Purdue needs to find a go-to receiver and through one week of preseason camp Jared Sparks is trying to answer the call.
The sophomore wide receiver is trying to become the outside receiver that Jeff Brohm's offense seems to very much need. The 6-foot-1 athlete has made impressive plays in either 11-on-11 skeleton drills or one-on-one drills against the best of Purdue's secondary personnel in each of the first five preseason practices.
"Coach has made an emphasis on it (and) he needs a guy to stretch the offense out," Sparks said. "We're searching for that guy and my job is to make sure whatever they call, I execute. I'm really not necessarily trying to be this one go-to guy on every go route but I know for a fact, when it's my time, time for them to call my number then I'm going to make the plays."
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With the graduations of Anthony Mahoungou and Gregory Phillips from the 2017 team, Sparks arrived in preseason camp with the third-most receptions returning to the Boilermakers from the wide receiver position, with 19 from a season ago. With Purdue having a trio of potentially explosive playmakers under 6-feet tall at the slot receiver spot (Terry Wright, Rondale Moore and Jackson Anthrop), Brohm continues to stress the importance of taller targets emerging on the outside and Sparks' athletic ability has stood out to this point in camp.
"If you know anything about Jared, he's an ultra competitor," wide receiver coach JaMarcus Shephard said Monday. "He wants to play. Even last year, I remember Jared and I walking out here (to the practice field) and I said, 'Look man, what is it you want out of this thing?' and his response was he wanted to play. I told him to look at our quarterback room and look at our wide receiver position. There's an opportunity for you to do this."
Sparks, a former quarterback who was moved to wide receiver following the arrival of Brohm and his wide-open offensive scheme, finds it easier to develop a natural chemistry with both Elijah Sindelar and David Blough due to the fact he's seen the game through their perspective behind center.
"It's given me a basis of understanding when it comes to the offense," Sparks said. "It didn't take me as long to recognize what to do against this and that defense. It just really helps in terms of knowing the coverages, reading them and recognizing them quicker."
Sparks was used in a variety of ways last season catching 19 passes for 222 yards while also being used on running plays 23 times for 123 yards. This preseason camp, Sparks has been noticeably making diving catches and showing the ability to high-point a football for touchdown plays in the corner of the end zone.
"Jared has probably been the most impressive guy in camp for us on the offensive side of the ball at the skill positions," Jeff Brohm said Monday. "Really, it's a tribute to his competitiveness. He's made the most plays for us and so we are excited about the progress he's made."
The Louisiana native has been consistently working with the first-team offensive unit in preseason practice. However, Brohm has said that the receiver spots continue to be a fluid situation with the Boilermakers still just over three weeks from kickoff vs. Northwestern Aug. 30.
"I feel like the offensive line position is getting better. The tight ends are working hard. The quarterbacks are improving (but) just have to get better at the skill positions of receiver and running back," Brohm said. "It's not going to happen overnight."
Sparks, a 215-pound target, said Monday he's added 10 pounds to his frame this off-season, equipping him better to handle Big Ten press coverage. Sparks said the 2018 campaign will be his opportunity to become "an established wide receiver" after not entirely embracing the role last season following a move from quarterback.
"He's increased his game and his physical body strength," senior receiver Terry Wright said. "We're still working on the smoothness of his routes and he's becoming more and more like a wide receiver than a transfer from quarterback every single day. By the time his senior year comes or even the start of next year, he's going to be a guy that everybody will be looking at."
Sparks is already known on this 2018 Purdue squad as a talker on the field and what he calls his "swag" includes loud trash talking immediately following big plays.
"Even when we're in the meeting room ... and I call out something where I'll say, 'Hey, you're not going to know it' and he'll go, 'Bet coach, bet coach and I got some pushups on it.' He's a competitive dude," Shephard said. "Certainly I'm pretty loud and so he's got to get as loud as I do in order to be heard."
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