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College football: Pryor to focus on basketball for now
Monday, January 21, 2008 2:54 AM
By Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Coming off his official visit to Michigan, quarterback Terrelle Pryor will concentrate on basketball for the next week, his mentor, Charlie Batch, said last night.
"He was impressed with the (Michigan) campus, and with the school overall," Batch said. As for comparisons with OSU, "We didn't really speak about Ohio State. It was about Michigan and his experience there."
College QBs: NFL is betting against spread
Andrea Adelson | From the Press Box
January 22, 2008
The spread offense is taking over the college football world, everybody!
That is actually very, very bad news.
Because the stars of those offenses will probably never play a down in the NFL as a quarterback. Yes, that means you, Tim Tebow.
Before you start firing off your e-mails accusing me of hating Tebow, look at the four starting quarterbacks in the conference championship games this weekend.
Brett Favre: drop-back passer.
Eli Manning: drop-back passer.
Tom Brady: drop-back passer.
Philip Rivers: drop-back passer.
Notice a trend here?
The spread has been around in different incarnations for some time but is gaining in popularity once again. It features multiple receivers and a mobile quarterback who is a dual threat to run or pass in order to stretch the field.
This is all fine in college. You can bully people with your superior size and speed, make people miss with your smarts and slashes. You beat your chest because you are an athlete, not a quarterback, the best of the best of the best.
That gets you nothing in the pros but an assigned number at the scouting combine and a chance to try out as a receiver or running back.
Just ask Chris Steuber, an NFL draft analyst for scout.com.
"A guy like Tim Tebow is going to be creating things whether it's with his arms or his legs," Steuber said. "That's what college football is: you try to be a jack-of-all-trades. But in the NFL, he may be a guy who can be a running back at some point."
No, I did not bribe Steuber to say this just to make my point. I asked about the viability of spread quarterbacks like Tebow, Dennis Dixon of Oregon and Pat White of West Virginia.
"You have to look at their ability to pass," Steuber said. "Dennis Dixon is probably the best passer of those three. Pat White is a great athlete, great speed, great elusiveness. He projects as a wide receiver."
Now, I am not saying that a successful spread quarterback will never be a successful NFL quarterback. But playing in that system clearly puts one at a disadvantage.
So Terrelle Pryor, take note. Pryor is the top recruit in the nation, a 6-foot-6, 230-pound wrecking ball of a quarterback from Pennsylvania who runs the spread to perfection. He is deciding among UF, Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State, West Virginia and Oregon. Four of those schools run the spread.
Stay away from those schools, Terrelle, and go to a place where you can use your athleticism in different ways.
Your NFL career depends on it.
NCAA, weather put Pryor party on ice
Students had planned block party for top QB recruit
By Kelly Fraser, Daily News Editor on 1/22/08
PrintEmail Article Tools Page 1 of 1 On Thursday afternoon, LSA senior Christopher Breece got a voicemail message on his cell phone from an NCAA representative.
The message was short and direct - "literally 10 words long," Breece said.
The representative called to tell Breece he couldn't throw the block party he was planning because it would violate NCAA recruiting guidelines.
Breece conceived the party as being in honor of high school football star and Michigan prospect Terrelle Pryor, who visited the University this weekend on a recruiting trip. Pryor is rated the No. 1 high school football prospect by rivals.com, a website that evaluates high school athletes nationwide.
The NCAA forbids schools from holding parties for recruits to prevent the recruits from being exposed to illicit activity that could sway their decision.
Michigan blogs called for students and alumni to gobble up tickets in order to show how much they want the Jeanette, Pa. native.
Economics of recruiting
A new way to predict where top prospects will end up
Posted: Wednesday January 23, 2008
Jeannette, Pa., quarterback Terrelle Pryor will sign with Ohio State, Foley, Ala., receiver Julio Jones will choose Alabama and Ventura, Calif., running back Darrell Scott will pick Texas. This isn't my opinion, nor do I have any inside information.
It's economics.
Using the equation Pjz= ?(Xj? + Yz?+ Zjz?) and a bundle of other statistical analysis too complex for the average person to comprehend, three economists have devised a way to predict the college choices of top football prospects. In two recruiting seasons (2005 and 2007), the College Football Recruiting Prediction model developed by Mike DuMond, Allen Lynch and Jennifer Platania has correctly predicted the college choice of the members of the Rivals 100 with 72.5 percent accuracy. The economists, who were published last week in the Journal Of Sports Economics, plan to predict the destinations of the nation's top 250 recruits on their Web site later this month, but DuMond ran the numbers of the three previously mentioned recruits to offer a taste of what to expect. According to the model, there is a 40.2 percent chance Pryor will choose Ohio State, compared to a 37.9 percent chance he will choose Michigan.
Doug (Eugene, OR): What is the latest news about who Pryor is leaning towards for his college?
Tom Luginbill: (3:12 PM ET ) Okay, I am posting this question to clear things up about what fans think we think about Pryor. First and foremost, he will be making his decision with us on NSD live to open our show so what I/us may know between now and then will not be able to shared with anyone- sorry, but that is what our coverage on NSD is for. Second, we have never, ever said Ohio State is out of the mix-ever. What we have said is that they may not be as high as they were back in November due to Oregon, Michigan and LSU's push. Do they have a great shot? of course they do, but it may not be as easy as as it was before. I do know first hand that David Cutcliffe leaving Tennessee was a huge blow to Pryor as Tennessee had a much, much better chance than any of you out there truly know.
jimmy_g: It's hard for me imagining Terrelle Pryor playing in the Ohio State system. Rich Rodriguez's spread offense seems to be made for him. How do you see it?
Jerry Micco: I still think Ohio State is where he'll land, but who knows. He's all over the place as far as visits, who he's adding, who he's deleting. No knock on him, it's an important decision and when I was 18 I didn't have to deal with that type of attention. Having Charlie Batch as a sounding board is a terrific decision on his part. If he went to Michigan it wouldn't surprise me, but Michigan lost a lot and is transition its offense. It may take Rodriguez a year or two to get things going. Ohio State is still pretty loaded and can transition maybe a little quicker. But Pryor would have to be a backup/role player this season. He may not want to do that.
Prep QB Pryor following in footsteps of Unitas, Marino, Montana
1/23/2008
By ALAN ROBINSON
The Associated Press
JEANNETTE, Pa. (AP) ? Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, George Blanda and Jim Kelly earned Pittsburgh and its environs the nickname of the Cradle of Quarterbacks.
Next up? It may very well be Terrelle Pryor, whose high school career dwarfed those of all the stars that preceded him in one of the nation's most competitive and closely watched football regions.
Pryor to visit Oregon
Top recruit set to make official visit with Ducks
Posted: Wednesday January 23, 2008
The next stop on the Terrelle Pryor recruitment tour will be in Oregon.
A source close to the Ducks football program has confirmed that the star quarterback from Jeannette (Pa.) plans on taking an official visit to Eugene, which is expected to happen Monday.
Oregon was a late addition to Pryor's short list, but his athleticism and skill set would be an ideal fit for Mike Bellotti's spread offense, especially since last year's senior starter Dennis Dixon will not be back.
By Bob Lichtenfels
Regional Recruiting Analyst
Posted Jan 24, 2008
It is a busy time on the recruiting trail as schools are trying to close out their classes as the countdown to signing day has literally begun. Over the last week there has been a lot of news as far as visits and commits are concerned.
Continued...
If you've heard of one kid currently plying his trade in high school football this year, chances are it's 6'6", 230 pound Terrelle Pryor, a manbearfreak of a QB widely believed to be deciding between Michigan and Ohio State.
Continued...