Purdue Football Recruiting: Big Thursday Update

The Purdue recruiting train is starting to pick up speed. This isn’t unusual for Jeff Brohm and his staff, as June certainly appears to be his sweet spot. The Boilermakers still have some ground to make up on the top of the Big10, but they have passed up some of the sludge at the bottom (looking at your Rutgers and Illinois).

Who’s On Board?

If you’re reading this Purdue recruiting article, I assume you already know about these guys. I’ll do some in-depth breakdowns later in the year, so I’ll keep this brief and just give you a quick place to check out the highlight videos.

Tirek Murphy - RB - 6’2, 220 - 4*(92) - Christ the King Regional High School - NY

Michael Alaimo - Pro Style QB - 4*(91) - St. Jospeh Regional High School - NJ

Gus Hartwig - OL - 3*(88) - Zionsville High School - IN

Antonio Stevens - S - 3*(87) - Battle Ground Academy - TN

Ben Kruel - LB - 3*(86) - Catholic Memorial High School - WI

Jared Bycznski - OL - 3*(85) - Midpark High School - OH

Josh Kaltenberger - OL - 3*(84) - Seneca Valley High School - PA

Cherry on Top

Getting talented players is always the goal. When those talented players also come with additional recruiting bonuses, it’s always a positive. These are some of the extras that comes with the Purdue recruits.

Tirek Murphy:

Murphy has quickly established himself as the social media leader of the 2020 class. He’s all over twitter interacting with recruits and seems to be totally invested in Purdue.

Last year, Purdue had George Karlaftis leading the way, this year, fellow 4* Murphy has grabbed the baton and is selling Purdue hard.

(These are just a few example, Tirek is active on twitter, give him a follow if you want a little inside information.)

Michael Alaimo

Landing a 4* QB is always great. Brohm has gone outside of the normal Purdue recruiting footprint to sign every quarterback during his tenure, and New Jersey native Alaimo is no different.

What makes Alaimo even more interesting (outside of his rocket arm) is Purdue’s focus on the northeast this year. Purdue has several New Jersey players on the recruiting radar including Chris Mayo (OG), Malachi Melton (WR/CB), Cullen Coleman (LB).

Landing the top quarterback in New Jersey could help convince other Garden State players to make the move to the midwest. It certainly couldn’t hurt.

Antonio Stevens

While Stevens and fellow Battle Ground Academy recruit Garnett Hollis aren’t a package deal, getting Stevens on board before Hollis makes his announcement on June 22nd should help Purdue’s chances.

Hollis is the top CB on Purdue’s board and it looks like a the Boilermakers are facing an uphill battle against Northwestern. Adding Stevens to the mix may have evened the odds for Purdue. It still looks like Hollis is heading to Northwestern, but I wouldn’t be shocked if he ends up at Purdue.

We’ll find out Saturday.

Positions Filling Up

Quarterback

Purdue is done recruiting 2020 quarterbacks with Alaimo on board. I don’t see that changing.

Running Back

Running back (at least traditional running backs) may also be full with Murphy on board. I could see Purdue over-signing the position if Darvon Hubbard decides he wants to be a Boilermaker over SEC interest, but beyond that, the running back position is set for 2020.

Offensive Line

I always advocate taking at least 5 offensive linemen in each class because they are the hardest position group to evaluate once you get past the obvious studs at the top of the class, but I could see this being a 4 linemen class because of the potentially small class size.

Purdue would love to add Illinois lineman Marcus Harper to the class but it looks like he’s a heavy Oregon lean. Chris Mayo also visited, but he’s considered a heavy West Virginia lean.

3* Ohio lineman Branson Taylor and 3* Indiana lineman Randy Holtz are both names to keep an eye on. Purdue could be interested in both if the miss on Harper.

Who’s Next?

Hard to say, based on twitter, we should find out soon though.

Purdue impressed Round Rock TX, WR Collin Sullivan on his official visit to West Lafayette, and the numbers at wide receiver in this class are going to be tight. It wouldn’t surprise me if Sullivan makes a move sooner rather than later to ensure he has a spot.

Also, as I mentioned, Garnett Hollis and Marcus Harper will both be announcing in the next week.

It’s a busy time to cover Purdue recruiting. I’m sure you’ll be hearing from me soon.