Turner loving new opportunity under new staff at Purdue
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In his first couple seasons at Purdue, Chazmyn Turner spent a lot of time being the last guy.
He was the last in line for positional drills; he was the last to jog over to the next station; he was the last option to get a rep in a team drill.
And the defensive end admits that made football difficult.
Easier now, though, because he feels the new coaching staff — Jeff Brohm, D-line coach Reggie Johnson and the rest are in their first spring at Purdue — is giving him a fresh opportunity. And the last couple practices, that’s meant first-team repetitions on the defense, an opportunity that might have seemed impossible the last couple years.
“There’s been moments where there’s a lot (of distractions) going on and you feel like, ‘Why am I doing this?’” Turner said Wednesday following Purdue’s seventh practice of the spring. “But you’ve got to find your purpose, why do you do stuff? Why you’re living? Why are you playing football? And I’ve found that I really like football and really want to do it, so I’ve been focusing on that.”
And that renewed attitude has given Turner a new chance. He plans to take advantage.
The 6-foot-5, 261-pounder has looked the part since the day he stepped on campus in the summer of 2015. But he redshirted in Year 1, then sat the entire 2016 season, largely being an afterthought and going through the motions of Purdue’s defensive scout team.
“It was a challenge but now I’m adjusting to college life and settling in,” Turner said. “With this new defense, I feel like it’s going to work and it fits me. I struggled a few days, had bad practices, but I’ve improved and am doing better.
“It’s definitely easier to be out there doing, rather than watching. I’m more of a hands-on type of guy, so this is working (for me).”
Turner likes Nick Holt’s new defense, saying that it both requires discipline but also allows for play-making. And it gets guys in the right positions, he says.
A third-year sophomore, Turner is playing the defensive end spot, a more pass-rush oriented position in Holt’s multiple look front. The scheme could play a tackle on the opposite side of the end, because that player will be flanked — frequently — by the Leo, a hybrid end/linebacker who could stand up or be on the line. For Turner, though, he likes his role, in that he generally has three responsibilities: Rush the quarterback, stay home on the edge, or read the running back.
Purdue is giving him a chance to show whether he can do those things right now.
“I like his size and body,” said Johnson, the D-line coach. “He’s one of those young men who has shown some play-making ability. You watch him in drill work, you watch him do things and say, ‘OK, this guy can help us.’ Then, it’s just a matter of getting him on the field to see what he can do. And we tell these guys, don’t blink or flitch if we put you with the 1s; we need to see if you can help us.”
Play of day
Newcomer Kai Higgins might have made the defensive play of the day Wednesday, when he batted up a ball then intercepted it.
Playing the hybrid end position, the 6-4, 247-pounder dropped into a zone, then picked up the running back. But Higgins, a sophomore J.C. transfer, got a hand on a Jared Sparks’ pass, then had enough quickness to go get it. Had the drill been fully live, he would have returned the interception for a touchdown.
“That’s his athletic ability,” Johnson said. “Read run/pass, if it’s pass, drop to the bottom of the numbers and make a play. That’s him taking coaching and responding to what you’re asking him to do.”
Dropping into coverage, particularly for a big man, requires proper technique, and that’s not always been natural for Higgins, but he’s working on it.
“The coaches kept getting on me and on me, and finally I was able to make the right play, be in the right spot,” he said. “Good things happen.”
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Etc.
• Terrance Landers missed a second day of practice as he is away for what Brohm called academics-related on Monday.
The wide receiver’s return does not seem imminent.
• Running back Brian Lankford-Johnson, who appeared to suffer a minor lower-body injury on Monday, was working out off to the side Wednesday without any major physical hindrances.
He was joined there by receiver D’J Edwards, who continues to recover from a hamstring injury.
No timetable on their return.
• Sophomore Jack Wegher, who had moved to running back midway through last season, when he shed his redshirt, was back with the wide receiver group on Wednesday.
The Boilermakers are in need of playmakers on the perimeter, whereas they seemingly have more depth in the backfield.
