Spring practice notebook: Names to know, Bailey on mend, freaky safeties

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Watch a few plays during spring drills, and you certainly will notice No. 32 and No. 95. And you’ll wonder: Who are they?

Let us introduce you to Elijah Ball, No. 32. He is a 6-1, 210-pound redshirt freshman safety from Ben Davis in Indianapolis. No. 95 is Jack Cravaack, a 6-5, 245-pound redshirt freshman defensive end from Madeira High in Cincinnati.

Remember those names and numbers, as each guy looks poised to breakout this fall.

Ball is being cross-trained as a hybrid safety/outside linebacker. Cravaack is being cross-trained as a hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker.

“Elijah Ball is like our cover-down linebacker,” said defensive coordinator Nick Holt after spring practice No. 2 today inside the Mollenkopf Center. “Kind of a nickel, hybrid ‘backer. He is physical enough to slug it out in there. He is 215, a strong young man. What I like about Elijah is he has good ball skills and good instincts. He isn't the biggest guy, but he’s a good, tough football player. He will be fine and he will hold up.”

As for Cravaack.

“He is big, 6-4, 250,” said Holt. “He was a good athlete in high school. He is exactly what we wanted. A good athlete, long. He was 215 when we recruited him, now look at him. He is 250 and his weight room number have really increased.”

Ball will be utilized when teams spread the field with multiple wideouts. He can work in space, cover and hit. Cravaack will be utilized when offenses are in two-back sets and wanna get physical.

“Playing these big schools in our conference, with some of the two-back, now we get some big edge guys,” said Holt. “At the end of last year, we moved him to outside linebacker to learn the skills needed to be a big strong physical ‘backer on the tight end to set the edge. He can be used like we did Danny Ezechukwu, giving us some 3-4 principles from a LEO spot.”

WANTED: PASS RUSHERS

Markus Bailey didn’t have to think long when asked the question: Who led Purdue in sacks last season?

“It was myself,” he said, breaking out into a smile.

Yep, a linebacker paced the Boilermakers in sacks in 2018, as Bailey totaled 5.5. Shocked by that? Well, know this, too: The team’s top three sackers last season all played in the back seven: S Jacob Thieneman had 5.0 and LB Cornel Jones had 3.5. Derrick Barnes was fourth with 3.0 from his LEO spot, and he was a former linebacker.

What’s it all mean? The Boilermakers need more of a push from the guys up front. And that’s a big point of emphasis this spring. Players like freshman George Karlaftis, Kai Higgins and Robert McWilliams need to bring the heat off the edge. Purdue was No. 7 in the Big Ten in sacks last season (1.9 pg, with 25 in 13 games).

“We have a bunch of bodies,” said defensive coordinator Nick Holt. “Some of these guys are getting a lot stronger and hopefully they are getting quicker. Hopefully, it will show up on the field with our explosiveness and strength.”

That’s the hope. The early returns are promising.

“Hopefully, with some of these new guys we have they can help us out,” said Holt. “It looks like with our emphasis, we are getting a little better. But it’s hard. We are in underwear basically now practicing. I see our kids really motivated to get better. I think you’ll see improvement.”

BAILEY'S FIXED HIP

Markus Bailey is on the mend from offseason surgery on his hip. The senior linebacker from Columbus, Ohio, says all is going well in rehab.

“I do rehab every day, a couple hours,” he said. “Range-of-motion stuff, underwater treadmill, strengthening. During practice, I am getting upper-body workouts in. Not running full weight bearing yet. The process is going well.”

And he says he is ahead of schedule.

Bailey’s hip began bothering him last summer, so he had it checked out. Looked like surgery would fix it, but he didn’t know if he should proceed with it then.

“I had been playing throughout the year and it had been effecting me at times, but it didn’t really limit my production much,” said Bailey, who led the team in tackles with 115 last season. “But it terms of my ability, it was affecting me.

“So at the end of the season, I had to make a decision about if I was gonna try to get it fixed. I thought it was in the interest of the team to go ahead and have it taken care of since it’s not that serious of a procedure. Back in January, I had the procedure done.”

The labrum tear prevented Bailey from changing direction and pushing playing off with gusto.

“I couldn’t get as much burst off my right leg and get down hill as quick to the right side,” he said.

The injury was a reason Bailey--second-team All-Big Ten in 2018 by the coaches and third-team by the media--opted to return to school instead of turn pro.

“It defiantly was a factor into the decision,” he said. “I didn't know if I went pro and didn’t get it taken care of … then going to the Combine and they saw it, what would they feel about it? I didn’t know If it would lower my draft stock or not. I didn’t have that high of a grade anyways. I was already leaning on coming back anyway. This just made it a lot more clear that I should definitely come back and get this taken care of.”

FREAKY SAFETIES

Jeff Brohm has often said he wants to get bigger in the secondary. Well, mission accomplished.

Every projected starter in the defensive backfield is 5-11 or taller: sophomore CB Dedrick Mackey (5-11); sophomore CB Kenneth Major (6-0); redshirt freshman S Cory Trice (6-3); senior S Navon Mosley (6-0). Redshirt freshman Kadin Smith (6-0) and true freshman early enrollee Jalen Graham (6-3) also are imposing. And wait until freshman Marvin Grant (6-2) arrives in June.

But the freakiest of them all are Trice, a product of Hopkinsville, Ky., who looks like a pterodactyl out there, and Graham, a linebacker masquerading as a safety who hails from Detroit.

“We have a lot more trust (in him),” said Holt. “He still has a ways to go. It seems like he has been around forever. But he is still a true freshman. I want guys to become All-Americans right now, but it takes time.

“He has made tremendous strides this last semester in weight room. He is 211 pounds. He came here under 200. A couple of these guys look like they are supposed to but aren’t playing like that. He is getting more confident. But he needs a sense of urgency in his practice habits. He is getting better.”

Markus Bailey is wowed by Graham, a 215-pounder who is friends with the 6-2, 190-pound Grant--another Detroit product.

"Jalen has the size of a Big Ten safety and has shown a lot of instincts," said Bailey. "He has shown flashes that he has potential to be a great player, too. I am pretty excited about what I have seen ... "

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