Why Terrelle Pryor Is Not Overrated

Is he really overrated?

All Buckeye fans have heard the same story, over and over. "Terrelle Pryor is a bust, he's not even that great." "If he's so good why haven't the Buckeyes won the past 2 championships, and why hasn't he had a Heisman?" Even some Buckeye fans weren't too thrilled to hear he's coming back for his senior year. We have Braxton Miller, who's apparently much better than having a senior QB in Pryor. I personally don't think it's right to think this way.

When Terrelle Pryor stepped onto the Ohio State campus, people expected him to be like Troy Smith and Vince Young from Day 1. It's been said and repeated many times, but it's true. It's also not realistic for a freshman, no matter what kind of talent the kid has. So we gave the reins to the #1 recruit in the nation after fans were starting to worry that he may not be as good as we thought, since we didn't see him starting against Youngstown State. Yet, we still held on for the ride, and when Todd Boeckman and the offensive line got blown up in Los Angeles, the fans had had enough. Tressel heard the call, and decided to start the freshman QB. His first ever start came against Troy University, and lead to a share of the Big Ten title, a Freshman of the Year award (Thanks to a 60.6 completion %) and a berth in the Fiesta bowl against Texas. Things got ugly as Pryor struggled to find a rhythm against a tight defense from the Longhorns. Eventually Todd Boeckman got in to open up the passing game, and even found Pryor for a score. Fans were not too worried about the loss, Terrelle would only improve from here.

Surprisingly, Pryor remained the same, if not even regressed a little. During the off-season, Pryor claimed he had been working on his throwing motion, his footwork, and his reads, and that he was getting to be where he needed to make this team succeed. Ohio State had an early test against USC again, and this time the game was actually close. Pryor again was ineffective most of the game, sans a couple of good passes to Posey and Sanzenbacher. This time OSU fans blamed Jim Tressel and his play-calling, and also fired a storm for trying to get Jim Bollman fired. Pretty soon, though, things got calmed down, and Pryor was on his way again. After leading his team to 4 straight wins, the Buckeyes were back up to #7 in the country. Then, Purdue Harbor happened. Yes, the infamous day in Terrelle Pryor history which will always be remembered for his 4 turnovers, low completion rating, and just overall terrible performance. People were literally calling for Bauserman to step in. Joe Bauserman. Nothing could be done, our year was over, here comes the Little Ceasers bowl!

Eventually, the Buckeye's bounced back, winning all the games in November (including huge wins against Penn State and Iowa) to move up and take another pair of Gold Pants and another Big Ten title. Oh, and something like a Rose Bowl. Oregon was the opponent, and the sexy pick for national media pundits. Why not, Oregon has the flashy offense, high scoring, high flying, unstoppable. Terrelle Pryor has been average thus far, and the defense is slightly overrated (again, according to media). Then something amazing happens. Jim Tressel finally figures out what makes Terrelle Pryor's abilities click with his type of offense. The Duck's offense gets force fed a lesson about defense and overratedness. Then Pryor earns MVP status, and suddenly the Buckeyes are not only National Championship contenders for next year, but Terrelle is looking to become the school's 7th Heisman, and only the 2nd Big Ten QB ever.

Enter 2010. Don't Believe The Hype, we say. I may be the only one to notice that this line suddenly seemed forgotten by Week 3. Now we are starting to believe the hype, because we have a #2 Heisman contender, who can continue to win games impressively. It feels like a mixture of the 2002, 2006 season. We keep rising because of teams falling, but we ourselves are taking care of business. Of course, this post is about Terrelle Pryor, and he's been very efficient thus far into the season. Finally, Pryor gets to #1 in the AP poll, and we're traveling to a tough Camp Randall game. Some people blame it on Terrelle, others on the defense. Some just say Wisconsin was better than us. Pryor went 14 of 28 passing for 156 yards, with 1 INT and no TD's. The thing is, though, is that he held his own against the Badgers defense. He made plays when it was key at some points, and then when it was time for the defense to step up they couldn't. Pryor was blamed, though, and he took it. It's not like he played the best game of his life, so he wasn't going to reject that he didn't play great.

Once again, Terrelle Pryor rose above it all and went on to win 5 straight, including a big Big Ten victory over Iowa. Pryor did his thing, and even hit some wide open receivers who couldn't catch a ball that night. Pryor got hot when he was needed again, and on third down with about 4 minutes on the clock, he threw a perfect ball, only to be dropped by DeVier Posey, in what left feelings of Ryan Hamby vs. Texas (2:35 mark). Again,  Pryor produced when Buckeye fans pleaded on 4th and 10 after the drop. He scrambled on a broken down play to give the Buckeyes life. Later that drive he would connect with Sanzenbacher on another beautifully thrown ball and then let Herron do the rest. Another Buckeye victory that set up Ohio State with TP's third set of gold pants and his third Big Ten title. That in itself is incredible. Tippy Dye, Troy Smith, and now Terrelle Pryor. Now Terrelle Pryor has said he his coming back for his senior season, and he still has a Sugar Bowl(?) appearance.

So, you may be asking why this proves Terrelle Pryor isn't overrated. I'll show you:

Quarterback	Terrelle Pryor	Troy Smith	Vince Young
Record as Starter	32-4	25-3	30-2
Completions	463	420	444
Attempts	758	670	718
Completion %	61%	62.60%	61.80%
Yards	5,956	5,720	6040
Rushing Yards	2,049	1,197	3127
Total TD’s	72	68	81

In total yards, you give the nod to Vince Young. Other than that, the similarities are insane. Pryor is ahead of Troy Smith in every category. The man Buckeye fans worshiped, and the man Buckeye fans despised. Terrelle Pryor is of equal value to these two when they played. It may not seem like it at times, but realize that the expectations are so high for him, you expect greatness every single play. He can't do everything by himself, and Tressel is calling the plays, not Pryor. Statistically, Pryor has done a lot of things that are very special, but because he isn't winning national championships and Heisman trophies left and right, people (mostly the media) feel he is considered overrated.

Vince Young ended with a Coaches trophy in his hands. Is Pryor next?

I know what you may be thinking. Young did it in 2 years. Pryor has had 3. You're right. Vince Young was and is a freak of nature. He matured very quickly throughout the process, but don't you think that having an excellent defense may have helped him win that championship? What about the offensive line? Troy Smith said it best, "It's a team trophy". He was talking about the Heisman, something Young never got. Smith, in turn, also did not receive a National Championship. Troy Smith is one of the greatest football leaders I've ever seen take a field. I would honestly compare him to Tom Brady, and Peyton Manning in that aspect alone. Terrelle Pryor isn't the greatest of leaders, but he makes plays that the team can build around. It's not like Pryor has to choose whether to be the greatest player on a decent team, or an average QB on a great team. I'm telling him to keep doing the things he has been doing, and just continue the process into being a great quarterback.

There's a reason.

I'm not saying that Terrelle will bring another Heisman or another championship. Do I think it's possible? Yes. I'm just saying that people need to look at the things he has accomplished so far in his career. 3 Big Ten titles, 3 Gold Pants, a Rose Bowl victory and MVP. The list goes on and on, and continue with another upcoming season. I feel he can do well against Arkansas(?) in the Sugar Bowl, and I feel he can continue that success onto the 2011 season. Sure we lose some key players, but we bring in some as well. Terrelle Pryor's legacy is not even close to being finished, and we shouldn't be ready to give it up either. We could have had Joe Bauserman starting for 2-3 years. It's not over yet.