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50 Days to Purdue Football: Sulaiman Kpaka

The redshirt freshman defensive end could see the field a lot this year.

NCAA Football: Nebraska at Purdue Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports

Players coming out of a redshirt year are always interesting. If they can make an impact immediately they will be valuable contributors for years to come. That is today’s player.

Sulaiman Kpaka - Fr. (RS)

Grand Prairie, TX (Grand Prairie HS)

6’2”, 255 pounds

Defensive End

2020 projection: reserve at defensive end

We have some knowns going into this year. We know that the front three will be George Karlaftis, Derrick Barnes (though he will shift to linebacker at times), and Lorenzo Neal. We know Anthony Watts will play a lot. There are a lot of minutes there for the backups spots, however, and being able to rotate fresh guys up front is a major asset.

That’s where Kpaka comes in. He was a three-star recruit by all the recruiting services and awas a two-time defensive MVP for his high school team. He was also versatile as a shot put and discus thrower for his track and field team. He projects mostly as a defensive end this coming season and should end up playing quite a bit.