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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 27, ISSUE 3 50 used back. But that could change in 2017. He brings an element no other back on the team does — legitimate speed — and that showed up in an ability to break long plays in his first season. He had four offen- sive plays of at least 26 yards, including the team's three longest runs of the season (48, 34, 32), and five kickoff returns of at least 29 yards. But to be a true weapon going forward, he'll need to learn to approach the game like a veteran — one who values practice time, one who'll put in extra work on film study and in the weight room. Those things must happen this offseason. "He's trying to figure it out," then-interim coach Gerad Parker said before the Wiscon- sin game. "(He's had) a little bit of an imma- ture approach to it at times, sometimes spo- radic in his attention to detail as a runner, in pass protection, in ball security, all those things, and they're normal things. He's not defiant. He's a great kid, just learning how to do it at a young age. With his gifted abilities and the things he has for the future, if he continues to approach it week by week the way he needs to (he can have success)." Lankford-Johnson wasn't the only first-year back to play, though. Jack Wegher appeared in line to redshirt, sitting out the first six games. But when Darrell Hazell was dismissed and Parker took over, Wegher approached the interim coach and asked to play on special teams. He knew he'd be burning a season for only six games, but he didn't care. "I just wanted to get out there, simple as that," We- gher said during the season about the decision. Turns out, Wegher burned the 'shirt for not all that much time on the field. He was immediately placed on the kickoff return team and also played some on coverage, but, unoffi- cially, he played only 33 offensive snaps. Perhaps his biggest moment of the season came on of- fense. At Minnesota, because of a couple injuries in the backfield, the coaches opted to put Wegher in the game on the most pivotal play. With Purdue moving down the field to score the go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes, Wegher was tackled for a loss on fourth down. Of Wegher's four carries for the season, three went for negative yardage and another was a six-yard pick- up to convert a third down. Wegher could be a candidate to move to receiver in 2017 with little returning depth there. He came to Purdue as a receiver before being moved just before training camp into the backfield. But with the Boiler- makers potentially deep there next season — Jones, D.J. Knox, Richie Worship and Lankford-Johnson are likely the top four — Wegher may best be served as a slot receiver. RECEIVERS Purdue had four new receivers this season in fresh- men Terrance Landers, Jackson Anthrop and Benaiah Franklin and junior college transfer Malik Kimbrough. Two played, two sat. Landers was a bit of a surprise non-redshirt, con- sidering Purdue's depth at receiver and the likelihood Tom Campbell First-year defensive lineman Lorenzo Neal ended the season on the bench with an undisclosed injury but showed flashes of potential when he was healthy, especially in a six-tackle game against Nebraska.