It’s unfair to these guys to compare them to Lymon and Tardy. They are both better players than Lymon or Tardy.
Sparks
- Thread starter KentuckyBoiler
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Lymon was a higher rated and was expected to give us 4 solid years at Purdue. Obviously there is more to the story with him. Tardy was probably not as highly regarded as Milton especially since he was a QB in high school. But how can you make a comment that Milton and Bell are better than players we have committed or on our roster based on their high school careers but disregard what Tardy and Lymon achieved? I think Milton and Bell will have good careers but we don’t NEED them and they shouldn’t expect them to be the silver bullets when they step on campus. They will compete for playing time with some other very good outside WRs.
And don’t forget OJ Ross another 4 star WR. Over the past 8-9 years our 2 and 3 star WRs have statistically been the best each season.
If Wright or Bell were on campus right now they’d be competing to start this year. Sparks is still hurt and is somewhat unproven and the JUCOs still have not shown consistency. Wright and Bell are natural WRs and natural athletes. Wherever they go Wright and Bell will end up being very good WRs. We do need them and Brohm WANTS them both badly.
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Not sure of your point, but last year's top WR for receptions was 2-star WR Anthrop.
Yes they would be competing to start just like everyone else. We don’t need them, Anderson, Bonner, and Taylor are our best group of outside WRs we have recruited in over a decade. Sparks is more proven than Milton and Bell, he has actually played and had excellent practices and hopefully will be close to 100% by next week.
I am not saying he will switch, but Bell is getting a lot of attention as a DB. That may be his route to the NFL. Bell is a very good WR with his size and athleticism. He is a natural leader and winner. The is no doubt in my mind he is a year one contributor, whether it is offense or defense just because he has ready made size and all of the intangibles.
One thing Bell does really well is catch the ball consistently. That has been a point of weakness so far for this team.
Maybe from OSU, but not from Purdue and PSU? I don't think Brohm is telling him DB.
I don't think he is being recruited for anything other than WR. I am just stating a fact. He has really shined on defense and he seems to really like it. As far as I know he is being recruited as a WR everywhere. But if he continues to impress, that may change.
I think, ultimately, Bell will get to chose. He is good enough to go anywhere and play on either side of the ball. I think you give a player like him his choice and don't tell him one side of the ball or we don't want you. You do whatever it takes to land him at this point. The path to playing time is easier at WR right now. But, if he proved good enough to contribute early on defense, that would show how good he really is. Brohm has signed and gotten commitments from some really good defensive backs.
Bell's high school numbers on offense may be fairly limited based on how that Warren team is built. His defensive numbers may end up looking a lot better. Again, not saying Purdue is looking at him as a DB, or even that he is looking to play DB.
He's been out with an ankle injury for a month. They haven't been hyping him up. They're worried he can even play at all vs. NW.
"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."
That was just over 2 weeks ago.
Anthrop is an interesting study. Blough loved to throw to him, and he made a lot of early catches. But as the season went on, it seemed like he became less and less of a preferred target as our other receivers learned how to catch and hold onto the ball. . His biggest strength seemed to be if we really needed that third down conversion, he was our most clutch receiver. Because of all the drops made by our other receivers, he was targeted more. I believe if our other receivers didn't drop the ball so many times, Anthrop would have played a lesser role last year.
he's that gritty guy who you can count on to make the catch. Every team needs a player like that. With all these talented young receivers arriving this year and next, I wonder what his future role will be.
he's that gritty guy who you can count on to make the catch. Every team needs a player like that. With all these talented young receivers arriving this year and next, I wonder what his future role will be.
Sindelar loved to throw to him, not blough. Once blough took over, the TEs got more targets.
You take out the 1st, 3rd, and 8th game, and his reception numbers were very consistent:
7,4,6,1,3,2,4,6,2,2,2,5,3
I recall a video on the official site, where Jamarcus Shepherd raves about him, his work ethic, his admiration of him, etc. Says he tells him he's going to recruit over him, but he just keeps battling and earning PT. I haven't watched it in awhile, but it's very complimentary. I expect him to continue to see PT, but he's going to really be pushed.
