Ohio State Football: Imagine Terrelle Pryor at QB in Urban’s Offense
By Billy George
Would Terrelle Pryor be the ideal fit for today’s Ohio State offense?
Remember prior to the 2015 season when people were debating whether or not J.T. Barrett, Braxton Miller or Cardale Jones should be Ohio State’s starting quarterback? All three quarterbacks had separate and unique skill-sets.
Jones was a lengthy, 6’5″ 250 pound guy with a big arm, Barrett was an accurate passer with true dual-threat capabilities and Miller was a speedster who was a threat to take it to the house on any given play.
Can you imagine if you combined all of these skill-sets together into one player? I can. He would look a lot like former Ohio State quarterback and current Cleveland Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor.
Pryor, who is 6’5 232 lbs, has the size and arm strength of Cardale Jones, the poise of J.T. Barrett and the speed of Braxton Miller, having been clocked at 4.38 in the 40. To put that in perspective, the NFL’s leading rusher last season, Ezekiel Elliott, clocked in a 4.47 at last year’s NFL combine.
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Can you imagine Pryor in Urban Meyer’s spread offense? A 6’5″ 250 pound guy running at you with 4.4 speed surrounded by the speedy play-makers Urban Meyer recruits. Just think back to the Cam Newton days when he won a Heisman trophy at Auburn. That same year (2010), Pryor was a junior who rushed for 754 yards and threw for 2,772 yards while completing 65% of his passes.
That was in Jim Tressel’s limited and conservative offense. Just imagine Pryor running Urban Meyer’s spread offense and being the centerpiece. I’ll bet Pryor would make a strong push for the Heisman trophy!
The only former Meyer-coached quarterback that had nearly the same speed as Pryor is Braxton Miller. His swift moves, sudden stop-and-go abilities and pure speed led him to gain more total offensive yards (8,950) than anyone in Ohio State history to that point. And he was the quarterback for two seasons in Urban’s spread offense.
Under the tutelage of a conservative Jim Tressel and offensive coordinator Jim Bollman, Terrelle Pryor gained 8,341 total yards in just three years. That’s good enough for fourth in Ohio State history.
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Given the opportunity, Pryor would have shattered the record for most total yards in Ohio State history if he played quarterback in Urban Meyer’s spread offense.