The tight end comes to Purdue via Wake Forest.
#85 Luca Puccinelli
Tight End
6’6”, 260
Redshirt Freshman
Glen Allen, Virginia
Previous School: Wake Forest
Projection: Run blocking tight end
As is the current style of college athletics, specifically football, today’s player on the countdown comes from another college. Puccinelli committed to Wake Forest and spent last year redshirting for the Demon Deacons. I assume he was the player to be named later when Purdue lost Myles Colvin to Wake, or maybe it was the other way around? Who can be sure on the timing of all of these transfers.
Regardless, Puccinelli is here at Purdue now and we are happy to have him. ESPN listed him as the 26th best tight end prospect in the country coming out of high school. He’s not much of a pass catcher though. During his senior year of high school he caught just 10 passes for 120 yards and 3 touchdowns. Pretty good catch to touchdown ratio but otherwise not much to write home about. So, what did ESPN see in him that made him such a highly rated tight end? Run blocking my friends. Run blocking. His high school team rushed for 2,500 yards over 12 games. Barry Odom is hoping to find a way to get more success on the ground in his first season with the Boilermakers and guys like Puccinelli can be a big part of that. Plus, just because he wasn’t asked to catch the ball doesn’t mean that he can’t. Clearly though his strength, no pun intended, is in blocking.
With Purdue’s roster turnover it is difficult to know exactly where everyone will shake out. You can see Drew’s assessment of the tight end position here, but suffice to say that there’s playing time up for grabs. If Puccinelli can grasp the playbook and block his man successfully he’ll have plenty of opportunities this season.