Second Purdue cornerback spot still wide open

More from Wednesday: Analysis ($) | Quick Count | "The Point After" ($) | Analysis: Day 6 ($) | Third positions a charm for Roberts

On Day 1, it was Tim Cason.

Day 2 brought Kamal Hardy.

And Day 3 Myles Norwood.

All players that the Boilermakers have tried out at their second cornerback spot, opposite the one locked down by junior Da’Wan Hunte.

Who will it be Sept. 3, when Purdue opens the season?

“If I knew that, I would be at the beach right now,” cornerback Taver Johnson joked following the Boilermakers' practice Wednesday, their sixth of camp.

“... Not sure yet, and that’s why we’re doing it by committee right now. We’re shuffling some guys and trying to find out who that is going to be. We don’t have an answer yet, but it’s a work in progress.”

The frontrunner might be Cason, considering the sophomore is the only option who has played before, albeit in an extremely limited fashion and at a different position. Last season, the 5-foot-11, 195-pounder had four tackles while playing safety and on special teams. But he moved to cornerback in the spring, then suffered growing pains there, particularly when Ross Els tried to push his and other cornerbacks’ limits as much as possible.

“It definitely helped my growth a lot,” Cason said. “Because in a game, those difficult situations can happen a lot. Moving from safety to corner, I didn’t know how big of a difference that was going to be. Coming down to play press man, not doing that in over a year, but learning my technique and then putting me in those situations, it really helped me out.”

Enough so that Cason ended the spring as the No. 1 cornerback, then opened the fall the same. But it’s far from solidified. Hardy, a J.C. transfer who was slowed in the spring by a nagging hamstring injury, was up with the first team on the second day of camp. Then, it was Norwood, who moved to cornerback halfway through last season from wide receiver, that got the call on Day 3.

Since, they’ve shuffled around; on Wednesday, it was Cason’s turn to take a majority of the snaps. A few days ago, when Hardy had moved up to the 1s, Cason was the primary dime back.

“Every day we go to the meeting room and there could be a different depth chart,” Cason said. “Everybody moves every day, which Coach Johnson makes clear to us.”

Hardy was on the move Wednesday, shifting to play the nickel and dime positions after he had been strictly a cornerback through the first five days. That was a challenge — and he called it a “rough” day afterward — because it was a change.

“There’s days where I feel like I do (well),” Hardy said. “But when we’re introduced to something new, it feels like I’m taking a step down, and I’ve gone to fix that. That comes along with maturity. I’m a junior, not a freshman or sophomore, so I have to know.”

Hardy, though, feels much better now than he did in the spring, when he had recently transferred in and was still getting used to the system. And a hamstring injury kept him from getting as many repetitions as he wanted.

But it at least gave the 6-foot, 190-pounder a bit of experience.

“The issues I had today, at nickel and dime, were the issues I was having at corner in the spring,” he said. “But now I’ve learned the plays and watching from the sideline when I was injured, I could see. But now, I’ve got to learn nickel and dime. I’m not just a corner, I’m a defensive back, so I’ve got to know everything.”

It’s critical, because Johnson is seeking consistency in deciding who ultimately wins the No. 1 job. The players are being constantly evaluated, based largely on technique and production, and they’re largely aware of where they stand.

But the Aug. 20 jersey scrimmage will be a big day, a final exam of sorts. That’s when the “big grade” will come out, Johnson said.

“It’s like a game day for us,” Cason said. “But I’m going to approach it like it’s another practice. I’m going to work my technique, try not to be nervous. Because at the end of the day, if I treat this as a super big game, I’m going to over think things. If I treat it as a practice, I think I’ll do really well at it.”

Until then, expect the trio to keep competing, and maybe be occasionally pushed by the freshmen as well, although Josh Hayes and Simeon Smiley have largely worked only with the second and third teams.

“I tell them every day to just keep bringing it,” Cason said. “Because I don’t want to just get the spot, I want to fight for it, because it has so much more value when you fight for it.”

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