Hunte's 'NFL mindset' toward work, film gives separation in Purdue CB race

Da’Wan Hunte has been waiting, mostly.

Even though he could see the talent ahead of him at cornerback in current NFL players Ricardo Allen, Anthony Brown and Frankie Williams, Hunte still got frustrated at times, largely forced to watch, listen and learn his first three seasons.

But he did watch. And he did listen. And he did learn.

And now, armed with the knowledge instilled by those players on how to study film, how to perfect technique, how to work and how to lead, Hunte is ready.

Ready to showcase he didn’t waste the wait.

“I always felt like I was a born leader. I just had to wait my time,” fourth-year junior Hunte said on Wednesday. “Great leaders are great followers. Having guys like Frankie Williams, Anthony Brown, Ricardo Allen, those guys helped me. They molded me to who I am today. I’m just blessed to have some of those guys play before me.

“They’ve done a great job here, and I’m just trying to continue that legacy.”

Hunte certainly will get a chance this season after seizing one of Purdue’s two open cornerback spots in the spring and holding onto it firmly so far over the first six days of training camp.

Not only is Hunte Purdue’s most experienced option — he had the third-most snaps among cornerbacks last season, even if his 141 dwarfed Brown’s 873 and Williams’ 858 — but he’s played like it early on in camp.

Cornerbacks coach Taver Johnson asked Hunte to visualize this summer all of the plays he would make in the fall. Hunte turned that into valuing every rep, not just in 7-on-7 workouts but in conditioning and weight sessions, too. Hunte’s focus was to always win. Even if the battle was with a clock in a half-gasser or a bar stacked with weights in a squat. And, certainly, when it was against top receiver DeAngelo Yancey.

Hunte cultivated a fighter’s attitude, vowing not to be outworked at anything and certainly to never quit. Even letting up for a moment was viewed as weakness: Because he knew how tight the competition was, and he doesn’t want to believe his job is ever safe. That’s how he plays, too, with scrappiness, an urgency, to disrupt receivers, routes and passes.

“I’m just trying to find a way to help my game get better every day,” he said. “The worst thing about having success is being complacent. I had success in the spring, but what matters now is carrying it on in camp and carrying it on throughout the season, so that’s my main focus right now.

“I just tell myself I can’t get comfortable. Every day is a battle. If I get comfortable, I can easily lose my job. With me, I’m going to keep working, no matter what, whether I’m the starter or I’m the backup. That’s just how I’ve always been. I’m just going to keep going with that.”

Though Hunte certainly has to continue to fine-tune his technique — he especially wants to get out of breaks faster — his biggest asset could be what he does off the field. Perhaps the best lesson taught by Allen, Brown and Williams was the value of film, watching fellow DBs to pinpoint why they’re having success and, especially, learning opponents’ offenses. Hunte says he wants to be an “offensive coordinator,” knowing plays and tendencies so well he can anticipate them before they happen. He’s seen his former teammates do it, and he’s starting to as well.

“You can tell he’s a veteran. You can tell he learned from some older guys,” Johnson said. “He’s just keeping himself in position, more than he has been in the past. He’s getting himself in the right position with the right calls. He’s anticipating because he’s seeing the big picture, and he’s able to slow things down because he’s had some game experience. So that’s what has helped him out.”

Hunte has gotten every single snap this camp with the first-team defense, and Johnson has shown with Brown and Williams that he’ll stick with players for bulk of games if they’re good enough and effective enough to play significant snaps.

Hunte seems to fit that description, at least in a small sample size but one that’s convinced Johnson and Hunte’s teammates he deserves the role.

“A lot of people doubted him and didn’t give him enough credit, so he came in the spring and he showed the team that he can shut down one side of the field, especially on our receivers who are really good,” said Tim Cason, who is working to earn the opposite starting corner spot. “This fall, he’s been working on his technique, getting better and he’s been having a great fall camp, as well.”

Kamal Hardy said Hunte has an “NFL mindset” when it comes to how seriously he approaches his craft and how knowledgeable he is about Purdue’s defense, even with new coordinator Ross Els only having installed it for the first time last spring.

Ultimately, Hunte thinks that high IQ can separate him. And that it already has.

“I pride myself on being a smart football player,” Hunte said. “I believe when you don’t have those attributes, being the fastest or the strongest guy, you have to find a way to cheat a little bit, and mine is the film room.

“Just watching film, being more detailed in everything I’m doing, it’s helped me play the ball faster, move around a little quicker and gave me more confidence. That’s one of the main things, coming into this year, just getting more confidence and that all came by watching film.”

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