Freshman Cam Allen seems to be carving a niche right away

More: Purdue training camp coverage

Cam Allen is listed at 6-foot-1, outstanding height for his primary position: Cornerback.

But he looks like the rare player, too, who's actually short-changed by his official dimensions. He looks even taller.

"That's what everybody says," he jokes.

That positional size was part of the reason he was prioritized in recruiting by Purdue and a coaching staff that through its first few recruiting classes coveted height at corner.

Now, it's part of the reason, too, that that same staff seems to be looking for places to incorporate Allen during his freshman season.

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Prior to the start of training camp, Jeff Brohm cited Allen as one of his program's freshman standouts coming out of the summer. Since camp began, Allen has not only competed for a role at corner, but also served as Purdue's No. 2 nickel back and now seems to be the Boilermakers' No. 1 option as their dime should such packages be featured. And that says nothing of special teams, where Purdue might look to its freshman class' collective athleticism for help.

"I think they just know I'm a football player and they're looking to get me on the field anywhere, wherever they can," Allen said last week. "I'm just doing what's best for the team, and whenever I'm needed to make a play, I'm going to do my best to make that play."

Allen says the stiffest adjustments to the college level have been all the common ones: Speed of game, magnitude of playbook and such things.

But as he acclimates, he does have a bit of an advantage in that his sole focus now lies on defense.

In high school, through the course of his career at Graham High School in Bluefield, Va., he played all over the place, most notably as his team's quarterback as a senior, a position that brought him a scholarship offer for at least an opportunity to play offense at the University of Virginia.

Now, he can focus solely on defense, where, he says, his background as a QB affords him valuable perspective and those around him agree.

"I like the fact that in high school that he played multiple positions, played quarterback, that he's a smart guy," first-year cornerbacks coach Greg Brown said. "When you're smart, you kind of have a feel for everything."

Allen's needed it. Though he's focused solely on defense, he's involved in much of that defense, most notably as Simeon Smiley's apparent backup at nickel at the moment. Nickel brings a lot with it, a hybrid position asked to do a little of everything, and potentially an important element for Purdue defensively this season as it was a year ago.

"It's kind of like playing corner, because you have your man rules, but then it's also kind of like playing safety when you have come down in the box to make a tackle," Smiley said. "It's almost like you're playing three positions."

Again, though, Allen's focus is centralized for the first time in his playing career: Defense and defense alone.

"It definitely helps me that my head's not going to all those different places, offense and defense, having to know both of those," he said. "Every day when I go home, I don't have to look at film for offense. It's just all the coverages we have, and everything for the positions I'm playing now."

That focus on one side of the ball jibes with Allen's wiring as a player, he believes. He says that though he starred as an offensive player in high school, he's a defensive player at heart.

"Defensive, definitely. I just like stopping people from scoring," he said. "I don't feel like anybody should be scoring on us. And when we do get a stop, that just gives me more energy to go out there the next time and try to make another big play."

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