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GOLD & BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 4 7 Diamonds In The Rough 5 Dennis Kelly: The NFL offensive lineman was a 230-pound high school tight end when Purdue offered him a greyshirt scholarship. He grew, a lot, and became one of the best offensive tackles Purdue's had in the past decade. 4 Mike Otto: See Kelly. Different offen- sive tackle, largely the same story, his path being slightly more im- pressive than Kelly's due to the fact he came from small-town in Indiana and not Chicago. 3 John Stan- deford: Speaking of small- town Indiana, Standeford left Monrovia as a 160-something-pound beanpole, then contributed big-time for a Rose Bowl team as a freshman and grew into a record-setting receiver. 2 Gilbert Gardner: A lightly recruited wide receiver out of high school, he was moved to linebacker during his first training camp at Purdue and wound up a true freshman starter at a new position on a team that shared the Big Ten championship. 1 Drew Brees: This one is too easy, as the leg- endary quarterback was under-recruited due to a major knee injury in high school and wound up choosing Purdue over just Kentucky and the Ivy League. — Brian Neubert Note: List compiled of under-recruited players who developed into stars at Purdue (1997 to present). Which was a bigger need for the '15 recruiting class: WRs or RBs? Stacy Clardie No doubt, it's the receivers, considering how desperately Purdue needs to find more playmakers there. And it targeted the position of most immediate need: A go-to player at the "X" spot, the guy who most often is lined up on the single side and has the opportunity to win against man coverage. That dude should be getting five catches a game, every game. He hasn't. Perhaps JUCO signees Anthony Mahoungou and Domonique Young are the answer. They pass the look test, if nothing else. They're both 6-foot-3, 200ish pounds, athletic and long and vow they'll use that size in the passing game but also to block. Of course, they'll need to pick up the offense quickly and show they can catch consistently. But they'll get every chance to do so. And Purdue needs someone to produce soon. Kyle Charters How can it not be the running backs? Purdue lost its top two options from 2014, with the graduations of Akeem Hunt and Raheem Mostert, a duo that rushed for about 1,500 yards and nine touchdowns. That's a significant chunk of the Boilermakers' offensive production, and the returnees are largely unproven; only sophomore Keyante Green has a carry in his career, picking up 199 yards on 27 attempts last season, and D.J. Knox played only on special teams in his first season. The need was so great for Purdue that Darrell Hazell was ready to take as many as five running back commitments. If that's not a sign of severe need, I'm not sure what is. The trio of incoming rookies — Markell Jones, who's on campus now, Tario Fuller and Richie Worship — are going to get chances not only to contribute right away, but to become the No. 1 every-down back. T O P Action photos by Tom Campbell