Thoughts on TP: Miscast as QB?

Submitted by Swayze Howell Sheen on

Is it just me, or do others think that TP should be a wide receiver, or maybe a tight end, and not a QB? He is a monster athlete playing the wrong position. Can you imagine covering that guy down the middle or in the corner of the endzone on a jump ball (like they did a few years ago)? I could imagine it. Hopefully, though, we won't have to. I actually think it will be fine if he just sits back there and tries to QB.

Further, think of his attitude: he *seems* like a prima donna wide receiver. Name one good QB that seemed like a "me first" big-ego kind of guy, I dare you (I know some of you clever ones will come up with something). But the list of "team" guys that are great QBs, well, pretty endless. Think John Elway, or Tom Brady. People might point to Favre as the type but watch him play: he loves playing football with the guys, loves throwing the ball, and, importantly, his guys love him.

TP is more like TO. Even his decision to join college was all about him: protracted to generate the most attention possible. What he didn't realize: that attention can have a downside too, especially when things aren't going so well.

So anyway, I feel bad for TP: he could be a great player. I just don't think it's as a QB. What are your thoughts?

p.s. Everybody murders people. EVERYBODY.

KBLOW

October 19th, 2009 at 7:58 PM ^

TP's still really young and learning. Navarre wasn't too much better during his sophomore year and he wasn't even a threat to run with it.

KBLOW

October 19th, 2009 at 8:19 PM ^

I liked Navarre. But his Soph season he had 13 INT's to 19 TD's and at least a few fumbles. I know he wasn't close to the #1 QB recruit in the nation, but Navarre got a lot better, it just took a lot of time. TP's upside is still huge.

BlueGoM

October 19th, 2009 at 11:17 PM ^

Agreed. He's not playing well now, but he'll get better. Navarre went from not very good to very good by the time he was a senior. People still gave him crap his last couple seasons but he was very good.

TP has all the physical tools, he just needs more time and coaching. He's still going through some growing pains but I think he'll be good next season and dangerous his senior year. But for the time being it's sweet, sweet Schadenfreude.

EGD

October 20th, 2009 at 12:42 AM ^

John Navarre was possibly the least-physically-gifted of any Michigan QB to start over the past several decades. On top of that, he got thrust into the starting job before he was ready due to the unexpected early departure of Henson. It was only through hard work, listening to the coaches, and being a team player that Navarre made himself into a decent player by the time he was an upper classman.

Pryor has all the physical talent you could ask for, but does not appear to have the work ethic, humility, leadership skills, patience, or other attributes that enabled Navarre to ultimately succeed.

flaproosta08

October 19th, 2009 at 8:02 PM ^

Or perhaps they could line him up in the type of offense that suits him rather than attempting to turn him into this prototypical pro quarterback prospect that they seem to want him to be.

Tressel is holding his fans captive by doing this, and if he ran a full out spread similar to ours or did something more to utilize the skills that Pryor does indeed possess, he would be much more successful.

That is the truth.

teldar

October 19th, 2009 at 8:14 PM ^

He said he would NOT play option ball because he didn't want to get killed running around. He wanted to play for a college that would use him like a prototypical PRO-style QB. Drop back and throw.

He gave that as the main reason he would NOT go to M and play for RR.
Because pro QB's don't do that kind of thing..... except now they do....

flaproosta08

October 20th, 2009 at 12:00 AM ^

Let me ask if you think he would rather run around like a buffoon to a Big Ten title and Rose Bowl/Championship berth yearly or sit in the pocket and get demolished and ruin his stock in both fans and the NFL's eyes.

If you think it is the latter, you're wrong.

Blue in Yarmouth

October 20th, 2009 at 12:56 PM ^

Your arguement is with Pryor, not anyone here. He is the one that said he wanted to be a pro-style QB and chose OSU so he could become one. If you don't like that decision, take it up with him. Your stance ignores the fact that he WANTS to be a pro-style QB.....Tressle isn't making him be one.

So actually.....you're wrong.....Just sayin'

ScoobyBlue

October 19th, 2009 at 8:03 PM ^

He's built like Calvin Johnson with maybe even better speed. If he can go up and catch a ball like Calvin, then yes, he should switch to receiver. He certainly will never be a 2nd overall pick as a QB, no matter how much he improves.

CheckOutMyRod

October 19th, 2009 at 8:05 PM ^

Its not so much as him being a qb as it is him being damn near retarded. look at him,really look at his face and it says it all! If that fails for pete sakes just listen to that dummt speak. Good lord thas a stupid human being!

PurpleStuff

October 20th, 2009 at 3:24 PM ^

I am happy to apologize for making an off-color, not terribly sensitive (especially considering the gravity of the actual events), and clearly (considering the audience on this board) misguided attempt at humor. Still, the butt-hurt reaction to stale, outdated words like "honkey" (words which, as a white person myself, I know have zero power to offend me, hurt me, or alter my mood in any way) was downright comical.

