You'll have to fast forward the video to about the 8:25 mark to see it, but in last night's Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, Terrelle Pryor took a long, hard look into his future.
In an ingenious move that should never have taken this long to happen, Terrelle Pryor caught his very first pass as a member of the Ohio State Buckeyes. QB Todd Boeckman, who led the Buckeyes to a National Championship game appearance last year, lined up as the QB, with Pryor as his WR, and lobbed a pass to the the freshman QB for a pivotal TD that brought Ohio State to within 2 points of the Longhorns.
Pryor is 6'6", and has plenty of speed. According to his evaluation as a high school basketball prospect, he also has plenty of vertical leaping ability and good hands. If there was ever a perfect recipe for a WR, that's it. Combine that with the cognitive abilities that you would assume that Pryor has as a QB, and Pryor has a chance to be an excellent receiver at the next level, if he chooses to be.Pryor's basketball background is just one more thing that points to his potential as a solid wideout. Tony Gonzalez, arguably the best receiving tight end in NFL history, played basketball in college at Cal, and Dallas Cowboys superstar WR Terrell Owens was also an NCAA basketball player, and tried (but wasn't allowed) to play in a summer league with the Sacramento Kings.
As a quarterback, Terrelle Pryor's strength is not with his arm. The biggest threat when Pryor has the ball is his speed. As a pure passer, he is average, at best. While many high schools and some colleges put their best athlete at the quarterback position, there are many times when that player would be much better suited for another position in the long run. This was the case with guys like Antwaan Randle El and Matt Jones, and is likely true for players like Tim Tebow and Pryor.
Whether he likes it or not, Terrelle Pryor's future is brightest as a WR prospect. Should Ohio State move him there? Probably not, since they have had a good amount of success with him at QB, as well as with other mobile QB's. He could quite conceivably win a Heisman at QB before his career is over in Columbus. But if he wants to go to the next level, he should start working with the JUGS machine. He saw into his future in the Fiesta Bowl, and it was as a wide receiver.















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