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Jared Sparks knows a player he can try to emulate, one who was a highly-successful quarterback who turned into a productive wide receiver.
So as the redshirt freshman plays both of those positions during training camp, he has him in mind.
“I tell everybody this is my ‘Braxton Miller Year,’” Sparks said Friday following the Boilermakers’ second August practice. “I saw him at Ohio State and I really respect his journey to the NFL. He was playing quarterback, a Heisman candidate at one point before he got hurt (with a shoulder injury). And him being unselfish and having to switch (to receiver) his senior year, (he) really put time in to playing a position he hadn’t played in years. I look up to him.”
In Sparks’ case, it’s not an injury that’s forcing him to play dual roles, but need; Purdue doesn’t have a wealth of experience at outside receiver, having brought in three transfers during the offseason to help bolster its chances. But Sparks, a 6-foot-1, 205-pounder, gets a chance too, because he’s one of the Boilermakers’ best athletes, regardless of position.
In the spring, Purdue experimented with moving Sparks outside, limiting his route tree to only a couple options. But he was successful, so much so that Jeff Brohm and Co., have him doing so again during camp. But they’ve opened up the playbook for him a bit, too.
“He does have some playmaking skills,” Brohm said. “He does have some speed and quickness. We need to make sure he continues to improve running routes and catching the ball, but I think he can do certain things for us. Is he going to be an every-down receiver for us right now? No, but I think he needs to be in the game and touch the ball some.”
Although it’s been only two practices, Sparks has shown a bit of everything so far, the good and the bad. Friday, he had a great diving grab of a reception on the right sideline, leaping in front of a defender to haul the ball in. But that came after he had a ball bounce off his hands for an interception.
“I make a mistake and dropped the ball, gave the quarterback a pick, one of my teammates,” Sparks said of teammate Elijah Sindelar, a fellow reserve QB. “I told him I owed him one and had to come back and do it. I wasn’t going to let anyone else (in the quarterback room) get a pick. I was definitely trying to show them I was capable.”
Sparks, who threw a great deep-ball touchdown during a scramble drill Thursday, is showing enough that Purdue is likely — at least it seems as of now — to put together a package for him this fall. That might include opportunities as a Wildcat-type quarterback, although his passing has improved immensely in a year, and as a receiver.
“The ball probably needs to be in his hands at least a little bit, whether it’s at quarterback and he’s gotten better at receiver,” Brohm said. “So he’s going to see the field and I think he works hard and wants to make plays. While he’s not a natural outside, he’s a good athlete who can continue to get better.”
Make no mistake, however, Sparks fashions himself as a quarterback. He’s remained in the QB room for positional meetings, getting a word in with wide receiver coach JaMarcus Shephard when an opportunity presents.
But Sparks wants to do what is needed.
“I’ll do it,” he said. “But I told them … my dream is to play quarterback, that’s what I stride to do. And I’m a great team player, so I’ll do anything that needs to be done. I’m not a complainer. I’m very, very unselfish.”
Starting quarterback David Blough has seen enough to know that Sparks can help Purdue in the fall.
“He’s a sparkplug when he’s in there,” Blough said, pausing for a moment to see if others caught his accidental pun. “Him being able to keep people honest, make them defend, him running the ball and throwing it.
“He’s been making plays.”
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