44 Days To Purdue Football: Landon Feichter

Today's featured player is one of my favorites on the team, mostly because he is a hard worker who is as tough as nails. I made the mistake a few years ago of calling him a freshman walk-on that would likely never play. He enters this year as a four-year starter that has surpassed all expectations possible for him.

Landon Feichter - Sr.

Fort Wayne, Indiana (Dwenger HS)

6', 192 pounds

Safety

2014 Projection: Starter at Safety

Feichter was a bit like the Black Knight from Monty Python last season. Against Indiana State he played with two broken hands before breaking his leg. He ended up playing in six total games, starting three, and had 24 tackles to go with an interception.

This was a year after he was an honorable mention all-Big Ten selection in 2012. He was the leader on the team with 80 tackles and led the conference with four interceptions, including one for a touchdown. His late interception of Kenny Guiton at Ohio State nearly sealed a massive upset.

He even made plays as a redshirt walk-on freshman in 2011, notching 25 tackles total and playing in all 13 games. He remains a hard worker that has surprised many along the way:

"When he was on the scout team, we'd come in at night and watch the offense, and I'd ask the coaches all the time, 'Who is that guy?'" said Boilermakers head coach Danny Hope.

"He'd really run fast to the wall and hit people, and compete and fight for the ball in the air. He had a lot of fight and scrap about him, a nose for the football. Very, very fast but was a little undersized."