Purdue adding "different flavors" to cornerback room in 2024
Perhaps no position group on the defensive side of the ball will be under a bigger microscope heading into 2024 than Purdue's cornerbacks. On the heels of a disappointing 4-8 campaign, the secondary was an area needing improvement in year two under Ryan Walters.
Cornerbacks coach Sam Carter recognizes the room for improvement in many aspects this spring, which boil down to the basics for his group.
"I think everything. When you go 4-8, you go back and you look at everything you did good and things that you thought you did good, you can correct. So we're just working on our technique and being physical, understand route recognition," Carter said. "At corner, the littlest thing can get you beat, so the details matter."
If Purdue's cornerbacks can master the little things and find a bit more consistency in the fall, Carter believes the Air Strike defense is constructed in a way that will lead to more success as a whole.
"Man, it's just little things right? Coach Walt talked about it this morning in meetings. It's the little things that got us beat. Discipline, technique," Carter said. "If we do what we're supposed to do, guys have the eyes where they're supposed to be, the defense is built for us to be successful."
Those little things were Purdue's Achilles heel in 2023, which saw the Boilermakers allow north of 30 points per game and 241 yards per game through the air, both of which were last in the Big Ten.
Similar to last off-season, the Ryan Walters and company hit the portal hard to bring in reinforcements to the secondary in the form of Georgia transfer Nyland Green and Colorado transfer Kyndrich Breedlove. Those additions provide Carter with some new skillsets that he is still molding, but believes could lead to an improved group heading into the fall.
"Talent wise I think we added more guys as that's different. We didn't have a guy like Nyland Green last year. We didn't have a guy like Kyndrich Breedlove. So, being able to add those guys to the room with Derrick Rogers and Botros (Alisandro) and Markevious (Brown)," Carter said. "It's a different flavor. You know when you add a different flavor to a pot, you never know what you'll get."
The crown jewel of the 2024 portal haul for the Boilermakers was two-time National Champion, Nyland Green. The former Bulldog has a frame and skill set that gives him all the makings of a special talent at the cornerback position in West Lafayette.
"He's special man. God has blessed him with a trait that. You don't really see 6-2 corners walking around. The things that he do out here is just unbelievable. You got to see it on tape at Georgia. We're blessed to have him and I'm thankful he's in my room," Carter said.
Breedlove was coached by Carter his first two seasons at Ole Miss before departing to Boulder last season. That connection made choosing the Boilermakers in his second portal go around an easy decision.
"I've known Coast Carter for a long time man. Him just being here and coach Walt being a second year head coach here at Purdue. Man. This is just big man. I wouldn't want to be nowhere else," Breedlove said.
The 5-foot-11 redshirt junior has slid into the STAR role of Purdue's defense, serving in a nickel-type role in the secondary, where he has an inside track at securing the starting job by the time September rolls around.
Carter has been pleased with Green and Breedlove throughout the spring, who have both come in and kept their heads down, which bodes well for the group.
"Those guys come in and work every day. And the guys who's been here before, we're all one family. Somebody don't know something, we all just help each other," Carter said.
The two incoming transfers join forces with returning contributors Markevious Brown, Botros Alisandro, Derrick Rogers Jr., and Salim Turner-Muhammad in the secondary.
Brown started all 12 games for the Boilermakers last year, while the young tandem of Alisandro and Rogers saw an uptick in snaps during the latter half of the year. Turner-Muhammad was one of the top portal additions last off-season, but missed the entire year due to a lingering hamstring issue, but is heal and ready to go for 2024.
Along with improving the product on the field, Carter has made it a priority to build cohesion and chemistry outside of the building amongst his players and the safeties under Grant O'Brien. That commitment to forming close bonds has caught the attention of Markevious Brown and the rest of the defensive backs as well.
"I always think as a DB room, you got to find things outside of this building to do to just build that camaraderie," Carter said.
"We're very familiar with each other and coach Carter does a great job of having us around each other even outside our facility. We always at each other's house. We always talking on the phone, we always communicating with each other. So, just the brotherhood inside of the facility, it translates outside of the facility as well. It allows us to bond together very easily and come together to do something special," Brown said.
Purdue is eager to put a shaky 2023 behind them this spring and take the leap that many expect in year two of Ryan Walters and Kevin Kane's defense, marking the start of a revenge tour in West Lafayette this fall.
"Everybody's on a revenge tour. Everybody wants to be better than they were last year. Everybody wants to be better than they were the day before," Brown said.