I suspect Moore will be the go-to guy on WR screens and hand-offs due to his quickness. Anthrop will continue to make big catches over the middle.
Is Moore, Anthrop or Anderson getting the most reps at punt return? I hope whoever it is that we stop fair catching every single punt. I think someone said last year it was the special team’s coach’s choice to do this. With a new special team coach, I hope we change that philosophy with punt returns.
Are you sure about that? A couple days ago it was reported he sprained his ankle in practice and has "missed more than a week of action." Seems shorter than a month. Also, Brohm "seemed optimistic" he will play next week and the article says "It's still anticipated that Sparks is likely to be available."
It also says coach Shephard said Wright and Zico "have shown signs of major improvement, especially at catching deep passes."
I think our outside WR group will be just fine even without the freshmen, and expect to see major improvements this year in that regard.
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Terry Wright put some balls on the ground last year, too. He’s fast but has had ball security issues.
yup, so very true. We had several very talented receivers last year who early in the season could not hold onto the dam ball, and it made a difference in the outcome of several games. At the end of the year, our receivers learned how to catch and yo u could see the difference in our results.
Quarterbacks and coaches love receivers who can catch the ball. Speed plus height does not equal talent if you drop passes. With all the receivers we have brought in the cream will rise to the top and the others won’t play. My guess is Moore and Anthrop will lead the team in yards and receptions.
Thanks for all of your research as I had forgotten what fine years some of those guys had.Do you think in 2015 Jared Dangerfield got any respect?
Of course you can be confident saying this with hindsight. But lymon was the ranked 72nd in the nation. Higher than any receiver that’s currently considering us.
And there was a lot of hype around tardy, with his state championships and mr football award.
I hope we get Bell and/or Wright. The bottom line is that no matter how many good/great players you have at a position, you always continue to recruit more of them.
Last season we had a lot of drops and Brohm will play the guys that hang on to the football. We threw for 3,270 yards last season and we will be replacing 1112 Outside Receiving yards (Phillips & Mahoungou). I think it is possible that Rondale (playing the slot) gets 600-800 yards his Freshman season. The TE's together pulled in 680 yards last season. I look for that number to increase this season. Anthrop had 423 yards last season. Anthrop really shined last year, but I am not sure if his numbers will go up or down with the addition of Moore. I hope they go up, but I it may depend on how much we throw to the outside and if those guys hang on to the ball this year. Drops killed a lot of drives last year. We could easily throw more than 3,270 yards this year if guys hold on to he ball.
Last season we had a lot of drops and Brohm will play the guys that hang on to the football. We threw for 3,270 yards last season and we will be replacing 1112 Outside Receiving yards (Phillips & Mahoungou). I think it is possible that Rondale (playing the slot) gets 600-800 yards his Freshman season. The TE's together pulled in 680 yards last season. I look for that number to increase this season. Anthrop had 423 yards last season. Anthrop really shined last year, but I am not sure if his numbers will go up or down with the addition of Moore. I hope they go up, but I it may depend on how much we throw to the outside and if those guys hang on to the ball this year. Drops killed a lot of drives last year. We could easily throw more than 3,270 yards this year if guys hold on to he ball.
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I thought Sparks played very well. It looked like e caught everything thrown his way and obviously had chemistry with his QBs. He used his size and athleticism to gain additional yards after the catch. He is on his way to an 800 yard season and will eventually find the end zone especially with the added defensive pressure on Moore. I was disappointed in the other WRs and TEs though. I don’t recall seeing an Undefended drop (NU had 2-3) other than Moore missed a high pass where he would have been creamed if he caught it. There were a few that could have been caught especially by our TEs. Overall saw significant improvement from our receiving group from this time last year.
I don't think we really looked for our TEs during that game much, but it was just one game though. Of course, no one expected the game that Moore had in his first college game. Sparks had a better game than I was expecting with the injury he had been going through over the last couple of weeks.
Give Sindelar and Blough the time the Northwestern QB had to look for open receivers, the receiving stats would have better for the Purdue receivers.
I was encouraged by the WR play, especially Wright and Zico. Those two have improved a ton over last year.
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