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

[matt_thatsme]

I think the criticism isn't so much mean spirited as it is a recognition that he has a lot of room to get better. That's a good thing. People who are freaking out about his play are stupid. People who say "Wow, imagine what he could do if he could just get X aspect down?" are my kind of people.

This kid is good. He can be great. Time will tell.

Well said. I also think that MOST of the criticism is not mean spirited, but rather recognition that TP has a ton of potential that he has not yet realized. As Colonel explains there is a difference between the guy who posts the comments "_____ sucks and will never be a good ___" and the guy who says "this guy is going to be a great _____ as soon as he picks this aspect of the game up." The first guy is a douchebag and the mods on this site have been great about kicking his whining ass out and the second guy is just a Buckeye fan who wants to see his team do well.

That being said I think TP has a long way to go to realize his full potential. Not because he isn't doing a good job now, but because he has such an extraordinary amount of potential to be realized.

 

[matt_thatsme]

Furthermore, if you do find yourself getting frustrated with TP's progression as a QB just think to yourself "it could be worse, we could have Jonathan Crompton for a QB." You will most assuredly feel much better about things.

 

[Taosman]

We are seeing continuous improvement with every week. It helps the running game and offensive line is improving also.
29 points a game with this defense will win a lot of games!

 

[daddyphatsacs]

There'd be room to criticize if he was just coasting on athletic ability. He's not.

Bingo. I guess I just have a hard time seeing criticism directed towards a kid that is trying like hell to get better. If he were a cocky punk that would be another thing. He isn't, he cares about winning football games. He has a damn good record as starting QB at Ohio State, what he's lost 3 games..........all three to top 5 teams at the time of the game.

 

[heisman]

What I would tell Pryor:

You can open up the passing game by making people respect your ability to run.
​

I'd get him a compass.

 

[NFBuck]

Furthermore, if you do find yourself getting frustrated with TP's progression as a QB just think to yourself "it could be worse, we could have Jonathan Crompton for a QB." You will most assuredly feel much better about things.

It also helps to remember 16 months into his tOSU career, Troy Smith was returning kicks and VY was struggling horribly and getting booed by his own fans. Patience is a virtue.

 

[Buckeye in Chi]

We are seeing continuous improvement with every week. It helps the running game and offensive line is improving also.
29 points a game with this defense will win a lot of games!

Exactly! TP continues to work hard each week and improve all aspects of his game (like his running needs improvement). I'm expecting a big game this weekend on both offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Bucks 27-9

 

[Poe McKnoe]

It also helps to remember 16 months into his tOSU career, Troy Smith was returning kicks and VY was struggling horribly and getting booed by his own fans. Patience is a virtue.

Damn you and reailty!

 

[Buck Nasty]

It also helps to remember 16 months into his tOSU career, Troy Smith was returning kicks and VY was struggling horribly and getting booed by his own fans. Patience is a virtue.

I will not bash TP, I think he is showing signs but just lacks any consistency, In my opinion this excuse just does not fly anymore. He has started 16 games at this point. Troy was beginning his heisman winning campaign after the same number of starts at quarterback.

 

[ScarletNGry]

I think we are seeing TP fighting against his natural ability still. He is trying so hard to be a pocket QB because he knows that is his best bet to make it to the NFL. A passing QB that can run when he has to instead of a running QB that throws on occasion. I believe that is why we see him stand in the pocket often times much longer than he should and will at times throw the ball for short yardage instead of running for what could be a bigger gain.

Now combine the fact he is fighting against his athletic ability with the fact that the coaches are calling plays for his to run and I think that is where we get the slow and sometimes ugly plays. The awful telegraphed QB draws that pick up nothing are the worst, and you can almost see in TP face when they call that play he does not want to do that. He gets the snap and does not even allow a pass rush to develope before he runs into an easy tackle.

I would like to see more pass plays call with 1 deep read, 1 short read, and then let him take off. That will allow a pass rush to develope and hopefully open up lanes for him to run through. This will cause D-lines to slow their pass rush, LBs to stay more attentive to the backfield (meaning shallow drops in coverage), and safeties to get caught out of position for easier passes.

