Ohio State Recruiting Round-Up: Isaiah Pryor

A look at Ohio State DB Isaiah Pryor.

We have already discussed in previous entries of this series how strong and impressive the Ohio State defensive backs in the 2017 recruiting class are. We have also covered a few players who may make an impact in year one. The timing of this class really could not be better, considering the holes there are to fill with the number of defensive backs we have departing.

Isaiah Pryor is another addition to the defensive backfield. Pryor would be considered one of the better defensive backs in most classes, but he has been overshadowed a bit in this cycle.

Player: Isaiah Pryor

Hometown: Bradenton, Florida

Position: Safety

Height: 6-2

Weight: 195 lbs.

Ranking: 4 Stars

Chose Ohio State Over: Florida & Alabama

Gareon Conley, Malik Hooker, and Marshon Lattimore are all leaving from the defensive backfield and there will be plenty of competition for the open spots. Damon Webb will be back and he will likely be given the duty of locking down the first receiver, but after that its a toss-up.

Damon Arnette, Erick Smith, Jordan Fuller, and Denzel Ward will be competing for reps and the incoming class has a few prospects that will also be added to that list.

Strengths: Pryor has a great frame and has the potential to add some serious weight and still maintain his athleticism. The general consensus is that Pryor will continue to play in the defensive backfield in college and more specifically at safety, but it would not be surprising for him to play in the box for most of his career.

Another reason why making the switch to linebacker may not be a bad move is that Pryor can play well in the passing game or the run game. Pryor has shown the required skills to drop back into coverage and he has an aggressiveness to his game that should allow him to thrive in the running game.

Weaknesses: Pryor has the potential to be good in coverage, but lining up man-to-man maybe an issue for him at the college level. The good news is that lining up in man coverage won’t be something he is asked to do often even in college.

With Malik Hooker manning down one of the safety spots, Buckeye fans got used to the idea of turnovers in bunches. However, Pryor may never turn into a turnover machine because his receiving skills don’t match up to Hooker’s.

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Comparison: Vonn Bell, 2015: I hate to compare two players from the same class to the same player, but both Okudah and Pryor share similarities to Bell. Pryor has great athleticism like Bell and should be a valuable and versatile piece to move around the defense until he is ready to anchor his own spot.

Bell was much farther along coming out of high school and Pryor will have a long ways to go before reaching the same level the former Buckeye achieved, but he has all of the tools to develop into a fine player.

Overall: Pryor and Okudah were both superb play-makers while in high school and there is very little doubt that they will be a fantastic duo during their days at Ohio State. However, Pryor is not as far along as Okudah just yet.

Must Read: Spring Preview: Secondary Battles Will Be Legendary

There are parts of Pryor’s game that need improvement so he appears to be another red-shirt candidate, but he should be ready to contribute in year two. The interesting thing will be to keep an eye on where he plays, whether it will be at linebacker or in the defensive backfield.

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