88 days to Purdue Football: Cole Herdman

Today we have one of our first returning starters. He is the top returning tight end and should play an even larger role in his redshirt sophomore season.

Cole Herdman -€” So. (RS)

Leesburg, Virginia (Flint Hill HS)

6'4" 238 pounds

Tight End

2016 Projection: Starter at Tight End

For a redshirt freshman on a bad team Herdman had a very good season. He was often the second tight end behind Jordan Jurasevich, but he still had a lot of targets. In fact, he ended up catching more passes than the senior. He finished seventh on the team in receptions with 18 for 139 yards and two touchdowns. Is first career touchdowns was a 10-yard catch against Minnesota, but unfortunately Purdue was already down 41-6 after giving up 41 straight points. His second TD came on a two-yard pass from Austin Appleby against Indiana that cut the lead to 31-21 late in the third quarter.

Herdman could be in line for a big season in 2016, especially now that tight ends coach Terry Malone is now the offensive coordinator and the offense looks to move to "semi-competent" from "complete and utter shitshow."