Terrelle Pryor is now officially a Buckeye. We’ve seen him in a red jersey, we’ve seen him in a black jersey and we’ve seen him smile nice and get his picture taken. But until August 30th, when we see him actually play against Youngstown St.—and he will play against the Penguins, perhaps only in 4th quarter mop-up duties—but Jim Tressel and company won’t really know what they got and how they can most effectively use him until after they see him play.
Judging by some of Tressel’s and Pryor’s comments, his athletic ability is as good as advertised, but there’s a lot of work to be done on his fundamentals and reading defenses (just like any incoming Freshman). Pryor mentioned how much quicker college defenders are, than their high school counterparts.
I’m not sure what to think about Pryor, we didn’t enter the swarm around him yesterday, so I can only go on what I’ve read and what I observed. He didn’t seem like a prima dona, although some are trying to portray him that way. There’s a lot of pressure on this young man and with expectations through the roof, I’m not sure if he—or anyone—will be able to live up to them. With delaying his college choice a few weeks, Pryor has made some enemies in the media and in the fans. I’m not sure if he’ll ever get the benefit of the doubt. Brian Hartline picked up on that, and the Buckeye receiver said people have to understand, Pryor, just like all the other Freshman, are just that, Freshman, there’s a lot they have to learn that has absolutely nothing to do with football and we have to grant them a learning curve. One interesting thing I found in the media guide, about Pryor, he was an Honor Roll student in High School, a bit of info that was perhaps lost in all of the Pryor bashing in February.
On a related note, the Buckeye Insider web page now features unedited interviews from Media Day, a feature we’ll be utilizing throughout the football season. Right now there are 12 interviews, including Coach Tressel and our West Central Ohio Buckeyes.