More from Day 3: Analysis ($) | What stood out ($) | Worship recovering
With Richie Worship recovering from ACL surgery, Tario Fuller recovering from foot surgery and Brian Lankford-Johnson no longer in the program, Purdue has only two healthy scholarship backs and a walk-on this spring.
That's similar to what Chris Barclay had to deal with toward the end of last season — when Worship and Fuller were out — so he has some experience managing the group. It helps Markell Jones and D.J. Knox have been in the program, too, and they're even offering up suggestions on what to work on and when they'd like to get more reps at specific techniques and drills.
"They understand what they're doing, so I can be a little bit more detailed with the way I'm coaching and kind of break things down and we don't have to get a million reps," Barclay said. "It's just more about honing in on techniques."
Alexander Horvath is a big-bodied back who's benefitting from the lack of depth this spring: The walk-on is getting reps with the second-team offense at times, and he's trying to hammer his way up the depth chart. That'll be tough, especially in the fall when Worship and Fuller — both of whom have started games — will be back. But, for now, Barclay appreciates Horvath's work habits and approach.
The same can be said for Jones and Knox, who finished 1-2 in rushing yards last season after both finishing strong. After injuring his knee in the season opener, Jones had to slowly work his way back onto the field and, then, into getting more significant game reps. When he did the latter, he produced, rushing for 379 yards on 62 carries (6.1 ypc) in the final three games.
"Our room has always been about competition, so just continuing to fuel competition," Jones said of the spring attitude. "I didn't have the season I wanted to last year, but toward the end, I kind of started to get into a rhythm and started to pick up my groove. I started to do better the last couple of games, so that was a positive to take into the spring. Especially to hit it hard with the lifting program. I'm looking forward to stack those last couple of games onto the start of the next season."
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