Football
Terrelle Pryor - Report Number Two
By John PorentasIn case you missed Number One, you probably should read it to find out what we think about all this.
Also in case you missed Number One, our prediction (and we don't do many predictions) was that Number One would be the most widely-read thing we did this week. After about 36 hours online it is not just the most widely thing read this week, but is already the the fourth-most widely read thing this month and it's still going strong. It should be number one for the month sometime Monday.
We'll see if ole' Number Two here can keep up the pace.
The picture being painted of Terrelle Pryor continues to evolve, and the good news is that the picture is evolving in a positive way.
Pryor got around one third of the snaps in the jersey scrimmage yesterday. It was the first time the OSU coaching staff saw him "under fire" and judging from the comments that Jim Tressel made following the scrimmage, Pryor apparently pleased his head coach.
"Terrelle is one of those guys with good presence. He doesn't look like a freshman from the standpoint of wondering what's going on out there," said Tressel.
"He's very calm, he's very tough on himself. He can keep a play alive as you can imagine and he can do some things with his feet. I think there was only one designed run, he had a quarterback draw for a touchdown, but he kept some plays alive with his feet."
Tressel talked about Pryor's feet, but it was his talk about Pryor's eyes and arm that was really encouraging.
"There are some quarterbacks that even if the Red Sea was out there (and we assume parted) they wouldn't run, and there are others who take off too soon. I would say that Terrelle falls more toward the Red Sea group. He's going to find somebody to throw it to. He's a thrower. If the team needs him to take off and go and that's the best thing, he's going to do that and do it well, do it very well.
"Terrelle has extraordinary ability. He throws it probably a lot better than some people might think. He can throw it," Tressel said.
"When Troy was young he wanted to run, he could solve all the problems with his feet. Terrelle's not that way at all. Terrelle wants to solve all the problems with his eyes. That's different."
And that's a little different picture than was painted by Steve Rehring in Number One, though maybe not. Rehring never said Pryor made bad decisions as far as run/throw goes, but rather that Pryor maybe held the ball a little too long at times and failed to throw it away, then tried to bail himself out with his feet in situations where it just wasn't going to happen.
That's consistent with what Tressel said, that Pryor is a thrower looking to throw it who uses his feet to bail himself out when the passing game beaks down, and that is very positive. Pryor doesn't have to learn to be a passer and not a runner.He already is that. What he has to learn is when throwing the ball away is better than trying to save a play with his feet, a much easier task than changing an entire mindset like Troy Smith had to do.
"What surprises me is that for the most part he's looking downfield," said offensive lineman Ben Person of Pryor.
"He's not dropping back looking to run first, which to me for a kid that can run as well as he can that's a big step. He's been doing that since he got here. "
Pryor made plays in the jersey scrimmage with both his arm and his feet, but was also responsible for two of the three offensive turnovers. He threw the lone interception (on a tipped ball intercepted by Donald Washington) and lost a fumble. The fumble came after a 20 yard gain however, and probably was one of those effort fumbles that ball carriers sometimes make at the end of a big play.
We're looking forward to our first live glimpse of Pryor at the open practice Monday night. We'll have Ole' Number Three for you then.
(c) 2008 The O-Zone, O-Zone Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, rebroadcast,rewritten, or redistributed.