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ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 24, ISSUE 6 43 f last year, we thought, 'We're young, but we haven't got nothing to lose. We're going to let them know who we are play after play.'" Purdue might be light on depth, particularly at nose tackle. Junior Ryan Watson is an option— he's thought to be making needed strides in the weight room — either at nose or at tackle. And fellow junior Michael Rouse III has shown flashes, like he did in the spring game, but those have generally been while facing underclassmen offensive linemen. Playing as a true freshman isn't ideal on the defensive line, where physical maturity greatly matters, but Purdue put three on the field last season with Howard, Replogle and Panfil. Considering the Boilermakers need depth, it's not out of the question again in this season, meaning Will Colmery or Keiwan Jones could get a chance. But if Panfil, Watson and Rouse continue to develop, the need for a rookie immediately is lessened. The Boilermakers feel they can be feared up front. "I love our defensive line, because we're nasty guys," Howard said. "As (position) coach (Rubin) Carter said, that's one of the hardest positions on the field, so you've got to be relentless, you've got to be a tough guy to stay in there play after play and keep banging. "You have to really stay in there as a defensive lineman, because any time you think you're going to take a play off, you're going to pay for it. That's become more of our men- tality." LINEBACKERS Purdue has largely the same personnel at line- backer that it did a year ago. Yet, the Boil- ermakers have reason to believe the group can look — and perform — vastly different. The reason being that Hudson thinks he now is max- imizing players' abilities by putting them the right positions, with Robinson having moved permanently inside to middle, after playing all three spots previously in his career; Gilliam to the weakside, where his physicality might better stand out; and Jimmy Herman to the strongside, where his athleticism has helped him blos- som into a potential breakout player. The trio is expected to be the starting group on Day 1 of camp, with senior Jalani Phillips, who was a defensive end early in his career, having the edge as the starting Jack linebacker. "We're a tight-knit group of guys," Robinson said. "We've been around. For Joe and me, we've been doing it for three years now. And we've had other guys get game reps on special teams, so we're farther along in that aspect. "But at the same time, there's still a long way to go for us to be the corps we want to be, and that's just the reality of the situation." It's been more than a decade since the Boilermakers last felt they had depth of playmakers in their linebacker unit LINEBACKERS Fifth-year senior 10 Sean Robinson* 6-3 240 ILB Seniors 39 Joe Gilliam* 6-1 225 ILB 40 Collin Link 6-2 212 OLB 89 Jalani Phillips* 6-4 260 Jack Sophomores 96 Ryan DeBusk 6-1 235 Jack 6 Andy James Garcia 6-0 221 ILB 29 Jimmy Herman* 6-4 224 OLB 32 Evan Pulliam 6-2 225 ILB 59 Langston Newton 6-4 265 Jack Redshirt freshmen 58 Ross Corcoran 6-2 210 OLB 6 Dezwan Polk-Campbell 6-4 215 OLB 36 Danny Ezechukwu 6-2 244 ILB 16 Garrett Hudson 6-1 243 ILB 11 Antoine Miles 6-2 245 Jack 20 Johnny Thompson 6-3 205 OLB Freshmen 13 Gelen Robinson 6-2 230 ILB 56 Ja'Whaun Bentley 6-2 245 ILB * Projected starters K R A N N E R T L E A D E R S H I P S P E A K E R S S E R I E S FAILUR E I S N O T A N OPTION T H U R S D A Y 9 . 2 5 .1 4 6:30 PM PMU BALLROOMS WWW.KRANNERT.PURDUE.EDU/EVENTS/LSS GENE KRANZ MORE INFORMATION/TICKETS: LOU UNDERWOOD, 765-494-0901 OR KRANNERTEVENTS@PURDUE.EDU EA/EOU S P O N S O R S B R O N Z E S I LV E R