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GOLD & BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 4 13 will be a more aggressive physical approach. Indiana Mr. Football Markell Jones, a well-built, between-the-tackles sort of runner, fits the bill. So might Georgia's Tario Fuller, another 200-plus-pounder. And Richie Worship, at least on paper, would surely seem to. He weighs 240-plus pounds. "Any time you can get some backs that can make yards after contact, you should do it, and these three guys can," Hazell said. "They're all different players. But any time you can get guys who can break an arm tackle and (turn) four-yard plays turns into a 12-yard play, you love that characteristic." And Purdue recruited four more offensive linemen — tackles Larry Wells and Matt McCann and project- ed guards Michael Mendez and Pey- ton Truitt — to put in front of them. But Purdue has to get better in the passing game. That much has been pain- fully, painfully obvious the past two seasons. In hopes of bringing about a turnaround, Purdue looked for size and experience and got both in junior college transfers Anthony Mahoun- gou (6-foot-4, 205 pounds) and Domonique Young (6-3, 205). "We wanted to find some wideouts that outside the numbers could absolutely win one-on-one and win those 50/50 balls, go up and get it," offensive coordinator John Shoop said. "We had to get big and longer on the outside." Purdue did the same on defense, adding size to its secondary. Evyn Cooper is a 6-2, 190-pound- er with documented 4.4-type speed who'll start his college career at cor- ner, a position he'll bring atypical size to. Fellow corners Mike Little and Da- vid Rose are each in the vicinity of 6-foot, as well, and Purdue coaches have lauded both players' "length." At linebacker, Purdue added four more players at a position where it already has solid young talent in the program, but in terms of physicali- ty, inside linebacker Wyatt Cook in particular is expected to provide a mean-spirited presence between the tackles and late-add Tim Faison may essentially be an extra defensive end on the field, recruited to rush the passer off the edge. Defensively, Purdue's only de- fensive end signee (to this point) is junior college transfer Shayne Henley, who Purdue obviously hopes can help immediately, and one of its top signees overall is tackle Eddy Wilson, a player Purdue had to fend off Pittsburgh and Iowa in the final week before signing day to keep. "From a mentality standpoint as a football team, we have to be a more aggressive, physical, attacking offense, defense and special teams football team," Hazell said. "Proba- bly (all) 25 of those guys have that in their blood, so it's good to bring it in and not have to always try to man- ufacture it." Purdue went all over to find it. Nine of its signees came from traditional Midwest states Indiana, Ohio and Michigan, but Purdue has also worked to establish a presence in Nashville, where it landed tight end Brycen Hopkins and stirred up interest from some of the top play- ers in the city. The Southeast, specifically Flori- ESPN LIKES PURDUE'S CLASS BEST Like 'em or not, there is always much debate about the meaning of recruiting rankings, but here is how the Class of 2015 was ranked by the four largest websites. The overall ranking is in parenthesis. ESPN Rivals 247Sports Scout 1. OSU (6) OSU (9) OSU (6) OSU (8) 2. PSU (14) PSU (15) PSU (14) PSU (13) 3. MSU (29) MSU (22) MSU (22) MSU (17) 4. NEB (31) NEB (31) NEB (31) WIS (31) 5. WIS (38) WIS (37) WIS (34) NEB (33) 6.. MICH (40) ILL (45) MICH (38) ILL (35) 7. MARY (47) IND (49) ILL (45) MICH (36) 8. RUT (52) MICH (50) MARY (48) MARY (47) 9. PUR (55) MINN (51) IND (51) NW (48) 10. IOWA (57) RUT (52) NW (52) IOWA (50) 11. IND (58) MARY (54) RUT (55) RUT (51) 12. NW (60) NW (55T) IOWA (58) MINN (56) 13. MINN (62) IOWA (58) MINN (61) IND (57) 14. ILL (64) PUR (68T) PUR (65) PUR (62) Note: GoldandBlack.com is part of the Rivals network. Richie Worship should provide toughness. Rivals.com