No, it is not Poona Ford, but with only a few days before National Signing Day Purdue is wrapping up its 2014 recruiting class. Ford seems to be the biggest name still out there on Purdue's board, but another big name dropped Thursday night.
Miguel Machado, a JuCo player from Pasadena City Community College in California committed to the Boilers. Machado is one of the top junior college offensive line prospects in the country and is listed as 3-star according to Rivals, a 3-star according to ESPN, and a 3-star according to Scout.
This was a top priority in Purdue's recruiting class, mostly because the offensive line would have had to improve to be godawful last year. He comes to Purdue with two years of eligibility and he will likely be in line to be an immediate starter at offensive tackle. For the Big Ten he is slightly undersized at 6'6" 280 pounds, but he is an athletic tackle.
Purdue certainly needs something at tackle. Kevin Pamphile and Justin Kitchens are gone as the guys that started there last year. Jack DeBoef and J.J. Prince have experience, but have not seized the starting positions. You can likely pencil Machado in as the starter from day one.
It is hard to get much worse. Purdue gave up 80 tackles for loss, 38 sacks, and had one of the worst running games in the entire country.
Welcome aboard, Miguel. You are more than needed.
Player | Rivals | ESPN | Scout |
Kirk Barron | 2-star | 3-star | 3-star |
David Blough | 3-star | 3-star | 3-star |
Trae Hart | 2-star | 3-star | 3-star |
Austin McGehee | 2-star | 3-star | 3-star |
Gregory Phillips | 2-star | 3-star | 2-star |
Gelen Robinson | 4-star | 3-star | 3-star |
Tim Cason | 3-star | 3-star | 3-star |
Keiwan Jones | 2-star | 3-star | 2-star |
Simmie Cobbs | 3-star | 3-star | 2-star |
Brandon Roberts | 2-star | 3-star | 3-star |
Jawhaun Bentley | 3-star | 3-star | 3-star |
Martesse Patterson | 2-star | 3-star | 3-star |
Will Colmery | 3-star | 3-star | 2-star |
Juan Jenkins | 3-star | 3-star | 2-star |
Cole Herdman | 2-star | 3-star | 2-star |
Dexter Knox | 2-star | 3-star | 2-star |
LaDarius Wiley | 3-star | 3-star | 3-star |
Cedric Dale | 2-star | 3-star | 3-star |
Miguel Machado | 3-star | 3-star | 3-star |
Bearooz Yacoobi | 2-star | 3-star | 2-star |
CLASS RANK | 64th Nationally, 13th of 14 in B1G | Not in top 40 Nationally | 59th Nationally, 12th of 14 in B1G |