Greg Robinson vs. Pryor
I am a realist. There is no doubt in my mind that Terrelle Pryor will be a better all around quarterback this year, both running the ball and throwing. His freshman year was nothing short of stellar so he can only get better from where he was. My thinking is somewhat simple: Greg Robinson spent one season on the Texas staff during Vince Young's tenure. He was able to watch and analyze how Young moved, how he played, and how he tore apart certain defenses. Robinson was also able to see what defenses worked against Young and which didn't. To me, Young in college and Pryor are similar in their style of play: both are run first quarterbacks that need to work on their passing ability. With that being said, with watching Vince Young for a year, will that help in planning the attack to stop Terrelle?
In my opinion it does. While OSU and Texas run different offenses, they are still similar in the fact they want to utilize their quarterbacks and create mismatches with their linebackers. This could carry over in to stop the OSU offense. What are your thoughts?
August 11th, 2009 at 9:39 PM ^
He also had to face Pat White every year. It'll probably help some, but we need more than Gerg's analysis to win the game against OSU.
August 11th, 2009 at 10:24 PM ^
Thank you for correcting the OP's spelling error. GERG; not Greg.
August 11th, 2009 at 9:42 PM ^
It will be interesting to see what kind of things he does to try to slow Pryor down. I think Pryor will be a better passer this year so we are going to have to worry about both phases of his game equally.
August 11th, 2009 at 9:49 PM ^
remains to be seen
August 11th, 2009 at 11:19 PM ^
While he is going to be a better all around player because of the extra year then he will have worse players around him with the loss of robiskie, Hartline and Wells ... and maybe Small. He may be able to fit a ball into tighter locations this year but those wideouts probably won't be able to get as open as robiskie and hartline.
*Duron Carter scares me though.
August 11th, 2009 at 11:21 PM ^
I don't actually know if he will or will not be better next year but by the idea that he will be better because of the extra year then other positions will be worse due to losing years.
August 11th, 2009 at 9:44 PM ^
Talent and experience never hurt either
August 11th, 2009 at 10:08 PM ^
about the offenses which worked against Vince Young in the 2005-06 season. I can't recall any working. I do hope that GERG maybe took a nugget or to to use against Pryor.
I have little actual knowledge on how to properly stop Pryor, so I'll guess on a method: I would probably move to the nickel for the whole game, and have Mouton shadow Pryor. I realize this would cause some serious problems with matchups, but he seems to be the kind of guy you need to give a player the responsibility to make sure he doesn't scramble and burn you.
Back to Young, the biggest regular season game I can remember that year was the one where Texas was losing by 20 or more to Oklahoma State in the second half, and Young brought them back all by himself, it seemed. He had a ridiculous 80 yard run down the sideline to bring Texas back. That is what I fear Pryor doing and that's why I would specifically shadow him all game, only letting the player leave Pryor once it's clear he's not running.
August 11th, 2009 at 10:39 PM ^
VY and pryor are different style runners. VY was shifty as all get out (as we all saw in that rose bowl) whereas pryor is more straightline. if you can get to pryor in the pocket you have a chance to sack him, wasn't the case with VY.
August 11th, 2009 at 10:49 PM ^
Agreed. Pryor is fast but he isn't very shifty. He's big and doesn't go down on first contact but he's definitely not the escape artist VY was.
August 11th, 2009 at 11:00 PM ^
...but what is the best way to combat the running threat of someone like Pryor? Playing good solid coverage without a shadow, or playing a shadow on the guy? What do you think is appropriate, and is there a difference on guarding Young and Pryor?
August 11th, 2009 at 10:48 PM ^
My opinion based on very limited video. Pryor looks like an athlete playing QB. For lack of a better word he looks awkward at times. Tate looks like a QB with athleticism. My initial reaction after seeing the spring game was we are better of with the Forcier.
August 11th, 2009 at 11:26 PM ^
as often as possible. Sorta like OSU did to win what people in South Florida call their "tainted National Championship."
August 12th, 2009 at 5:16 AM ^
I guess the comparisons are appropriate, but we are comparing the Vince Young we saw in his last two years at Texas to a guy who was a true freshman last season.
Tressel has many strengths as a coach, but his biggest one (IMO) is that he figures out how to tailor an offense to the talent at hand. I have no doubt that OSU's offense will be more varied this year, and Pryor will be very difficult to contend with.
August 12th, 2009 at 7:39 AM ^
I don't think there's much mystery of how to stop Pryor (or VY). Coming up with a scheme isn't tough for a good DC. The problem comes in the execution. VY and Pryor are just athletic freaks of nature and have the ability to beat any scheme. You need a little luck.