GoldandBlack.com Purdue player draft: Nos. 41, 42 overall

This summer, the Boilermakers are being divided.

Reporters Stacy Clardie and Kyle Charters are going head-to-head in GoldandBlack.com's Purdue player draft, a daily selection in which separate rosters of 25 are being assembled. In late July, we'll decide — based on GoldandBlack.com staff and member feedback — which team would win.

We're speeding up the final week of selections, doubling up to offer picks from Clardie and Charters each day before No. 50 on Friday. Next week, GoldandBlack.com staff and members will chime in on the finalized rosters.

Clardie starts the week with No. 41, and Charters responds.

Couple of ways I could go here with my other starting cornerback opposite Da’Wan Hunte, considering so many guys rotated with the first- and second-team group in the spring and no clear-cut top options emerged.

Which is why Kyle and I both have waited so long — we’re just not quite sure who will end up being the starter there.

But I think Kamal Hardy has a chance, so he’s my pick.

Hardy — much like Myles Norwood, who also was a consideration for me here — really got, uh, hurt in the spring when he, uh, got hurt. Hardy’s injury was to the left hamstring, always a difficult injury because there’s a certain patience required in the healing process. Hardy rushed back too quickly initially, knocked himself out for a period of time again, before finishing the spring.

He admitted in the spring it took him time to adjust to the speed of the game at this level, coming from JUCO, and he’d also never played nickel and that’s where he was lined up for a bulk of the spring. But I’m going to put him at cornerback, so he should be more comfy and hopefully can play to his potential. I’m not going to line him up against DeAngelo Yancey, either, so that should help.

May be odd, but one of the reasons I chose Hardy here instead of Norwood, among others, is because of something I noticed before spring ball even started. Soon after Hardy arrived on campus, in an early-morning conditioning workout, he was working in a station manned by Ross Els in a drill that involved some physicality. Hardy kind of went overboard, nearly taking a guy to the ground from the ground — it prompted Els to say, “I like the competitiveness.” It stuck out to me as a guy who was willing to work, to push and to prove he belongs. It doesn’t speak to his talent level, but, as I’ve mentioned with my D, I want a certain attitude. And I think Hardy fits in.

I didn't think Hardy had shown enough during the spring to make him a top-50 pick now, which explains my pick of Brandon Shuman, an unknown, last week. So a little surprised that Stacy decided to pick him up.

But there's so little information to go on in trying to sort out the cornerbacks.

I've still got one spot left in my secondary and want to fill it today. Originally, I wanted C.J. Parker to be part of that plan, but Stacy jumped up and grabbed him at No. 39. But my plan was to not only draft Parker, but Austin Logan, as well, giving me a couple safeties and the ability to move into a nickel — by shifting Brandon Roberts down — against Stacy's four-wide receiver sets. At least I'll be able to get half the plan by getting Logan.

The 6-foot, 200-pounder had a good spring, probably a better practice period for him than any others in recent memory. Afterward, Ross Els said the senior had really come on toward the end, making the defensive coordinator feel a little better about Purdue's depth at secondary.

Nothing to verify this, other than the eye test, but it looked to me like Logan had trimmed down; and if so, that'd certainly help out his speed, probably one thing that's held him back over the years. Remember that Logan started a game in 2014, when Landon Feichter was suspended for the opener, so he does have some experienced, even if it was years ago.

More: Draft ticker 1-40

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