Purdue Football Adds Grad Transfer Shane Evans

New coach Jeff Brohm is pushing the graduate transfer market very, very hard and today he was able to add a fifth such player. Shane Evans, an offensive guard from Northern Illinois, agreed to transfer to Purdue. What’s even better is that he graduated from NIU in three years, so counting his redshirt year in 2014 he has TWO years of eligibility left.

Evans is a huge pickup for Purdue. He is a two-year starter with 18 career starts at NIU and he brings in Big Ten ready size. he is listed at 6’4”, 302 pounds and he is probably going to play at offensive guard. He can also play center if necessary, but Kirk Barron has that on lockdown.

Evans was an academic all-MAC selection and obviously is smart if he graduated in three years. He joins T.J. McCollum, Josh Okonye, Dave Steinmetz, and Corey Holmes as graduate transfers. All five expect to compete for starting spots.

Here are some highlights for him:

More importantly, this helps solidify Purdue’s dangerously thin offensive line. Barron was the only definite starter, but this could allow for Purdue to have a solid interior of Evans and Matt McCann with Steinmetz and Grant Hermanns at the tackle spots. Michael Mendez and Ethan Smart can provide experienced depth, too, as well as versatility.

I wouldn’t call offensive line a strength just yet, but Purdue now has a more solid starting five plus a few key reserves for depth. It is A LOT better than it was during the spring game just with Steinmetz and Evans added.