Saturday, May 16, 2009

Oklahoma's Sam Bradford is No Terrelle Pryor

by HD Handshoe
Founder
BlockONation.com



In case you are not a Buckeye fan. hold on a second and hear me out.

Bradford is an excellent pocket quarterback and he didn't win the 2008 Heisman trophy based on his looks, but rather the nearly 4800 passing yards and 50 touchdowns he tossed. Winning the Big 12 conference didn't hurt either!

So before the OU fans and/or OSU haters come out in droves to attack me, let me reiterate that Bradford is a great player and as of right now, he's obviously a couple of notches above Terrelle Pryor in the grand scheme that is college football.

So how can I write an article titled Oklahoma's Sam Bradford is No Terrelle Pryor, you ask?

That's easy—Because it's 100% true!

As a pocket passer, Bradford is what Pryor aspires to be—fluid, efficient, accurate and confident in the throws he makes.

But Pryor adds a whole other dimension to the quarterback position. He's a freak of an athlete. He has 4.3 speed and he makes it look effortless as he flies around and past would-be defenders. He has a long stride and fast feet.

I've never seen anyone gain twenty yards with less effort and more speed in all my days as a college football fan. I've also never seen a quarterback, until Pryor, with a stiff-arm comparable to that of former OSU running back Chris Wells!

When you consider how great of an athlete and threat he is as a ball carrier, the fact that he has just barely scratched the surface as a passer and the valuable experience he gained playing as a true freshmen instead of being red-shirted or relegated to clipboard duty, it's clear just how amazing and exciting this kid could and will end up being.

These intangible attributes and God-given athletic ability Pryor possesses have led many, including Espn's college football analyst Shaun King and myself (albeit I am admittedly biased), to believe when his Ohio State career is over, he will be considered one of the best to have ever played the game at the collegiate level.

Forget me in that equation for a second and consider that Shaun King is not a Big Ten guy. He's from Alabama and he played at Tulane and most importantly, his current employer is the TV Network giant that secretly despises the Big Ten and OSU, ESPN.

Unless you've been stranded with Tom Hanks and "Wilson" on a tropical island in the Pacific the past four years, you know ESPN has been over-critical of the Big Ten and specifically Ohio State. So, for any one of their analysts to project Terrelle Pryor as potentially the best to have ever played, as King did, is quite a statement.

Bottom line here is, while Pryor has been inconsistent as a passer, he has a strong arm and is progressing very well. He can make the same throws that Sam Bradford, or Tim Tebow, or Colt McCoy can make, even if not every time, yet.

In a way, it's like comparing apples to oranges to grapes to bananas.

Here's what I mean:

Bradford is your atypical pocket passer that the NFL generally covets. McCoy can throw from the pocket but is more your classic roll-out / scrambling passer. Tebow is a halfback / quarterback hybrid "do a little bit of everything" passer. Pryor is a dual-threat run first, throw second "in the mold of Pat White" passer.

They are all good players and they are very different from one another.

I expect Pryor's passing game to develop and improve much like Vince Young's and Troy Smith's did and when it does, and it will, he will be as good or better than all of them when his college days are over.

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6 comments:

  1. Why comment on such stupidity! Anti-white eacist bigott ASS!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Uhm.....I wrote the story and uhm, I'm white, so I'm not real sure how I'm being an anti-white racist....Sounds more to me like your being an anti-black racsit.

    Thanks for the ignorant comment though...was Jesse Helms your grand dragon, er I mean grand dad?

    Haaa Haaa!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well, at least you got ONE thing right:

    Terrell Pryor is NOOOOO Sam Bradford.

    So Shaun King, in his first month as an ESPN analyst, is preaching perfect gospel? Ok, if you wanna go with Shaun King's word, do so, but Pryor is gonna get beat by at least So Cal(again), Penn State, and Navy.

    Here's a thought: Maybe ESPN doesn't like the Big 10 because the Big 10 stinks. ESPN put a lot of hype into Ohio State over the years, only to have the Buckeyes make the ESPN crew look like first-timers. They've learned their lesson, now it's your turn to see the light.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Yeah Right,

    I didn't say that Pryor was no Bradford....I said Bradford is no Pryor!

    Are you dyslexic or what?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Either way is right -- Pryor is no Bradford, Bradford is no Pryor.

    Bradford is a Heisman-winning, accurate, smart, game-managing quarterback, where Pryor is, well, not, and not going to be.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yeah right,

    You're entitled to you opinion, even if it is 1000% incorrect, which it is!

    You couldn't be more wrong and you obviously don't know much about Terrelle Pryor to say he's never going to be a good QB.

    Sure, TP has plenty to improve upon, but don't forget he was a true freshman last season, and was 8-2 as a starter, losing close games vs. then #3 Penn State in the reg season and vs. then #3 Texas in the Fiesta Bowl.

    Smart $$$ say Pryor wins at least 1 Heisman and a 1 NC but believe it when I say that 2 & 2 is ABSOLUTELY possible! Meanwhile, we all know OU has no chance at a title - 5 straight BCS losses speaks volumes...

    In either case, you had better just stick to talking about Bradford and OU my man because you have no idea what you're talking about when it comes to Pryor!

    ReplyDelete

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