Alright, Who Wants Terrelle Pryor?

Posted on August 21, 2011 by ryan

There were rumors when Michael Vick was released from prison two years ago. The same thing happened when Plaxico Burress got out of the joint this summer. And now, a day after Terrelle Pryor’s pro day, and in anticipation of this week’s NFL Supplemental Draft, there are murmurs that the Steelers could be interested.

In general, I tend to dismiss such silliness because, well, most of the time people don’t know what they’re talking about. Remember all the “Tomlin and Tiki Barber are BFF’s and that’s why Pittsburgh will sign a washed-up, 36-year-old locker room cancer!” talk? Baron Batch blew out his knee two weeks ago and to date Tiki has had one workout (with the Dolphins) and no contract. You can do the 53-man-roster math on that one. (I’ve written many words about why Tiki-to-the-Burgh wasn’t happening.)

Here’s the latest on Pryor, who’s from Jeannette, PA, about an hour from Pittsburgh.

Via CBSSports.com‘s Chris Adamski: ”Former Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor was spotted visiting the Steelers’ facility Sunday on the eve of the Supplemental Draft. Steelers QB Charlie Batch has served as a mentor and advisor for Pryor dating back to when he was a high school phenom..”

And this: ”Team officials were mum on Pryor, who was seen walking into and out of the Steelers’ practice facility Sunday. But WR Antonio Brown is friends with the former Ohio State QB. ‘This process has been long and really stressful for him,’ Brown said. ‘I’m glad he had an amazing pro day… physically a beast; he’s big, strong, fast. He’s a great quarterback.’”

I watched highlights of Pryor’s workout on NFL Network, but I also saw Omar Jacobs highlights shortly after the Steelers drafted him. Going solely on that, Jacobs should already be in the hall of fame.

The point: highlights don’t mean jack. More than that, even if Pryor is a once-in-a-lifetime player (he’s not), I don’t know how the Steelers would squeeze him onto the roster.

Ted went into painstaking detail about how the 53-man roster will shake out. And while there are needs at cornerback and tackle, Pryor is neither. On a good day he’s a WR hybrid; on acid he might be a backup NFL QB. To paraphrase Jack Nicholson’s character in As Good as it Gets, “Sell crazy someplace else, we’re all stocked up here.”

In 2009, Tomlin promptly diffused any Vick-to-Pittsburgh talk (Tomlin and Vick grew up the same area in southeastern Virginia): “In terms of [the Steelers being interested in Vick], to be quite honest with you, our quarterback is going through some things of his own right now, and he needs my complete support and undivided attention,” Tomlin told Deion Sanders in an interview with NFL Network. “So it just wasn’t the appropriate time for us to consider something of that nature.”

I figured we hear similar sentiments from Tomlin regarding Plax this offseason. Instead, the Steelers had Burress in for a visit and would’ve happily signed him for the right price. I love Plax, but luckily for Pittsburgh, the Jets gave Burress $3 million to come to New York. It allowed the Steelers to sign Jerricho Cotchery, cut Limas (which was inevitable no matter who the team did or didn’t sign), and build the passing offense around Wallace, Brown and Sanders.

So would the team draft Pryor?

I have no earthly idea why they’d do it. They rightly passed on Vick, and while I didn’t think Plax fit the Steelers’ offense (and I wasn’t alone), I understand why Tomlin was intrigued. I see no upside to drafting Pryor. He’s not a quarterback, he’s never played any other position, and he’d likely end up on the 53-man roster only to sport Duce Staley memorial game-day sweats.

So, yes, I’ll pass. As, I suspect, will the Steelers. Luckily, word on the street is the the Browns are very interested.

Related posts:

  1. Steelers vs. Patriots: Game Thread
  2. Mendenhall Should Make His Twitter Account Private
  3. Mike Tomlin: Wired for Sound vs. Panthers
  4. Tiki Has Been Sent to Save the Steelers
  5. Ben Roethlisberger Thinks It Would be ‘Awesome’ to Have Plaxico Burress Back
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  • http://profiles.google.com/mpfrazer Mike Frazer

    I’ve spent a lot of time watching Pryor as my wife and in-laws are all huge OSU fans (my in-laws are alums).  I do have to say that you are wrong on his ability as a quarterback.  Yes, he still makes bonehead mistakes.  Every quarterback at start-of-senior-year skill and experience not named Peyton Manning does idiot quite well from time to time.  During his junior year he showed immense improvement in reading defenses and his accuracy is downright sick for someone of his age.

