in 2019. As a senior, Dellinger says he hit 7-of-10 field-goal attempts with a long of 40. He also punted and kicked off, with 50 of 56 going for touchbacks.
Purdue added Chris VanEekeren as a walk-on kicker last year. He likely will backup J.D. Dellinger in 2020. Then, the Boilermakers will need a kicker in 2021. No doubt, Edward Dellinger hopes he can be "the man" one day. And maybe more. While Dellinger is coming to Purdue as a kicker, he says he also will work on punting.
“Coach Biagi and I talked about me working all skills to be available, being versatile,” said Dellinger, who also played basketball in high school.
And he’ll get to work on his skills with his brother for at least one year in West Lafayette.
“My brother and I are really, really close,” said Dellinger. “I think he’s excited. I am excited to learn from him because of how good he has been.”
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