GoldandBlack.com Purdue player draft: No. 23 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 next pick comes at No. 23.
So Kyle makes the right pick and takes Gregory Phillips, who I would have liked to have had but kind of felt like it would have been a luxury with also having drafted Cameron Posey. I love me some four-wide looks, but I knew it would have been tough to get that far. And I only would have done it because Phillips is good enough to warrant significant snaps.
But without Phillips and with my three receiver slots filled, I’m going to finish out my offensive skill guys with this pick, going with clear No. 1 tight end Cole Herdman.
Herdman fits great for a couple reasons. Without having a right tackle just yet — though I could slide Cameron Cermin over there if Kyle thinks he has such an advantage with Evan Panfil — Herdman is a more-than-capable blocker that I can keep him at the line to help out in pass protection or bounce Markell Jones free in the run game. Maybe I’ll even do an unbalanced line and put Herdman as my “left tackle” or something to truly strengthen that left side. But I digress. The really great thing about Herdman is he can be a reliable pass catcher — from the slot. So even though I don’t have Phillips, I can detach Herdman and have a four-receiver-ish look.
Really, all I need to know about Herdman is that Terry Malone, who has coached some pretty decent tight ends, said, “I think he’s really going to be a complete player.”
And the Herdman pick keeps with the strategy I started with No. 1 overall — playing the separation game in the two-deep. I think Brycen Hopkins has potential, and it really helped him this spring to get so many quality reps with the first- and second-team offense. But I don’t think he’s ready quite yet to handle significant game snaps. Though Herdman technically was Jordan Jurasevich’s backup last season, he actually played more offensive snaps. So the guy has real, true game experience and has confidence because of it. That matters.
Draft ticker: 1-20 | 21. Bilal Marshall | 22. Gregory Phillips
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