With Purdue's numbers being what they are for the 2016 class, loading up on early commitments can be kind of a dicey proposition, but not if you're sure you're getting the right guys.
Purdue presumably then believes that its first commitment from the 2016 senior class is one of those right guys.
Josh Hayes, the cornerback from Pike, was one of the first in-state players offered. That offer came in October after Darrell Hazell saw him in person at a Pike practice during one of the Boilermakers' bye weeks.
And this was the case that Purdue basically had the DB recruit at hello. This has been the figurative lock for months now, the only hold-up being some reluctance on the family's part to make such an early commitment. That reluctance was apparently overcome on Thursday night, Hayes gave Purdue his commitment, accepting what remained his lone scholarship offer.
The secondary is one of the positions we can safely say that Purdue will recruit multiple players for, so it's not like Hayes is a tight end or center or kicker where the one guy they take is the figurative silver bullet, their one shot at getting right in a class that will be hard-pressed to even get in the ballpark of 20 scholarships, maybe even 15 for all we know.
Is there risk in Hayes? Maybe. By multiple accounts, he has not yet qualified academically. Understand, though, that it's May so time is on his side. But like I said, Purdue is convinced of his abilities at a position in very much needs a strong crop of signees at in this class to come.
After this season, Purdue's projected-to-be-rock-solid corner tandem of Frankie Williams and Anthony Brown is gone, leaving a vacuum on the depth chart that I'm not sure the next generation, so to speak, has been established at.
Da'Wan Hunte is the only other corner on the team now who'll be projected to be on the roster this time a year from now. Purdue has freshmen Mike Little, David Rose and Evyn Cooper (if he sticks at corner) coming in at corner and they'll need to be fast-tracked. Maybe this is a JUCO year at corner if Purdue can swing it with its limited numbers.
Purdue needs to be right in its projections of Hayes, both in his playing ability and academic standing, and obviously it's confident that it is, or else it would not have A) offered so early and B) taken him so early.
But expected him to be one of at least two or three corners in this class, this first one providing Purdue what seems to be a well-built, physical presence at a position where physicality is becoming en vogue for a variety of reasons. This is not Richard Sherman from a size perspective, but Hayes is not small by any means.
Nor is he as slow as his Rivals page might have you believe.
You've maybe seen by now that Hayes' profile lists him at a 5.18 40-yard time, or in simpler terms, offensive guard speed.
Let me explain.
That time is documented data from the Rivals Combine at Decatur Central earlier this spring. There is immeasurable value for us in the Internet recruiting business in verified data, because it cuts through the BS that has warped so much of reality when it comes to things like speed.
The problem with verified data is you live with what you get, and there's one crack at it. We have a beyond-reputable outfit commissioned to handle testing at these camps, but everyone's time that day was unrealistically slow.
Chris Evans has been a consistent 4.4-or-better guy - one of the few recruits out there who can legitimately say he's that fast - but he got saddled with a 4.85 or something like that on that day. I have personally been in the facility on days in which Evans was clocked at sub-4.4. Maybe those were quick clock fingers, but I am guessing that those times are still closer to reality than a nearly 4.9. If a 170-pounder ran a 4.9, the tape wouldn't lie and Michigan State and Notre Dame wouldn't have offers on the table for that young man.
Is Hayes a 4.4 guy? No. But if he was 5.2 guy at cornerback, he might not play for his high school let alone have a Big Ten scholarship.
That he does, a scholarship he locked himself into last night, giving Purdue one of its A-list targets from the outset of 2016 recruiting.
Purdue presumably then believes that its first commitment from the 2016 senior class is one of those right guys.
Josh Hayes, the cornerback from Pike, was one of the first in-state players offered. That offer came in October after Darrell Hazell saw him in person at a Pike practice during one of the Boilermakers' bye weeks.
And this was the case that Purdue basically had the DB recruit at hello. This has been the figurative lock for months now, the only hold-up being some reluctance on the family's part to make such an early commitment. That reluctance was apparently overcome on Thursday night, Hayes gave Purdue his commitment, accepting what remained his lone scholarship offer.
The secondary is one of the positions we can safely say that Purdue will recruit multiple players for, so it's not like Hayes is a tight end or center or kicker where the one guy they take is the figurative silver bullet, their one shot at getting right in a class that will be hard-pressed to even get in the ballpark of 20 scholarships, maybe even 15 for all we know.
Is there risk in Hayes? Maybe. By multiple accounts, he has not yet qualified academically. Understand, though, that it's May so time is on his side. But like I said, Purdue is convinced of his abilities at a position in very much needs a strong crop of signees at in this class to come.
After this season, Purdue's projected-to-be-rock-solid corner tandem of Frankie Williams and Anthony Brown is gone, leaving a vacuum on the depth chart that I'm not sure the next generation, so to speak, has been established at.
Da'Wan Hunte is the only other corner on the team now who'll be projected to be on the roster this time a year from now. Purdue has freshmen Mike Little, David Rose and Evyn Cooper (if he sticks at corner) coming in at corner and they'll need to be fast-tracked. Maybe this is a JUCO year at corner if Purdue can swing it with its limited numbers.
Purdue needs to be right in its projections of Hayes, both in his playing ability and academic standing, and obviously it's confident that it is, or else it would not have A) offered so early and B) taken him so early.
But expected him to be one of at least two or three corners in this class, this first one providing Purdue what seems to be a well-built, physical presence at a position where physicality is becoming en vogue for a variety of reasons. This is not Richard Sherman from a size perspective, but Hayes is not small by any means.
Nor is he as slow as his Rivals page might have you believe.
You've maybe seen by now that Hayes' profile lists him at a 5.18 40-yard time, or in simpler terms, offensive guard speed.
Let me explain.
That time is documented data from the Rivals Combine at Decatur Central earlier this spring. There is immeasurable value for us in the Internet recruiting business in verified data, because it cuts through the BS that has warped so much of reality when it comes to things like speed.
The problem with verified data is you live with what you get, and there's one crack at it. We have a beyond-reputable outfit commissioned to handle testing at these camps, but everyone's time that day was unrealistically slow.
Chris Evans has been a consistent 4.4-or-better guy - one of the few recruits out there who can legitimately say he's that fast - but he got saddled with a 4.85 or something like that on that day. I have personally been in the facility on days in which Evans was clocked at sub-4.4. Maybe those were quick clock fingers, but I am guessing that those times are still closer to reality than a nearly 4.9. If a 170-pounder ran a 4.9, the tape wouldn't lie and Michigan State and Notre Dame wouldn't have offers on the table for that young man.
Is Hayes a 4.4 guy? No. But if he was 5.2 guy at cornerback, he might not play for his high school let alone have a Big Ten scholarship.
That he does, a scholarship he locked himself into last night, giving Purdue one of its A-list targets from the outset of 2016 recruiting.