    Does he have the mental toughness for the NFL?  I don’t know.  He’s seemed to be made of iron at times and at others he has scared easier than a four-year-old girl.  Does he fit with Pittsburgh?  The idea that we could luck into winning him in the Sup. Draft tomorrow and then turn around and dangle Dennis Dixon as trade bait for a CB upgrade definitely intrigues me, as I think Pryor could easily be coached into at least a pretty doggone good backup in the league, and being home and close to his family would probably go a long way to ensuring that he keeps his head on straight.

    Do I want him in Back & Gold?  Not sure yet.

    • http://www.steelerslounge.com/ ryan

      Mike,

      Fair point — I haven’t watched 15 snaps of Pryor at OSU. I was just going on what Mayock and some NFL personnel folks said earlier this summer. That said, I still don’t want him in Pittsburgh.

      RE: dangling Dixon as trade bait for a CB upgrade — the Steelers can do that now. Word on the street is that the organization is split between Dixon and Batch as the No. 3 QB, but I’d have to imagine that everybody would be on board with shipping Dixon elsewhere if it meant quality CB depth in return. No need to draft Dixon’s replacement for that to happen. There’s arguably a better third QB already on the team.

  • Anonymous

    One possibility would be if the Steelers think they can train him up to flip for a higher round draft pick in a year or two. I just don’t have any idea whether that would work out, but it seems like a possibility.

  • Dwjmom3

    Please DO NOT DRAFT Terrelle Pryor, he is not a good sportman, he has a bad attitude & a chip on his shoulder bigger than Mt. Rushmore. He is not Pittsburgh Pride Material. He is hot headed & not a team player. He threated to purposely injure high school players in the play offs so his team would win & yelled profanities @ the opposing teams fans!

  • Hoffstra323

     First let me say nice post, you hit on some key points. People love to talk about nothing… i don’t understand how tiki garnered any attention at all. In most cases, “good running backs excluded” a tailback is only as good as his offensive line. that is tiki to a T. He was also a fumble machine. And in case you missed it, barber played behind one of the best offensive lines of his era.
                 
    plax is not worth the gamble. More than that, he does not belong in a steeler’s jersey. He did not want to be the # 2 guy behind Hines ward when he was here. The Steelers did one better by signing Cotchery. I was intrigued when he came to visit and when I saw his highlight reel I knew it was going to be a great fit. Thanks to jetsruby for posting that highlight reel. You have to give Jerricho props, he knew it was time to leave the jets. At his age who would want to risk the latter part of there career catching passes from mark sanchez. When I think of him the first thing that comes to mind is USC. Look for big ol Rex and the J.E.T.S jets jets jets to stall this year. Too many ego’s on that team. Best case scenario mark sanchez and rex ryan exchange blows. Worst case scenario ryan gets a foot massage from his wife. Someone will need to step up and attempt to beat the patriots this year. My dark horse is Jerricho Cotchery

      Not much can be taken from Terrelle Pryor’s work at ohio state. That being said I don’t really know what he can do. To offer a comparison I would suggest cam Newton. Although that is being  generous to mr. pryor. They have similar potential but one has tapped into it more than the other. When I think of ohio state quartebacks in recent history I think of a serviceable quarterback.  One who can make some big plays with his legs. Thats serviceable on a college level. When I figured out who cam Newton was last year I thought that he looked like a man playing among boys. I think it will be tough for him with Carolina, but he has the ability to play at the next level. While Cam and pryor could both make plays with there legs it was newton’s clutch throws down the stretch that made him the number#1 draft pick. perhaps dixon would be a better comparison, but dixon also had the arm in college to back up his run game. For pryor to be as good as dixon at quarterback, I would have to consider him a success.

     If the steelers could unload Dennis dixon for a midround pick they would have a shot at pryor. “Speaking of Dennis” In reality he should just be content to be a backup/3rd string quarterback for Pittsburgh. He got hurt at the key moment of his career. Regardless of how you feel about dixon his time as a steeler should be about up. If things go as they should dixon will never see another snap in a regular season game with the steelers.

     There is nothing much to lose because realistically you cant expect much out of Pryor. Having said that he wont fall far enough for the steelers to take him. the steelers are to smart to give up a decent pick for him. If dixon leaves the steelers, “which seems likely” we will be in need of a young backup. While leftwhich is just over thirty, he is fragile. While on the topic so is Dixon. Charlie Batch did an admirable job filling in last year, but is an elder statesman. Being realistic, the steelers will pass on pryor. This year the end does not justify the means. If he played for us right now Terrelle Pryor would currently be a fourth string quarterback on our team. And to think one of the first things I said was “people love to talk about nothing” 

    • Cols714

      I would never draft Pryor, however I really don’t think he gets his proper due as a pretty good college QB. The Buckeye’s went to and won two BCS bowl games with him as starter. Last year they were 11-1, losing only at Wisconsin, a team that had lost only 5 home games since 2004.

