Terrelle Pryor was discussed on ESPN today, regarding his decision to sign or not. As we’ve talked about earlier, we think he’s overrated. Takkle.com has him on their rankings at #16 (too high) and Rivals.com has him on their list at #1 (irresponsibly too high).
Sure, he’s a big kid. He can toss the ball, but he’s never seen any real coverage in his life, and he certainly wouldn’t be in the top 20 college quarterbacks his first year out, so we fail to see how he is the top rated high school football player. What is of interest today is that he has yet to sign. The people advising this kid need to give him a lesson in striking when the iron is hot. He isn’t going to leap straight to the pros (NFL rules wouldn’t allow it and he’s also not good enough to play professional football), so he would be wise to move into a situation which allows him to grow and figure things out. The longer he declines to commit, the more chance some kid comes in as a walk-on or partial recruit and scoops up his spot. It may not seem likely, but it has happened quite a few times. If Pryor wants to make the jump, he’d better start making the right moves now.He has to play in college before he tries for the pros.
Whomever is advising him should see the delta between Rivals and Takkle (who is still about 20 places off in the assessment of Pryor), and realize that sooner or later more people will start to raise questions. He’s not a unanimous #1 athlete by any stretch of the imagination, and he’s virtually proving he won’t be ready next year by not getting his head on straight. There is little doubt at this point that someone other than Terrelle Pryor will have a bigger impact as a starter in next year’s freshman class.
His ego could be getting the better of him. If it does, he will be deprived of his right to refer to himself in the third person on national television. That, my friends, will be a tragedy.