Purdue linebacking corps reveling in being 'strength' of defense

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CHICAGO — Danny Ezechukwu has started the second-most games of anyone on Purdue's roster.

But he may not see that total increase much in his final season in 2017.

Credit that to the talent and depth in the Boilermakers’ linebacking corps with leading tackler Markus Bailey and likely captain Ja’Whaun Bentley back and Western Kentucky transfer T.J. McCollum crowding up the mix alongside Ezechukwu.

And if Ezechukwu sees his snaps decline for a second-consecutive season — the near-exclusive nickel packages Purdue ran dented his role — or the depth means a move toward the line of scrimmage, he says he’s actually fine with it.

The mature, fifth-year senior has seen how difficult victories have been to come by in West Lafayette as of late, and he knows when there’s a clear strength on the team, it needs to be seized.

“I feel like with the mind we have in Coach (Nick) Holt, I feel like he’s going to put us in position to execute as best we can, so I’m not worried about it at all. It’s a good problem to have,” Ezechukwu said Tuesday at the Big Ten media days at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago. “There’s not too many positions you can say you have too much depth at, especially a position as intricate and as important as linebacker. So I’m all for it. I’m for this problem. This is a good problem to have, if you ask me.”

Bailey is the riser of the group, a do-everything sophomore who can play outside in space well — he led the team in interceptions — or mix it up in the run game and deliver blows. He was three tackles shy of 100 on the season, just missing the mark last achieved by Anthony Heygood in 2008.

But in Holt’s defense, it’s possible more than one ’backer could reach triple-digits.

McCollum nearly did last season with WKU, even though he missed the bowl game to cap his total at 85, and that defense had another player with 100-plus. As a sophomore in Holt’s defense, McCollum led WKU with 100-plus tackles. He’d seem to be a good candidate to do so in his final season, especially after a healthy summer coming off shoulder surgery that forced him to be limited in the spring.

“T.J. is a solid football player. He’s a good tackler. He understands the game. He has good instincts. Those are his strengths, so I think he fits in well with the guys we have,” said Coach Jeff Brohm, who watched McCollum from the sidelines at WKU. “He’s very similar to the guys we have, to a certain degree. I think he gives us a solid player in the mix at that position.”

That’d be on the inside, the same place Bentley, a multi-year captain, plays. Bailey and Ezechukwu can play both spots, Brohm said. But if Purdue is in nickel with only two linebackers on the field, who sits? It could be any one of them.

Ezechukwu, for one, realizes McCollum’s importance.

“They didn’t bring him here not to play him — and I want to see him play. I’ve seen what he can do on film. I feel like he can make us better,” Ezechukwu said. “So if that means I have to move down and play D-line, that’s what I’ll do. If I have to stay at linebacker, that’s what I’ll do. We’re trying to win games. You have to be selfless in order to do something like that, and I feel like after last year and what we had to go through last year and what I had to go through last year, I feel like I’m more equipped to handle it. It is what it is.”

Of course, Holt could turn around and play four linebackers on the field at once, too, which is an intriguing prospect for the players, Bentley said.

Because it’d do what Holt wants — put the linebackers in positions to make plays, whether that’s blitzing or in the run game.

And it’d make the most sense for the skill set of the group.

“We were the strength last year,” Bentley said of the corps, “and I feel like we’re definitely the most experienced group, as well as the backbone of the team. We embrace it. We have guys fully capable. They recognize their talent. They recognize what they have to work on. In order for you to get better, you have to recognize there’s an issue. So we recognize that. We’re a veteran group and we move along with it. It’s a daily grind, and we constantly have things to work on. So we’ll be good.”

• Freshmen Giovanni Reviere had foot surgery recently and likely will miss the season, Brohm said. Another freshman, Jacob Abrams, will be out 3-4 weeks after having surgery to repair a minor knee injury, Brohm said.

• Training camp begins Aug. 3.

• Only freshmen or players already in the dorms will stay in them for training camp, a twist from recent years when all players moved into Cary Quad for a month or so. "There still will be curfew for everyone, and it will be checked," Brohm said. "I think sometimes people are more comfortable sleeping in their own bed and environment. I try to be a player’s coach and work with them. I know I would not like to sleep in a little bitty bed if I have a good one that’s not being used."

• Eric Swingler is no longer a walk-on. He was awarded a scholarship, Brohm said.

• Receiver Corey Holmes, the Notre Dame graduate transfer, could report to campus as early as Friday, Brohm said. Holmes missed Purdue's summer workouts while finishing up his final class at ND but has been training in Florida.

• Brohm said Purdue could lose a player or two to academics by the season's start, though he wouldn't name players who are in jeopardy. "The June grades were good, but there are certain guys who have to do very well in both terms in order to be back in good standing," he said. "There are multiple guys."

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