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LARAMIE – Isaac Leppke said it crossed his mind a time or two. The last time it did, it became a reality.

The University of Wyoming moved the redshirt freshman walk-on from quarterback to wide receiver earlier this spring. In the mind of fourth-year coach Craig Bohl, the reason was simple.

"We felt he could help our football team earlier at the wide receiver position as opposed to quarterback," Bohl said.

Leppke was behind redshirt junior starter Josh Allen and junior backup Nick Smith at quarterback before the swap. Meanwhile, sophomore walk-on Nick Szpor established himself as the Cowboys' No. 3 quarterback last season. Additionally, UW has another walk-on quarterback this spring in freshman Adam Carr, and true freshman Tyler Vander Waal enters the mix when he arrives this summer.

Still, Leppke appeared happy in the logjam of quarterbacks, but the thought of switching to wide receiver remained in the back of his mind.

The last time that thought popped up, Bohl and associate head coach/offensive coordinator Brent Vigen approached him about making the move.

Leppke was given the choice to switch positions or stay at quarterback, and he said it wasn't a hard decision to make.

For one reason, wide receiver isn't a new position for him.

Leppke played wide receiver his last two high school games in Dinuba, California, and his first offer to play college football was from the University of San Diego to play wide receiver.

UW was also interested in having the 6-foot-4, 187-pound Leppke play wide receiver when it asked him to walk on, but Leppke wanted to see how things would work out at quarterback first.

The move wasn't due to his poor play at quarterback, but to a need to put a good athlete on the field sooner at another position.

"Isaac has excellent speed, and was fairly elusive as a quarterback for us last season on the scout team," Bohl said. "Guys who typically have the best hand-eye coordination on the team are quarterbacks, so being able to catch the ball, I thought, would be a pretty easy transition for him."

Leppke caught one pass for 6 yards in UW's first major scrimmage of spring drills last Saturday in Casper.

"I'm still raw," Leppke said. "I'm familiar with it in the sense I know the plays, and I know what I like to see and how I want the wide receivers to run their routes from a quarterback's perspective.

"Things like getting off press coverage from cornerbacks and all the footwork details that go into wide receiver I'm still adjusting to. I think I've done better early on than I thought I would. I also have been getting a lot of help from the other wide receivers. I learned so much over the first few days just from them."

Leppke said the transition from quarterback to wide receiver was easier due to his past athletic background. He lettered in football, basketball and as a hurdler in track and field in high school. That means he is used to transitioning from one sport to another – learning and re-learning the specific techniques and nuances of each.

Leppke's success as a hurdler earned him a scholarship offer to run track at Iowa out of high school, but he stuck with football.

What about the possibility of doing both football and track at UW? Leppke said "maybe," but for now he wants to make sure he gets football – and specifically playing wide receiver – down first.