      He was pretty much OSU’s entire offense. Great college QB, but he just isn’t accurate enough to play in the pros.

  • Hoffstra323

     First let me say nice post, you hit on some key points. People love to talk about nothing… i don’t understand how tiki garnered any attention at all. In most cases, “good running backs excluded” a tailback is only as good as his offensive line. that is tiki to a T. He was also a fumble machine. And in case you missed it, barber played behind one of the best offensive lines of his era.
                 
    plax is not worth the gamble. More than that, he does not belong in a steeler’s jersey. He did not want to be the # 2 guy behind Hines ward when he was here. The Steelers did one better by signing Cotchery. I was intrigued when he came to visit and when I saw his highlight reel I knew it was going to be a great fit. Thanks to jetsruby for posting that highlight reel. You have to give Jerricho props, he knew it was time to leave the jets. At his age who would want to risk the latter part of there career catching passes from mark sanchez. When I think of him the first thing that comes to mind is USC. Look for big ol Rex and the J.E.T.S jets jets jets to stall this year. Too many ego’s on that team. Best case scenario mark sanchez and rex ryan exchange blows. Worst case scenario ryan gets a foot massage from his wife. Someone will need to step up and attempt to beat the patriots this year. My dark horse is Jerricho Cotchery

      Not much can be taken from Terrelle Pryor’s work at ohio state. That being said I don’t really know what he can do. To offer a comparison I would suggest cam Newton. Although that is being  generous to mr. pryor. They have similar potential but one has tapped into it more than the other. When I think of ohio state quartebacks in recent history I think of a serviceable quarterback.  One who can make some big plays with his legs. Thats serviceable on a college level. When I figured out who cam Newton was last year I thought that he looked like a man playing among boys. I think it will be tough for him with Carolina, but he has the ability to play at the next level. While Cam and pryor could both make plays with there legs it was newton’s clutch throws down the stretch that made him the number#1 draft pick. perhaps dixon would be a better comparison, but dixon also had the arm in college to back up his run game. For pryor to be as good as dixon at quarterback, I would have to consider him a success.

     If the steelers could unload Dennis dixon for a midround pick they would have a shot at pryor. “Speaking of Dennis” In reality he should just be content to be a backup/3rd string quarterback for Pittsburgh. He got hurt at the key moment of his career. Regardless of how you feel about dixon his time as a steeler should be about up. If things go as they should dixon will never see another snap in a regular season game with the steelers.

     There is nothing much to lose because realistically you cant expect much out of Pryor. Having said that he wont fall far enough for the steelers to take him. the steelers are to smart to give up a decent pick for him. If dixon leaves the steelers, “which seems likely” we will be in need of a young backup. While leftwhich is just over thirty, he is fragile. While on the topic so is Dixon. Charlie Batch did an admirable job filling in last year, but is an elder statesman. Being realistic, the steelers will pass on pryor. This year the end does not justify the means. If he played for us right now Terrelle Pryor would currently be a fourth string quarterback on our team. And to think one of the first things I said was “people love to talk about nothing” 

  • rtsteelers

    lol “duce staley memorial game day sweats”.. good shit

  • SteelerBill

    I understand the Steelers ‘due diligence in looking’ at Pryor…Actually maybe I don’t… Unless they are thinking about him as a Flex TE (we are thin at TE)…I don’t know where else he fits.  And oh by the way – we need TE’s that can block. 

    My only point of contention with Pryor personally (I don’t know him) is that people confuse talent with ability – in other word’s there are tons of bouncers in Vegas right now that had the talent to play ball – but well, now they are bouncing (no offense meant to anyone).  So let’s not get fired up about ‘measurable’s’ so much….

    Bottom line is that I just don’t know where he fits…

  • Smheart78

    I like the Cotchery sigining, if, for nothing else, he can help spell out the offensive keys of one of the AFCs top contender.

  • Smheart78

    I like the Cotchery sigining, if, for nothing else, he can help spell out the offensive keys of one of the AFCs top contender.

  • Anonymous

    Terrelle Pryor is now a Raider. They used a 3rd round pick. There’s no way I wanted the Steelers to spend such a high pick. As a side note, the Raiders have no picks in round 2, 3, or 4 of the 2012 draft.