Prior wants so bad to be a 250-300 yards passing per game guy that he holds the ball too long and often will not throw it away. I see so many announcers talking about how he takes off too soon and I see the opposite. The majority of the time when he takes off it is a called play. The quick option from the shotgun also looks like he is not interested. He rarely challenges the DE. His talent will let him still get good yardage from it when he keeps it but I would hardly call it an option most of the time. It seems like he has his mind made up on if he is pitching the ball before the DE ever forces the action.

 

[EidoloN]

and you can almost see in TP face when they call that play he does not want to do that

I totally agree, I remember one play in my mind from the Indiana game where he ran for just a couple yards on a QB draw, and the camera just happened to be on his face and it was a look of disagreement. His natural athletic ability needs to be utilized, everything will open up once he starts being an athete at QB. It is the hardest position to play on the field, and it takes time. He will grow into the role.

 

[sparcboxbuck]

Disclaimer: I'm so gonna get dinged for this. Not because I'm gonna say anything negative... but I'm gonna draw some comparisons between our beloved TP and one QB who is generally hated among the visitors here at BP.

Was listening to M&M on my drive in today. Dickie V was on and hyping up JC at ND. He basically acknowledged JC's struggles at ND in his first couple of seasons. Cited maturity, the protection he received, etc.

I started thinking about the comparisons that others have been making between TP and TS / VY... and I'll add to list... JC (ducking for cover). Clearly, every justification that DV provided for the first couple years of JC's time unter center could be applied to TP.

I have every confidence in the world that TP is going to mature into one of the greatest ever at tOSU. Let's give him his time to mature into the role we all know he is capable of attaining. There's too much evidence, as displayed by TP and other young QBs who have come into CFB, to believe that he'll be anything but spetacular... spectacular at the level that not only we expect... but that TP expects of himself as well.

 

[Tlangs]

I will not bash TP, I think he is showing signs but just lacks any consistency, In my opinion this excuse just does not fly anymore. He has started 16 games at this point. Troy was beginning his heisman winning campaign after the same number of starts at quarterback.

I couldn't disagree with this statement any more. When Troy began his heisman winning campaign, he already had 4 years in the system.

You can't just compare number of starts and say...Hey, he should be as consistent as Troy Smith as a 5th year senior.

How many practice reps had TS taken by that point in time? How many spring practices had TS had? How many more hours of film study did he have? How much more one on one coaching with the OSU staff had he received? Who was TS throwing to at receiver that year?

I am very excited about what Pryor has done the last two weeks. He did a great job managing the game in a downpour against Illinois. He played an Excellent game against Indiana until his final two snaps. Indy cut the lead to 3in the second quarter and what did TP do? marched right down the field and stuck it in the endzone.

So far his only sub par game was against USC....I have a feeling USC will be making a lot more QB's have sub par games this seson.

 

[lazybuckeye]

It is easy to find criticism in anything if you look hard enough. I think TP is doing a fantastic job and I get excited to watch him play every week.

 

[Buck Nasty]

I couldn't disagree with this statement any more. When Troy began his heisman winning campaign, he already had 4 years in the system.

You can't just compare number of starts and say...Hey, he should be as consistent as Troy Smith as a 5th year senior.

How many practice reps had TS taken by that point in time? How many spring practices had TS had? How many more hours of film study did he have? How much more one on one coaching with the OSU staff had he received? Who was TS throwing to at receiver that year?

I am very excited about what Pryor has done the last two weeks. He did a great job managing the game in a downpour against Illinois. He played an Excellent game against Indiana until his final two snaps. Indy cut the lead to 3in the second quarter and what did TP do? marched right down the field and stuck it in the endzone.

So far his only sub par game was against USC....I have a feeling USC will be making a lot more QB's have sub par games this seson.

I don't disagree with any of that. What I disagree with is the reference to the fact that Troy was returning kicks. I do think that Terrelle is progressing, I do not want to get into an argument over Terelle's progression, my only issue was that people keep bringing up that quote of Tressels which is completely irrellevent and merely made to take pressure off TP. I don't have any idea how many reps Troy got in his first two years, but I do know that the difference between Troy in start #1 versus start # 16 was night and day. I cannot say the same for TP and there is no doubt that nobody has received more individual attention than TP since the day he walked on campus.