Why The Indians Shouldn’t Trade For Jose Reyes
July 1, 2011Tribe Minor League Report: Four Clippers Named AAA All Stars
July 1, 2011I watched Terrelle Pryor go one-on-one with Jon Gruden last night on ESPN. I didn’t even really plan on watching it, but then I saw it was coming on and decided to watch. There were a lot of details of Terrelle Pryor’s end at Ohio State that were left out, but honestly, what’s the point anymore? Once a guy leaves school, who really cares about what kind of arbitrary NCAA rules were trampled?
Pryor’s one statement was that of sorrow that it ended like that, but also that he had no other choice but to leave with the growing distractions. I think there was a lot of selfish motivation in moving on, but he isn’t wrong in saying that it would only continue to harm his former team and teammates if he had stuck around.
Once it got down to football with Gruden, I thought Pryor came off reasonably well. He said all the right things about being competitive, loving his teammates, wanting to lead, but being willing to do whatever it takes to get on the field. As with anyone, it could have been all lip service. At this stage, though, why wouldn’t you take Pryor at his word? He should feel pretty desperate right now as he stares at the supplemental draft and an uncertain future with more doubters than he’s ever seen in his entire life.
That’s what I came away with more than anything else. We all know Pryor. He is an extremely talented athlete with questionable mechanics and some streaks of youth and immaturity that will be hurdles that he must clear in order to be effective in the NFL. Nobody, including Pryor, knows if he will ever be able to clear those hurdles, but at the end of the day, I don’t begrudge Pryor the opportunity to try.
For Pryor’s sake, I hope he finds a situation where they aren’t desperate for his services right away. He truly has a lot of work to do on his mechanics and accuracy. He needs a situation that will allow him to be a paid intern for a couple years.
On Twitter, former Ohio State Buckeye and NFLer LeCharles Bentley was all over the Pryor session with Gruden. He thought that Pryor’s demeanor was similar to Aaron Brooks. He went on to wonder whether Pryor could command an NFL huddle or not, claiming Pryor would need a veteran team around him.
I am sure Pryor is hoping to have a better career than Aaron Brooks. Brooks ended up with a career 56.5% completion percentage with a QB record of 38-52 with the New Orleans Saints and Oakland Raiders. He also threw 92 career interceptions to go along with his 123 career touchdowns.
Brooks was drafted in the 4th round of the 1999 NFL draft, and I still expect Pryor to arrive in the NFL somewhere in that range in the supplemental draft. That seems about right for kind of player Pryor is and the amount of risk there is that he will ever contribute in meaningful ways in the NFL. But last night on ESPN with Gruden, I didn’t think Pryor did anything to implode his stock. He did pretty well.
10 Comments
He definitely showed off more football acumen then I was expecting,
Wish it would of been there for the the 1st half of Wisconsin and the 09′ Purdue game
but can Pryor throw a pass backwards?
After watching this i thought he came across as a knucklehead. He had contradictions in some of his answers and showed his lack of intelligence real well last night.
I personally think Pryor would be lucky to have the career of Aaron Brooks. 38-52 is still 90 games started (the equivalent of 6 full seasons missing 6 games due to assorted injuries).
Its weird but I still can’t help kinda rooting for the guy. I’m an OSU alum and the shambles he had a hand in leaving the program in make me incredibly angry but I still wouldn’t mind seeing him line up as WR/TE for the Orange and Brown. For whatever he lacks in cognitive ability, he’s definitely a physical specimen
@mgbode – I thought the same thing when I read this. 90 starts is a ton. Pryor would be beyond lucky to get 90 career starts. I just can’t see it.
@Mark – exactly. and that’s not really even a complete indictment on Pryor either. it’s just tough to get that many starts in a career.
Tim Couch only had 59 starts in his career.
Bernie Kosar only had 108 starts.
Did Gruden ask him about Flip right naked waggle double X seven quarter?
no he was too busy enunciating “SANZENBACHER”
Chucky FTW!