INDIANAPOLIS — Friday night, Purdue Class of 2022 defensive line target Joe Strickland helped his Brebeuf team to a come-from-behind 21-14 win over Cardinal Ritter, one of the games where Brebeuf probably didn't play as well as it would have liked — a couple turnovers made things dicey — but asserted itself when it mattered and won out.
I don't have stats on Strickland, but I think he probably had in the vicinity of five tackles, including a sack. He drew a lot of double teams throughout the game, even playing all over the defensive line, from lining up right over the center to coming off both edges.
I'll write the full recruiting story on the national recruit for Monday morning, but here are a couple impressions.
Strickland's a no-brainer sort of early Big Ten offer and high-level recruit, with really good size and a strong, wide frame, length and seemingly a decent combination of quickness and power. This probably wasn't the best high school offensive line he was facing, but he was taking on multiple blockers often, and was strong enough to usually hold his spot and quick enough at times to shoot between doubles before they could materialize. He seems to play hard, which is always a good thing to see from a kid who's bigger and stronger than most everyone else on the field.
What really jumps out is versatility, and that's been the hot-button for Purdue in recruiting on the defensive side of the ball since Bob Diaco became coordinator. Purdue wants interchangeable pieces up front in order to have flexibility in its alignments, and that's an area where Strickland would fit ideally.
He's not going to be a 3-4 nose tackle in college, but he should be able to play any defensive end role you'd want, or as a 4-3 defensive tackle. I could see him being that 270-pounder one day who can play all over, sort of a Jake Replogle sort of defensive end. Purdue is pitching to him the chance to come in right away and flank George Karlaftis if Karlaftis is still around as a senior. Strickland will get even stronger over time, I'm sure, but he does seem to profile physically as the sort of guy who may be equipped to play early in his college career.
Again, he is going to be a national recruit — already is — but Purdue would really seem to have some long-term viability here. He does have some Purdue allegiance on his mother's side, and seems to have grown up fond of Purdue.
COVID-19 kept him from visiting SEC schools this off-season. He'll get offers from some of them before long, if he hasn't already.
Again, full story on the recruiting part of it on Monday.
Here's our little getting-to-know-you video.
Last edited:
