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IllustrateD volume 25, issue 1 25 f f o o t b a l l f e a t u r e : r u s h e n d s BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com A bout midway through last season, Ryan Russell gave Purdue's Jack linebacker position a try. It didn't work, as his trial there lasted less than a handful of games. Why the short stint? The hybrid position — Purdue changed its name to "rush end" at the start of training camp in early August — is challenging to master, requiring both the correct physical attributes and mental, too. "First and foremost, it's a physical- ly demanding position," said Russell, back now at his more familiar and com- fortable defensive end spot for his se- nior season. "You have to be able to go 110 percent the whole time you're out there. And then mentally, you have a lot of jobs and options where you can play off other players and kind of use your athleticism to your advantage. "And you're helping a lot of guys out there. Sometimes, you bump in the box and help the (middle) linebacker; sometimes you're rushing off the edge, or looping (around) off the three tech- nique (defensive tackle) and making adjustments that way. "So physically being in a good con- dition and being able to go 110 and then mentally knowing that you have a multitude of responsibilities, those are important." Finding the right guy has been a long process for the Boilermakers. Since be- coming the defensive coordinator at Purdue, the hybrid position has been part of Greg Hudson's defense, but the Boilermakers started using it more reg- ularly about midway through last sea- son. Jules Williams, Collin Link, Russell and Jalani Phillips each got calls there, at one time or another, but saw only limited production. Since then, only Phillips remains, with Williams having left the program, Link moving back to linebacker and Russell to D-end. The Boilermakers will need — cer- tainly they want — more now, with the position becoming a staple of Purdue's front. With it, Purdue's defense can eas- ily vary between a three-man look and four, depending on where the rush end lines up. It could be, and most frequently will be, at the end of the defensive line, just outside the three technique tack- le (he's the defender shaded over the outside of the offensive guard), but he could have a hand in the dirt there, or be standing up. Or maybe he's lined up a couple feet behind the line of scrim- mage. Heck, he could end up anywhere; whether it was by design or by circum- stance, Russell found himself lined up as a cornerback on one play last season. "You can play different defenses with- out substituting," said Hudson, a former coordinator at Minnesota and East Caro- lina who was most recently the lineback- ers' coach at Florida State before coming to Purdue. "You have to be able to do that nowadays, and be able to keep as many of your first 11 on the field as much as you can. But the ability that player has, you want to maximize what he can do on the field and put him in position to make plays. If they're not always going to run the ball that way, maybe you can send him to the ball in your plans. "There's a lot of splits and align- ments by offenses right now that aren't common, so you can't line up common. Tom Campbell Purdue's hoping its rush ends, like starter Jalani Phillips (left) and backups Antoine Miles (middle) and Danny Ezechukwu, play with intensity and smarts, as good instincts are needed for the position. Rushing Forward Now a permanent position, Purdue hoping for production from 'rush end'