Purdue Football: Captains Named

Coach Brohm has named his captains for the upcoming season. With three offensive captains and three defensive captains.

On offense, we have Juniors, Kirk Barron and David Blough. A surprising one for me is Greg Phillips being named. He must have worked his butt off since Coach Brohm has been here, as he has had little impact on the field.

Kirk Barron - Junior, 6’2”, 305 Pounds, Center, Mishawaka, Indiana

Kirk is going on his second season as being the leader of the offensive line. He was one of the few bright spots last year. Kirk is one of the team leaders for obvious reasons, he is smart, competitive and wants to win. You can take a look at is Twitter for further evidence of this.

David Blough - Junior, 6’1”, 210 Pounds, Quarterback, Carrollton, Texas

David is going into his 2nd full season as the starting quarterback. If you remember, in 2015 he took over for Austin Appleby after he struggled. David has not let go of the job since. He is competitor, there is no doubt about that. He led the B1G in yards, touchdowns and..... interceptions, he will fix that though. The best part about David? He represents Purdue with so much pride off the field. He is a great face for us.

Greg Phillips - Senior, 6’, 200 Pounds, Wide Receiver, Lithonia, Georgia

Greg is a bit of a surprise for me. Justin Lovett has praised his work ethic though. He was also academic all B1G last season, which is a great accomplishment. He appeared in all 12 games last year, starting five of them. He looks to have a bigger impact this season and compete for a starting job.

On defense, we have three guys that I am not surprised to see as our captains. Ja’Whaun Bentley, Danny Ezechukwu and Da’Wan Hunte. They are all seniors and have started for a couple of years for us. They have proven to be great leaders for Purdue, during a dark time these past few years.

Ja’Whaun Bentley - Senior, 6’2”, 255 Pounds, Middle Linebacker, Glenarden, Maryland

Bentley has been a mainstay in the middle since he got to campus for years ago. He was a true freshman all american his first year here. He has had the injury bug a couple of times these past two seasons. But, he is without a doubt, our best player on defense. He is physically imposing and quite honestly, probably our best bet to get drafted this season. If he goes out with a bang, a NFL team will take a shot on him just on measurables.

Danny Ezechukwu - Senior, 6’2”, 250 Pounds, Outside Linebacker, Lithonia, Georgia

Danny has played a lot of snaps for us. Unfortunately, last years DC had us running a 4-2-5 when our strength was our backers. Stupid I know. Danny was victim of that move. While he finished 2nd on the team in tackles with 79, I feel like he could have much more, if Els did not have him back pedaling to a pass drop to start. Wonder why we got ran all over, look no further then Els our former DC. With backers like Danny and Ja’Whaun and a great coaching staff, I am confident in saying Danny will have a great year. He is another guy that could get drafted next season.

Da’Wan Hunte - Senior, 5’9”, 190 Pounds, Cornerback, Miami, Florida

Hunte has been a mainstay in the defensive backfield. He was a bright spot back there last season. He really plays bigger than he is. Ideally, he would probably be a slot corner, but he does just fine outside for us. With a great scheme, he could be even better. He is a smart kid too, earning B1G academic honorsHunte could find himself on Sundays playing at the nickel.

Here you have it, our six captains for the upcoming season. Let’s Play Football!