New National Meme-- Shoud Terrell Pryor have gone to Michigan?

passer to Tate. Tate had all of the best coaching when he was a kid and Pryor was really raw as a passer coming out of school. It's like comparing apples and aardvarks.

Whether it's a valid comparison is beside the point. This is fantastic PR for our system. I hope we hear more of this.

Well, honestly, I think Forcier has a better arm and his size (smaller) is actually beneficial to being able to weasel around the pocket more-so than Pryor. Last year I was lamenting the fact that we didn't get Pryor but watching Forcier work in this offense I can honestly say I'd rather have him.

With the Vick thing and other less than endearing qualities, I'm glad he didn't come to Michigan. I may feel differently if HE had STARTED in our system last year, I'll admit that... OSUcks offense does seem to be the wrong fit, but if he has hopes of playing at the next level as a QB, maybe it was an informed decision. Vince Young - the comparison we hear most often - hasn't worked out so well in the NFL after playing great in a spread offense. GRAMMAR CORRECTED...

Buckeyes are SOOO 2008.

Troy Smith won a Heisman in Tressel's offense, I hardly think that's the issue. And calling Forcier more polished than Pryor is a function largely of how he was coached in high school, I mean the kid's been here for eight months. RR can coach but y'know, so can Tressel, he's got a pretty proven record with quarterbacks. If Forcier is looking better than Pryor right now then it might just be because Forcier is better than Pryor.

Just b/c he's the QB who TP is compared to, don't forget that Vince Young got much better after his second year starting so TP's troubles could be the basis for a million "look how far he's come" articles next year, or even in January this year. As for it being better for him to come to Michigan, there's too many other what-ifs in that scenario for this article to be anything than concern trolling.

Simply put the sky is falling in Columbus and the sky is the limit in Ann Arbor. I hope this perception will help our recruiting since our alumni dont pay as well.

Mandel is saying what I've been saying for the past year. Pryor went to OSU because he doesn't care if he is a prolific college QB. He went to OSU because he wants to be a pro QB. I guess in that respect, he made the right choice.

Of course TP should have picked UM, but you know, he makes poor decisions and stuff.

dance on OSU's grave just yet

I think Tate is the real deal. I also think Pryor, even with his physical skills, may not have football "smarts". It takes a special gift, combined with lots of practice, to make that snap judgment as to when to throw or run as well as the where to throw. Tate, with much less experience has this, Pryor does not, at least not yet. Will he ever get ir? Time will tell. Remember though, we were playing Notre Dame, OSU was playing USC and, other than their usual style of snatching defeat from the jaws of victor (thinking Texas too) played well. The one thing that scares me about Tate is his size. Pryor, I would think, can take the pounding. Don't know yet about Tate. Go Blue!

It seems like there are 3 sub-questions here, and FWIW here are my answers: 1. Did Pryor make the wrong decision? After 1+ seasons at tUoOS, plus seeing what UM's offense is doing in year 2, I give this a tentative yes. 2. Is Tate better than Pryor? Uh, well certainly in throwing the ball. But dear God, can you imagine seeing Pryor running the spread option with Minor? There would be urine all over the defensive backfield. 3. Would you rather have Tate than Pryor? All in all, yes. First, I like the versatility of Tate, in that it's more fun to watch a football game where everything from the read option to deep go routes is in the play book. Not sure Pryor would be able to handle all that. Then, too, I feel like Tate-as-actual-UM-player is more likeable than Pryor-as-hypothetical-UM-player is (would have been?). While it is undeniably true that everybody does murder and steal, after seeing both be interviewed recently, I just like Tate more.

Sure, Pryor had that whole "deer in the headlights" thing on the final drive against USC, but the guy is a phenomenal athlete. He's still 10-2 as a starter (12-3 in games played) and a big, strong dude with great speed. Most 6-6, 240 lb players find a spot on the line, at TE if they have the hands. If he can't get himself organized upstairs, that may be exactly where TP is headed (god help us...). Forcier may be shorter, skinnier, and with less speed, but the guy's a quarterback. He makes the reads, makes the passes, makes the plays. Troy Smith was similar, so far TP is not. Pryor has a lot of work to be an NFL ready QB, on and off the field. I think there's little doubt, however, that he's an NFL ready athlete. The greatest benefit of an article like this is to squash some of that "run-first spread" negative recruiting. Braxton Miller is the next, great duel threat guy who'll be fed that line of bull. If he's watching Forcier throw for 240 yards every week, it should fall with a dull thud.