Purdue’s Nic Scourton eager to emerge in 2023

You may remember him as Nic Caraway. Though he changed his last name to Scourton this summer to honor his father, he enters 2023 ready to showcase the sky-high potential he flashed as a true freshman for Purdue last fall.

After a meteoric rise in the recruiting rankings late in his high school career and a strong showing at the 2022 All-American Bowl, Scourton came to Purdue as a four-star recruit. He parlayed that into leading Purdue’s true freshmen in snaps played during the 2022 season, showcasing the ability that left Boilermaker fans and coaches wanting more.

On 265 snaps, Scourton recorded 22 tackles, including a pair of sacks. As he grew into the college game, his workload increased, highlighted by season-highs of 44 snaps and six tackles in the rivalry win over Indiana.

He’ll play in a new defensive scheme engineered by Ryan Walters and Kevin Kane this season, and that excites the big pass rusher from Bryan, Texas.

“It’s a very simple defense. One-on-ones; do your job,” said Scourton. “It lets me get loose. I get to rush the quarterback a lot and drop into coverage and showcase my versatility.”

While Ryan Walters’ “Air Strike” defense is known for being anything but simple, Scourton’s primary role doesn’t require much interpretation: go get the passer. In Purdue’s defensive scheme, outside linebackers like Scourton see plenty of one-on-one matchups with opposing offensive tackles.

“We have special pass rush packages with three or four outside linebackers [on the field] at the same time. So me, KJ (Kydran Jenkins), Khordae [Sydnor] and Scotty [Humpich] are all rushing together,” Scourton said.

Outside linebackers coach Joe Dineen has all of his players training both at the “Fox” and “Buck” positions. Scourton currently spends the bulk of his time working at the Buck, which puts him on the boundary side of the field.

Of course, to get into a pass rush position, the defense first must put the opposing offense in passing situations. Dineen stated that his crew must “earn the right to pass rush” by performing well on early downs to force opponents into third-and-long.

Dineen’s noticed the development of Scourton over the past eight months.

“Nic will have a good year, man. He’s physical, [and] he’s attacked all the workouts this year to put his body in a good position. It’s our job to scheme it up and get him in a spot to make plays.

Scourton doesn’t shy away from the hype surrounding his abilities entering the 2023 season, which saw him earn a third-place vote as Big Ten Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in the Cleveland.com media poll. He received high praise from his coaches following spring practice, and he’s confident he can deliver on the expectations.

He’s so confident, in fact, that he’s engaged in plenty of friendly competitions with fellow pass rusher Jenkins.

“I’m going to have the first sack, going to have more sacks than him, going to have more TFLs (tackles for loss) than him and my celebrations are going to be way cooler,” said Scourton of the battle with Jenkins.

It’s that energy that creates so much intrigue around Scourton, who could develop into Purdue’s best player on defense this season.

When asked what his ceiling as a player might be, all Scourton had to say was, “the sky’s the limit.” If he can approach the sky, Purdue fans could find themselves watching the next great Boilermaker pass rusher.

Though Scourton enters the season with lofty goals for himself, Purdue’s outside linebacker corps may stack up as the team’s deepest position group. Between Scourton’s pro potential, Sydnor’s intrigue and the experience Jenkins and Humpich provide, this position group could lead the defense.

“We want to be the best position group in the country. We come out here and we try to progress every day,” said Scourton.

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