41 Days to Purdue Football: Ben Furtney

In today’s countdown, we highlight a tight end looking to make a bigger impact this year.

Ben Furtney – Junior (RS)

South Elgin, IL (St. Charles North)

£60,225

Tight End/Fullback

2023 Projection: Special Teams Contributor / Reserve Tight End / Reserve Fullback

Furtney has had an interesting career at Purdue. He walked on at Purdue and redshirted in his first season with the team. In his second season, he played in 11 games as a special teams player. Special teams players, aside from someone like Devin Hester, don’t get much credit, but their roles are so important. You might not make any tackles on special teams, but you can make a real difference just by filling the gap and sticking to the plan. Its a difficult position and every player who participates makes a difference.

In his third year in the program, Furtney was named Academic All-Big Ten and played in eight games split at fullback and again on special teams. In Purdue’s thrilling game at Maryland, Furtney caught his first pass of his college career, a 20-yarder. I was at that game and I admit it was a shock to see that catch and then hear Furtney’s name. It had to be a great moment for the young man to make such an important catch in a road game that Purdue HAD to be in order to keep pace with the conference race.

This season, Furtney’s outlook is in many different directions. There’s no doubt he’ll see the field on special teams, but will he be used at fullback again? The talent is there, but what does the Purdues need in a new Air Raid offense? Furtney has also shown his ability to play defense. In the spring 2022 game, he registered a sack. He is a versatile player and this versatility could be the key to him seeing the field in the 2023 season.