When Terrelle Pryor came to Ohio State, he was the nation’s top quarterback recruit, and as I had stated in an earlier post, one of the most arrogant jerks on the planet. Well, I have nothing against Ohio State, but I do love to see arrogant jerks have their asses handed to em, and that’s exactly what’s been happening with Pryor much of this season so far. His stats aren’t very good, they’re coming off a horrible loss to a 1-5 Purdue team, they’ve dropped in the rankings, and everyone is questioning Pryor’s abilities as a quarterback along with Coach Tressel’s running of the offense. What’s gone wrong? Where’s Ohio State and Terrelle Pryor headed from here? Hopefully for all involved, Pryor will develop a little humility and some leadership skills, while Coach Tressel lets Terrelle go back to what he does best – running the option and rolling out with the option to run or pass.
Terrelle Pryor is best on the run with options in his pocket, not sitting in the pocket hoping to someday be like Peyton Manning.
Pryor Wanted A Pro-Style Offense
When you’re 6′6″ and run a 4.3 forty, high-school football isn’t that challenging. I mean, nobody can touch ya. So the gunslinger with the big ego came rollin’ into Ohio State with all the confidence in the world and started tearing up the Big 10 his freshman year. He was so confident coming out of high school that he was already looking past the collegiate level and preparing for the NFL. At the time, Ohio State was running a slightly different option-style offense, one that suited his talents well. Pryor lead the Big 10 his freshman year in passing efficiency, and the stage was set for a huge sophomore campaign. Everything was runnin smoothly.
But one of the main reasons Pryor chose Ohio State was because he wanted to be in a pro-style offense that would prepare him to play in the NFL. So Tressel has put him under center more this year and expected him to play more from the pocket. He has also been running the spread from the shotgun, as opposed to more of an option offense, and Tressel has him standing his ground, looking for open receivers, and going through the check-downs. Unfortunately, Pryor is struggling with it. Against Purdue, Pryor turned the ball over four times – fumbling twice and throwing two interceptions. His confidence is shaken, and he looks stiff, uncomfortable, and lost out there. Terrelle came to OSU looking to run a pro-style offense, but unfortunately he’s not a pro-style quarterback any more than Vince Young was at Texas.
Support and Advice From His High School Coach
Ray Reitz, Pryor’s high school football coach, has chimed up quite a bit in the press lately in support of his former quarterback, and with some advice for Tressel and Ohio State:
“They need Terrelle to run more. They put the reins on him, and they need to let him go free. When I watch Terrelle right now, I see a robot. What I’m saying is, it would enhance his athletic ability if you run more of that [zone read] stuff, but the debate is do you enhance his athletic ability or do you prepare him for the NFL?” – Ray Reitz – Pryor’s high school football coach
Reitz totally believes in Pryor, and had some encouraging words about Terrell and his abilities:
“But if I had to build a team, that’s the kid I’d want on my team. He’ll be a great leader, he’ll work hard, and when it clicks in, it will be a joy to watch. I know it’s going to happen. It might even be later this year. I just think people are throwing him under the bus kind of early. I feel bad for him right now because people are doubting his ability. When that happened with him in the past, he’s come back strong. I look for him to come back big this week.” – Ray Reitz
Pryor’s Receivers Trying To Be Optimistic
His team has tried coming out in support of his abilities and potential, but they aren’t exactly defending his performance to this point, as shown by this quote from wide receiver DeVier Posey:
“From his first pass, [people said] he’s really not that good. But I really feel that’s kind of hard for a guy like that, you know what I mean? There’s only one Tim Tebow in this world and I don’t really know what people want from [Pryor]. He’s going to get better. He really can’t do much worse.” – wide receiver DeVier Posey
Wow, thanks for the ringing endorsement!
Terrelle Pryor is still the same athlete that he was in high school but he’s no longer running an offense that suits his talents.
Losing His Head and Losing His Focus
But the question has to be asked, “How hard has Pryor been working, and did he think this would be like high school?” I mean, he clearly felt he was God’s gift to football and had a stellar start to his young career. But now that his confidence is shaken and his performance has lagged, people are looking for answers, and a lot of people are looking to see if he has the character and dedication needed to perform consistently in the big time and evolve into the NFL quarterback he hopes to be. As wide receiver DeVier Posey continues:
I just feel like if people are patient, and he’s patient [he'll be great]. … He’s not going to be great tomorrow. But if he works on it, eventually in a year or two, or even maybe by the end of this year, he’ll be a great player.” – wide receiver DeVier Posey
IF he works on it? I’m not hearing “He’s a hard worker” or “He’s bustin his ass out there”. I’m hearing “IF he works on it”. So how does Pryor feel about his attitude and effort to this point?
“You’ve got all these people around you, you’re sort of like a superstar. You start maybe thinking too much of yourself and losing your head a little bit and losing focus. That opened me up to the world and opened me up to myself and who I am as a person. I think maybe that was the best thing to happen to us last week; maybe we’ll learn from it. We’re having real good practices, and we’re just trying to get the fans back on our side.” – Terrelle Pryor
So Pryor having his ass handed to him was the best thing that happened to Ohio State in the loss to Purdue? Well, if it means Pryor will grow up and make the attitude adjustment necessary to be a respected leader and a great quarterback, then yes indeed. Will it happen? We’ll see.
As an added benefit to the kid, Lebron James has even stepped in to try to help Pryor get his attitude and priorities straight, while dealing with the limelight and high expectations at such a young age. Lebron has been there – he knows what’s going on in Pryor’s life. Now hopefully he can help Pryor figure it all out.
Back To What He Does Best
The bottom line is that Pryor has certain gifts, is comfortable playing in certain types of situations, and plays the game with a certain style. He’s still very young, and he has a lot of personality issues to deal with.There has been little or no evidence to this point that an athlete like Pryor can be made into a great NFL quarterback. You could argue they did it with Vick, but you’d really have some tough points to counter to make that argument. Most of the time it ends badly, like it has so far with Vince Young.
Pryor is not an NFL quarterback, nor is he an NFL-style quarterback. He’s a tremendous athlete with great running skills, some quarterbacking experience, and a lot of problems to work out with his attitude and confidence. Don’t try to mold him into something he’s not – even if he thinks that’s what he wants. Let him be himself. Let him be a great college quarterback with plenty of freedom to play his own game in a system that suits him. Run the option, roll him out, and let him do his thing. Then, when the time comes, he’ll make it to the NFL just as he had hoped he would, but with one little wrinkle in his plans – he’ll become a great NFL wide receiver and punt returner – won’t he Antwaan Randle El?
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