WR Terrelle Pryor ('10 Rose, '11 Sugar MVP)

[RocketBuckeye]

I see it as a lost opportunity, honestly. I feel like the staff has put Terrelle above the program in some ways, and that it has cost the team an opportunity at a national championship. But I don't have all the answers....I love Terrelle's potential, and I love having him as our QB. I hate people who say he should be moved to wideout or another position.

I just see his athletic ability, and hate the lost opportunity for big wins and electric plays. I used to love watching Vince slide up in the pocket and break a 60 yard TD run. I'm not enjoying watching Terrelle force 3rd and 5 throws when he has a first down in front of him with his feet. I hate the shotgun snaps where the playcall is for him to go through progressions.....why not give him simple reads, and let him roll after that??

It's a difficult situation...what's best for the program vs. what's best for Terrelle's career?

IMO, the two of these aren't mutually exclusive. Terrelle becoming a better passer only makes our offense better and gives us balance. It's just a matter of him getting more game experience and knowing when to run, and when to throw.

 

[jwinslow]

Are we forgetting that Vince Young threw for 270 and 2 TDs in the Shoe?

I'm not sure what your point is... he was a liability as a passer for most of his first 3 years.

He went 8-23 for 86 yds and was shut out vs OU in 2004, his third season at Texas.

 

[WaitingforKickoff]

Are we forgetting that Vince Young threw for 270 and 2 TDs in the Shoe?

or that he completed 65 perc of his passes for over 3000 yards in the same season?

 

[WaitingforKickoff]

I'm not sure what your point is exactly... he was a liability as a passer for most of his first 3 years.

Right. But he evolved into a very effective passer in '05, the year they finally won the title. I interpret Bill's comments as saying that Vince was strictly a running QB and that's how OSU's staff should overlook Pryor's development as a passer and focus on his physical talent to run.

 

[billmac91]

Right. But he evolved into a very effective passer in '05, the year they finally won the title. I interpret Bill's comments as saying that Vince was strictly a running QB and that's how OSU's staff should approach Pryor's development.

Nope..not what I'm saying. Texas created simple reads for Vince and if they weren't there he had a run option. The 65% completion percentage was a product of operating in a simplistic offense that allowed Vince to make an easy throw or beat teams with his feet.

I'm not digging the complexity of OSU's offense right now, and virtually any play-call that asks for Terrelle to be a pocket QB and make reads. It just isn't whats best for the offense right now....

 

[WaitingforKickoff]

Nope..not what I'm saying. Texas created simple reads for Vince and if they weren't there he had a run option. The 65% completion percentage was a product of operating in a simplistic offense that allowed Vince to make an easy throw or beat teams with his feet.

I'm not digging the complexity of OSU's offense right now, and virtually any play-call that asks for Terrelle to be a pocket QB and make reads. It just isn't whats best for the offense right now....

I completely agree that some of the plays that they run right now are too complicated. Hard to watch on TV, and even tougher to execute on the field. And I also agree that there is way too much on the plate for Pryor at this stage in his development. However, that's not to say that Pryor can not or should not be developed as a passer first and runner second. Not all passing plays or running plays should be that complicated. And the benefits to developing Pryor's passing game is easy to discern: he was killing SC with his passing to Posey and Sanzo, and just image what he would do as a more polished passer in the later stages of his career.

 

[Ginn4Heisman20]

I don't like throwing myself into these things (so I'll say my peace and let the regulars get back to the discussion at hand) but to me it seems to me like people are really being short sighted at the moment. I don't think the coaches would continue to try to teach him a system unless they feel he is fully capable of grasping it. I think you lower TP's ceiling if you dumb down the offense and perhaps exchange wins today for titles tomorrow. I could be utterly wrong about all of this but I think that, at least for now, it is too soon to do anything but trust the coaches.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

9-27-2004:

Troy is an athlete. He was recruited as an athlete. As long as he is secure as number 2, he knows he is a snap away from starting, but if he senses Boeckman creeping up, he should ask to explore some other positions, e.g. WR or RB.

10-16-04, after a loss to Iowa... on who should play, Smith or Zwick:

don't you mean 'play just as bad'???

:2004:

10-30-2004

Smith lost a fumble.. that's the same as Zwick. He threw 6-8.

The only thing he does better than Zwick so far is run.

