Terrelle Pryor, Former Raiders QB, Faces A Harsh Reality
By Kevin Saito
It took a while, but former Oakland Raiders‘ QB Terrelle Pryor finally came around to accepting something that most everybody not named Terrelle Pryor knew a long time ago – he’s not an NFL-caliber quarterback. Despite signing Pryor back in March, the Cincinnati Bengals released him on Thursday, serving to reinforce that lesson in reality.
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Thursday’s release from the Bengals’ squad marks the third time in the past year that he’s been cut from an NFL team’s roster. The Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City Chiefs, and now the Bengals all brought Pryor in as a quarterback, and have now all kicked him to the curb. Cincinnati brought Pryor in as, ostensibly, the third string QB behind Andy Dalton and A.J. McCarron.
Unfortunately for Pryor, Josh Johnson had been brought in as a camp arm and ultimately, leapfrogged him on the depth chart, making him expendable.
Pryor started nine games for Oakland in 2013, and the results were most definitely mixed. He was 3-6 as a starter, had a 57 percent completion rate, and threw for 1,798 yards, with seven touchdowns and eleven interceptions. He added another 576 yards rushing on 83 carries, and scored two TD’s with his legs.
Pryor made some plays, but lacked the focus and consistency to be a starting quarterback – something which has seemed to plague him his entire career. He was dealt to Seattle before the start of the 2014 season for a seventh round pick in the NFL Draft.
Given his latest release, Pryor’s prospects for having a career as a quarterback in the NFL seem to have dwindled to somewhere between slim and none. And faced with that harsh reality, Pryor has signaled his intent to do something he was adamantly opposed to doing before – switching positions.
According to Pryor’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, the former Ohio State Buckeye, is now open to switching positions and is willing to make the move to wide receiver. In what is likely a bit of gamesmanship, Rosenhaus has declared that there is “extensive” interest in Pryor as a receiver.
It’s unclear what “extensive” means in agent-speak. It could be that teams are salivating over the prospect of adding Pryor so much, that Rosenhaus is having to fight them off with a stick. Of course, it also could be that an agent who is genuinely fighting for his client – and the commission that comes with him – might be prone to a little hyperbole now and then. We’re guessing in this instance, it is likely the latter.
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Pryor’s physical gifts and athleticism have never been in doubt. He’s an athletic freak and has all of the tools one needs to be successful and even have something of an NFL career. Pryor’s problem to this point though, is that he’s been locked into the mindset that he’s an NFL-caliber quarterback.
Unfortunately for Pryor, he’s the only one who think so, and that has hindered his development. It was only last year, while a member of the Seahawks that Pryor admitted to the fact that he doesn’t know how to catch a football.
In a June 2014 interview with the Seattle Times, Pryor said:
"“I don’t know how to catch. I don’t know how to run the ball as a running back. I’ve been a quarterback my whole life.”"
Though, given some of his performances, some might say that Pryor knowing how to throw a football was a matter up for debate.
We get it though. Pryor’s dream was to be an NFL quarterback. And it’s hard to let those dreams go. But sometimes it’s better to alter those dreams so that you can live out those dreams – in a fashion – rather than lose it altogether. And with his sudden willingness to change positions, something Pryor had stubbornly refused to do before, it seems that he’s come around to that way of thinking.
And given his speed and pure athleticism, there is reason to believe that Pryor can make the transition from quarterback to receiver. The question now becomes, given his athleticism and playmaking ability, will any team out there willing to give him the chance to develop? Will any team out there take him on as a project for the possibility of it paying off down the line?
Making a position switch is a smart move for Pryor. Of course, at this point, if he hopes to have any shot at a future in the NFL, it is really, his only move.
Then again, if Tim Tebow can find a spot on a pro roster, maybe Pryor shouldn’t abandon all hope just yet.