GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED OLUME 26, ISSUE 5 47
I
n a new defense
that's focused
on coverage first
and will change per-
sonnel based on the
offense — which
means, probably,
mostly five- and six-
DB groupings —
Purdue hoped to exit the spring with several solid
options in the secondary for the fall. Really only
one truly emerged: Junior Da'Wan Hunte.
Hunte, who played sparingly last season, secured
a starting spot with an aggressive mentality and
an ability to, mostly, stick tight in press-man
coverage. Those other starting spots are wide
open. Tim Cason, Mike Little, Myles
Norwood and Kamal Hardy were schol-
arship players who worked in the rotation with
the first-team unit at both corner and nickel, but
walk-ons Race Johnson and Antonio
Blackmon got just as many reps as corner-
backs coach Taver Johnson was trying to find a
fit. Though several players showed flashes, they'll
all need to make marked improvements over the
spring for the Boilermakers to feel comfortable
with the group. … Jake Replogle finished
the season on a tear and transitioned quickly into
a similar spring. Replogle is, in a word, a beast.
(Darrell Hazell prefers "freak.") He consistently
Analysis
BY STACY CLARDIE
DE EVAN PANFIL
DT JAKE REPLOGLE
Scouting The Defense
Photos
by
Tom
Campbell
