Another group with a lot of change.
Like every position group on the Purdue Football Roster, the secondary saw a lot of change since Coach Odom was hired in December.
They added even more help to the secondary during the April Transfer Portal Opening as well, and continue to turn over everystone to ensure that the product on the field this fall is far superior to whatever last season was.
Here are the current Defensive Backs on the Roster:
- Tony Grimes (UNLV)
- Smiley Bradford
- Richard Toney Jr (TCU)
- Sterling Smith (Holy Cross)
- Hudauri Hines
- Crew Wakley (BYU)
- Ryan Turner (Boston College)
- Vi’Naz Cobb
- Tahj Ra-EL (Memphis)
- Zeke Williams
- D’Mon Marable
- Kaleb Richmond
- Isaiah Needam
- An’Darius Coffey (NW)
- Chalil Cummings (Memphis)
- Traveon Wright (Miss St)
- Hershey McLaurin (Houston)
- Chad Brown (Nevada)
There probably is no need to sugarcoat the fact that no Purdue fan actually knows what we have with this group. It is basically an entire group of transfers.
The good news is, there is some experience in this group. The rumors are that Tony Grimes and Crew Wakley are the real deal, Wakley is 25 and was a salesman at one point in his early 20s before getting back into football.
Other than that, there are a lot of question marks. Purdue lost Dillon Thieneman to Oregon, who was their best player on defense the last two seasons, but it is hard to blame him after the 1-11 mark last season.
At the very least, the group will be coached better, which will lead into better play on the field. Ross-Ade Stadium was an all fly zone last season as the Walters led defense allowed anything to happen.
For a man that was hired on his defensive scheme, there was not a whole lot the last two years.