GoldandBlack.com Purdue player draft: No. 13 overall
This summer, the Boilermakers are being divided.
Reporters Stacy Clardie and Kyle Charters are going head-to-head in GoldandBlack.com's Purdue player draft, a daily selection in which separate rosters of 25 are being assembled over the next two months. In late July, we'll decide — based on GoldandBlack.com staff and member feedback — which team would win.
Clardie's up next with the No. 13 pick, and she chooses ...
The run of offensive linemen is coming to an end.
Kyle made the right pick with Jordan Roos at No. 12 — because I would have taken Roos here if he didn’t and had four starters across my line — but now it’s time to move away from the position with only one starter caliber-ish player left on the board. (That’d be Matt McCann, who probably won’t start this year for Purdue, which makes sense because there is a more experienced and more talented option in Cameron Cermin at right tackle, but will be one of our starters at right tackle.)
So onto the defensive side we go, and I could go a couple different places here. With already having the top CB on my roster, do I lock up the No. 1 safety, too, and take Leroy Clark? Would make sense. Or, without a linebacker yet, do I take the other likely starter in Ross Els’ nickel defense and grab Danny Ezechukwu? Would make sense, too.
But here’s who makes the most: Defensive tackle Eddy Wilson.
Depth in the interior of the defensive line is iffy — at least in terms of game experience — and Wilson is the best left on the board. He got his feet wet playing as a true freshman last season behind Ra’Zahn Howard and, though he didn’t get too many snaps, they were considerably more than any of the other options right now. Plus, without Howard around, Wilson worked with the first-team defense all spring and is the projected starter next to Jake Replogle.
Wilson’s still a work-in-progress — he’s only a second-year player, so it’s expected — but he seems to have a willingness to work and there appears to be some power there. And with Randy Melvin working with Wilson, there likely will be significant strides made in Year 2. That’s exciting.
Bottom line, though: I could not let Kyle have both of the projected starting interior D-linemen, based on the lack of proven guys behind them. That’s what dictated this pick.
Draft Ticker: 1-10 | 11. Jason King | 12. Jordan Roos
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