Pryor picks OSU: What it means
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There's no off-season for these guys either. Get the latest college football news, features and much more at Collegefootballnews.com.
Depending on who you listen to on a given day, Terrelle Pryor is somewhere in between the two. That's saying something considering Curry, who famously ditched Virginia to play football and basketball for North Carolina from 1998 to 2001 with moderate success (while some dog-lover named Vick, who was from the same area as Curry, lit up the college football world like a Christmas tree), was one of the greatest prospects of all-time.
Yes, Pryor is that big a deal and he's expected to become one of the rare players who can change the college football landscape all by himself.
His measurables and high school resume are ridiculous. He's 6-foot-6, 225 pounds, runs a 4.4 40, ran for 1,901 yards 36 touchdowns and threw for 1,790 yards and 23 scores while leading Jeannette High in Pennsylvania to a 16-0 record and a state title, and he also played a little defense. Unlike Young when he first went to Texas, Pryor has a polished throwing arm to go along with his speed and quickness, and while he's a basketball star like Curry was, his millions will be coming on the gridiron, and he knows it.
There were four schools in the running to get the signature, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State, with the Buckeyes landing the crown jewel of the 2008 recruiting season.
Here's what the decision means for the four schools in the running.
Michigan
Red Alert. Pryor would've been the absolute perfect fit for the Rich Rodriguez offense. Now Rodriguez has a quandary at quarterback, with no one fitting his system particularly well.
Freshman Steven Threet and sophomore David Cone are lesser versions of Ryan Mallett, the sizable pocket passer who left Ann Arbor because he was a poor fit for the new offense. Both have upside as pro-style quarterbacks, but that's not what Coach Rod is after. One of them will get shoe-horned into the job unless true freshman Justin Feagin lights it up right away or if an import, such as RB Carlos Brown or WR Junior Hemingway, comes in from a different position.
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| Rich Rodriguez would have liked to see Terrelle Pryor run his offense in Michigan. ( / Associated Press) |
It would've made perfect sense for Pryor to have gone to Michigan, like Tim Tebow playing for Urban Meyer at Florida was the perfect marriage. For good and bad, the pressure on Pryor right away would've been enormous. If you thought Jimmy Clausen had expectations in his first year at Notre Dame, that was nothing compared to the Pryor-mania that would've hit Ann Arbor. If Pryor wanted to be a signature star from Day 1, Michigan was the place.
Let the scrambling in Ann Arbor begin.
Oregon
Oregon was never really in the running for Pryor's services. That's fine, the Ducks have a good situation in place. Even though they got a sneak preview of life after Dennis Dixon, and it wasn't pretty, there's good potential.
The offense was suspect after Dixon went down last November until Justin Roper delivered a tight, four-touchdown effort in the Sun Bowl ambush of South Florida. While Roper certainly helped his cause in El Paso, it should be noted that fellow sophomore Nate Costa was higher on the depth chart before tearing left knee ligaments in October. Healthy again, he's ready to compete for the starting job.
Also in the hunt, but to a lesser extent, are sophomore Cody Kempt and Cade Cooper, a transfer from BYU and former Junior College Offensive Player of the Year.
Penn State
The pressure on Pryor to stay close to home had gotten more and more intense, but at the end of the day the Nittany Lions never had a chance. Ideal college-town settings apparently were a turn-off for Pryor, who wanted to play in a bigger city. He would've been a nice fit right off the bat and the offense would've been fantastic, but PSU has a better situation in place than it may appear.
Offensive coordinator Galen Hall has indicated he desires a quarterback that can channel former Lion Michael Robinson, good news for multi-dimensional junior Daryll Clark. At 6-foot-2 and 235 pounds, he's a load outside the pocket, something Texas A&M learned in the Alamo Bowl. Clark's top priority in the off-season will be to show the staff he's maturing as a passer as well.
Looking to upend Clark will be sophomore Pat Devlin, Pennsylvania's all-time leading passer and one of the can't-miss prospects of 2006. A polished quarterback by every measurement, he's also surprisingly elusive on the move.
Ohio State
The rich just keep getting richer. Pryor is a bigger, faster Troy Smith with the idea being to turn him into an all-around NFL weapon. Unlike Michigan, where the knock on the Rich Rodriguez offense is its inability, at least lately, of making a quarterback next-level ready (although there wasn't a slew of NFL talent at quarterback in Morgantown), Pryor will have NFL receivers to throw to in an offense tailored around using all his talents. He'll throw more in Columbus than he would've in Ann Arbor.
While he would be heralded as the next Troy Smith, and with some seeing the situation potentially like Vince Young in Austin, when he took an elite Texas team over the top, the pressure won't be on right away. Current starter Todd Boeckman isn't going to lose his job this year, and while Pryor will likely get a few snaps here and there, he won't have to be the man until next year. Ohio State is good enough to play for the national title no matter what, but having Pryor now adds a dangerous element.
The situation is ready-made for Pryor to step in and succeed. He can get his feet wet, keep the pressure off, and ease his way into superstardom. Even though the Michigan offense suited his talents better in the short term, there would've still been work to be done around him. Ohio State is already a national-title level juggernaut that simply needs a final piece of the puzzle.
Could Pryor be Maurice Clarett-like, in a good way, or Tim Tebow playing behind Chris Leak in Florida's national title season, and be a spark plug who ignites a loaded veteran squad? He won't hurt the cause, but if Boeckman isn't fantastic, watch how quickly Buckeye fans start clamoring for their new star.
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