10-31-2004

Did anyone notice the panic Smith was in when he had to replace Zwick against Iowa? Oh, that's right. He lead the Buckeyes to their only score. Against Iowa's fourth team defense.
Just remember, after the Cinn. game, everyone loved Zwick. He even threw two long TD's in that one. In two games, Smith hasn't even completed a long pass, or come close. Smith is a WR. Zwick is the only QB we have. You'll see soon enough. :cheers:

and:

well after reading all of this thread.....only a couple of posters have been on target...(mils, nutty and oh8ch)...no offense to the other guys....buckipower you obviously type while wearing your #10 jersey....

there are two things i would like to say on this subject:

one...smith gets to keep playing...hes doing what he is asked and the team has a spark...

two...the last two weeks wins are because of several factors....none of which involves smith...
-zwick starts three road games...all three against tough teams.
-33-97-2.90ypc....thats the average rushing performance for zwick.
-43-213-4.95ypc...thats the average rushing performance for smith.
-smith has played two of the worst three teams in the bigten..at home.
-after the loss to iowa, ron earhardt was brought in to help the offense.
-HelpingHand said he was beyond amazed at the differnce in the offensive line techniques for the Indiana game as compared to the previous games.

this is not meant as anti-smith...just a look at reality.

11-6-2004

My only complaint is in the running too quickly when he buys time out of the pocket. He improved on that in the second half but he needs to figure out when to run and when to look upfield on a more consistent basis.

and:

the fact that the ball touched his hands is a testiment to holmes skill. it was a terrible pass considering how wide open he was. you can put the blinders on and say that it was a drop, but the reason that play wasnt worth 6 points was more on smith than holmes.

1-2-05, re: a problem Pryor has not had, but Smith did:

The Clarett allegations came out in November, but Troy clearly knew what Clarett had done and what it had done to the university long before then. He made a conscious choice to take money and jeapordize the Ohio State football program.

IMO he can never be taken seriously as a leader again and that hurts the team. It doesn't matter what I think though. If the players on the offense can take him seriously and feel that they can trust him, that's all that counts. I just hope Zwick and Boekman make it impossible for him to ever see the field again. He is a disgrace.

Damn.. There was a problem with the Smith thread a couple years ago, and it seems a good month from 05 is missing... where we were wondering just what was wrong with Smith after not helping OSU win the Texas game and then even more ranting and raving as Smith played a dreadful game against 2005 Penn State (first White Out), throwing a pass which was intercepted setting up a score...

.....

Anyway... I hope my point in digging all this stuff up is somewhat obvious.

Terrelle Pryor will be just fine.

 

[utgrad73]

What's the cost though? We EASILY beat USC if the coaching staff plays to Terrelle's strengths rather than making him a pocket QB. I've mentioned it before, but he chose Ohio State to develop into an NFL QB.....that is the dilemma, IMO. How do you tell Terrelle we want to win championships based on your freakish athletiscm rather than trying to develop you into a better NFL prospect?

Florida is winning championships with a college system designed to utilize Tebow's strengths. Tebow isn't running a pro-style offense, and Urban isn't sacrificing wins to make Tebow a better NFL prospect. It is what it is at this point....

Square peg and round hole, IMO.

I was listening to the local espn radio station here today and they were talking about Urban Meyer's two years at BGSU. Urban doesn't care much about how he develops his athletes. He wants to win games and plays them to their strengths. In FLA, the results are Tebow wins a Heisman and is labeled as a superman with the football. In OHIO, Tressel on the other hand honors Terrelle's wishes and plays him as he would play a pro-style QB. That development is what we are watching right now (albeit slightly painful). His passing will get better, his exceptional running ability will always be there. TP will surpass Tebow as a QB because he's more versatile and gifted.

It's just a matter of time when both abilities become equal and pity the fools that try to beat him.

 

[k2onprimetime]

when they take his collar off and let him run the passing game will open up more, like iv said before they need more 4 and 5 wide and then have tp check 1,2 and maybe 3 and if there not open then run. i know it sounds stupid but it would work 95% of the time for 5+ yards, in the open field he cant be brought down.

 

[BuckeyeTillIDie]

Terrelle Pryor will be just fine.

That DiHard was a genius

 

[osugrad21]

when they take his collar off and let him run the passing game will open up more, .

He had plenty of opportunities..called and improv. He did not make good choices on either.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

Toledo will be meeting a much tuffer defense. Points will be much harder to get IMO. TP is very competitive and won't sit back after last week, this game will be fun to watch though. See ya'll from the endzone on Sat.

Toledo will also be playing harder than they've played all year.

Just something to think about.

 

[bassbuckeye07]

Why do people think four and five wide is so fucking great?????

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

Troy Smith - redshirt Junior - 2005 vs. Penn State:
13-25, 139 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT - 5 sacks for 34 yards - 14 rushes for 49 yards (sacks removed from rushing stats)

Terrelle Pryor - true sophomore - 2009 vs. USC:
11-25, 177 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT - 1 sack for 4 yards - 9 rushes for 40 yards (sacks removed from rushing stats)

Just saying.....

Troy Smith had 100,000+ fans screaming against him, playing in a steady rain...Terrelle Pryor had 100,000+ fans screaming for him, playing in nearly-perfect football weather.

Just saying...