When I first heard of the youngster out of Jeannette, PA, and the ensuing recruiting fight over him, I just could not believe that this guy was the "chosen one." I thought that he was just another in the world of over blown so called "5 Star recruits. I personally though that he should have played under Rich Rodriguez's spread attack at Michigan. He would have a place where he could start as a true freshman. He could have been the four year center piece of a Michigan team that would look to get over their Lloyd Carr hangover. I was wrong.
In choosing Ohio State, Pryor was supposed to sit the bench behind Todd Boeckman, maybe take a redshirt before taking over as quarterback in his redshirt freshman season. When Coach Tressell started splitting time between Pryor and Boeckman, I thought that it was definitely premature. How a kid who was playing football for a high school suddenly could be playing against Big Ten teams. I saw him make a few nice plays in the Penn state game, but then his fumble basically cost Ohio State the game.
Then there was the Northwestern game. How good the Northwestern defenders are is up to interpretation, but Northwestern is arguably the fourth best team in the Big Ten. Nevertheless, Pryor made them look silly. Whether it was throwing lasers to Brian Robiskie, or burning the Wildcats with his legs, it was truly a coming out game for Pryor. In probably his best moment, Pryor rolled right, shook off tacklers and threw the ball 40 yards down the field on the run. It was the type of play where you say to yourself that this guy might just be the next great player.
Barry Sanders made my Thanksgiving days great for about ten years in the mid 90's. No matter how painful it was to watch the Lions, you always knew that Barry was going to do something special on Thanksgiving Day. He never had a great supporting cast of quarterbacks (Scott Mitchell, Rodney Peete, an aging Dave Krieg, or Erik Kramer) or all time receivers (Herman Moore and Brett Perriman were pretty good for a time), but he always had that magical sense about him. Barry sanders had every down big play capability. Anytime he got the ball, he was liable to score a touchdown.
Michael Vick was another player that fit the bill of having every down big play capability. There was a reason he got a Nike commercial that talked about the "Michael Vick Experience." Michael Vick was a special player that unfortunately made some bad decisions in his personal life.
Terelle Pryor might be that next player who has every down big play capability. Beanie Wells might be off to the NFL, but with a steady stream of Ohio State running backs coming behind him, Pryor looks to make the jump from great Quarterbacks to game changing Quarterback.
Hilary Rhoda
Esti Ginzberg
College Football Top 25 Review
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Good to hear from you guys again. Good work as always.
I don't even think Pryor expected this - he didn't take the early HS graduation option to attend fall practice - typical for any FR who starts.
I am suspect of any true FR starting - starting as QB just sounded like a disaster - there's a lot to pick up.
I didn't think he would get the start before Henton - a 4* QB who transferred.
Then I said it was still a mistake not to RS his FR year as he would be wasting it getting minimal playing time as te 3rd string QB behind Bauserman.
I said it was a mistake to start him, suspect of his success in the USC fiasco.
I wasn't convinced until an OOC game against a cream puff, where twice he passed up sprinting across open green to throw downfield for over 35 yards.
Pryor has me eating my words... and they are tasty.
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Frellin Cold In, AK
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I suspect that no small part of his decision to attend OSU is the talent that will be around him.
His OL will consist of 3 ***** recruits from the 08 class
a ***** recruit thru 2010
a ***** transfer from Michigan
all ranked in the top 7 of their class.
To this you can add some *** and **** TEs ranked as high as 6th in their class, and some *** and **** existing OL.
For the 09 class OSU has added two **** top 10 OL.
At WR there are five **** and ***** star recruits thru 2010
3 of these thru 2011
ranked as high as 4th in their class.
There are commitments from three **** recruits for the 2009 class.
At FB there are commitments from 2 ranked in the top 10 for the 09 class, including the top ranked FB (though there is talk of moving him the TB).
At TB there is currentlly two **** plus a ***** 09 commitment ranked 5th. Still, none of these are Beanie (though who is?).
On D, there are **** and ***** depth at every position.
None of these include the surprise 1/2/3 star athletes that pop up all the time.
Yes, I know the *** are annoying, but it was even more when I kept typing 3* and 4*
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Frellin Cold In, AK
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My final addition to get your comment total up...
Another recruiting factor might be the facilities. You hear a lot of talk of this being a factor from recruits. I don't know what it is or how they compare, but apparently they have provided a lot of ammenities like a free juice bar, lounges, etc. to give the athletes someplace out of the limelight.
...That and the weekly blank envelopes filled with Benjamins.
J/K
I think Pryor's development at QB will mirror Smith, who was known as a scrambler his Junior year, an accurate pocket passer his Senior year... which I think also factored into Pryor's decision.
Again, good work as always, and stay safe.
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Frellin Cold In, AK
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Mr. Afghanistan, May I remind you since you failed to mention, Pryor rhymes with FIRE and he aint hot, he's BLAZIN! Nice blog too!
norka
Bubba Spot, GA
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I am not a big Terrelle fan. I went to a nearby school and our basketball team (I am not on it so no hard feelings) was playing his and someone from our school came in a Jim Tressel outfit and our student section was harassing him all game so he flipped the bird to every single person in the stadium. Hilarious
m00coyne
Mc Donald , PA
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