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The offensive line has been a sore spot for Purdue football on and off for the last 10 years if not more. Not since a bunch of big uglies appeared on the cover of Gold and Black Illustrated in their manties has Purdue had a truly dominant offensive line. Hopefully that's beginning to change. The offensive line definitely grew as a unit last season and looks to continue to improve again this season. That will help Purdue's young starting QB whoever it may be *cough* Austin Appleby *cough*. Today we take a look at a returning starter David Hedelin.
David Hedelin - Senior
6'4, 298 pounds
Left Tackle
2015 Projection- Starting left tackle
David Hedelin comes to Purdue via a bit of a windy road. He previously played at City College of San Fransisco which is a junior college. After having spent two years out there he was one of the more highly touted JUCO transfers out there before landing at Purdue. He ended a 4* prospect and wound up coming to Purdue with a bit of an asterisk. Due to playing overseas for a club team Hedelin was forced to sit out three games to start the season. For those of you that aren't aware Hedelin is a native Swede and only came to America when he began playing football at City College. There was still a bit of a language barrier. You can read more about that from Mike Carmin. For those too lazy to click the link the gist of the article is that Hedelin struggled at times last year due to the language barrier. Hedelin feels that's all cleared up and he's ready to be even better this year. That's what I like to hear.
He anchors a line that showed great promise as the season wound down last year. With both Hedelin and Jason King back on the left side of the line it should make for some excellent line play. Hedelin started the final seven games of last season and, hopefully, will start every game this season. Purdue needs stability along the offensive line and Hedelin can bring that. There was an excellent article in the game day program about Hedelin that can be found on the Purdue Sports website. I'd encourage you to take a look.