I'll agree to lay off all you vanilla-faced devils and hopefully we can all move forward amicably.

Refoveo

October 19th, 2009 at 8:11 PM ^

The crazy part is that they will be getting a 6’7 receiver next year and if they had pryor playing wide out too, they’d have the potential to play 6’3 (posey) 6’6 (pryor) and a 6’7 (Tyrone Williams) receivers at the same time with 2 of them having 4.4 speed. That would be a secondary’s worst nightmare. For coversation sake though, he's just in his second year; I'd keep him at qb

RedWing19

October 19th, 2009 at 8:15 PM ^

He will NEVER be a NFL QB ever, ever, ever. If you saw the look on his face on the last drive against USC you could see he was lost and did not have a clue, game over. (Big difference between him and Tate when all the chips are on the table)If he wants to play in the NFL it will have to be at WR or TE. He has all the skills in the world for a great wide reciever, plus the built in TO, Chad Johnson, Keyshon, diva attitude. I just hope sweater vest keeps trying to "develop" him for the next 2 1/2 yrs as a QB.

Tater

October 19th, 2009 at 8:18 PM ^

He is a prototypical Spread Option QB. His best position in the NFL, though, would be WR or TE. I think he will end up being TE because he will "grow out" of being a WR.

I just hope Tressel isn't smart enough to go to a spread and roll Pryor out the next couple of years.

Blue boy johnson

October 19th, 2009 at 8:54 PM ^

Pryor has done and said some dumb things, I don't know that he is dumb. It could be Tressel has yet to figure out the best way to teach Pryor.

I doubt Tressel is ready to give up on Pryor, physically he has all the tools to succeed. Mentally? The jury is still out as far as I am concerned.

On a related note, I was impressed with the simplicity in which Denard Robinson explained his reading of the defense on his touchdown pass. Denard made it sound easy, if the Safety did X then Denard would do Y. Understanding the fundamentals and applying them is crucial in any type of successful endeavor. I give the coaches credit as well for working on the play all week and making Denard familliar and confident with the read.

jmblue

October 19th, 2009 at 9:14 PM ^

He's having a bad season, but his career trajectory thus far doesn't seem that different from Chad Henne's. At this point in his sophomore season, Henne was awful. He seemed to have seriously regressed from his freshman year. In both players' cases, the loss of a lot of surrounding talent probably had something to do with it.

Engin77

October 20th, 2009 at 5:45 PM ^

between Henne and TP to this point. Each had much better WRs to help in his freshman year; Henne had Braylon, TP had Hartline and Robiske. Each struggled as Sophs.

Expectations on TP were much higher as the #1 QB in the nation, announcing after basketball season, yada ... Those expectations translate to pressure to deliver; this will be interesting to watch.

Heisman212

October 19th, 2009 at 10:13 PM ^

leadership when his team needs him. OSU coaches have no idea how to utilize his talent. I hope they don't figure it out anytime soon. The funny thing is they have had a running QB in the past. I dare not say his name but we all know who he is and how much we hate him. They figured out how to make it work with him.

Jim Harbaugh S…

October 19th, 2009 at 11:30 PM ^

this year, but I think his main problem is that Beanie is gone and his replacements have been less than stellar.

Also he lost his top two receivers which is a blow for any QB.

But his development or lack thereof is certainly surprising, I just hope his coming out party isn't in Ann Arbor.

I did notice what looked like him talking back to The Vest at the end of the Purdue game, perhaps he is not listening to the coaches and simply trying to get by an his physical skills.

Njia

October 20th, 2009 at 12:11 AM ^

When I was a young'un, I graduated from H.S. at the top of my class. My home town, practically in the shadow of East Lansing, was not a paragon of intellectual virtue, and there were no available A.P. classes. Consequently, I pretty much coasted to straight-A's, graduated, and headed off to UM.

When I got to Michigan, I got a rude awakening. Suddenly, I actually had to compete! Other students, who decided to eschew the college credit that their A.P. classes would have afforded them, were in a position to do their own coasting while they padded their GPAs. They set the grading curve, and I was on the wrong side of it, despite few incorrect answers on exams in classes such as chemistry, physics and calculus.

It took me until my junior year to catch up, when I was finally taking core engineering classes. By then, my GPA was a train wreck, but I had 2+ years to make it up, and now all of us were in the same position with respect to the curriculum. I had also learned good studying habits, and felt much better prepared.

Pryor is in the same situation. The real question isn't whether he's smart enough to play QB. The Army All-American game demonstrated that he was more than competent at the position against other, elite H.S. talent. No, what he needs to prove is whether he's willing to swallow some pride, take his lumps, (literally and figuratively) and learn both the QB position and game preparation.

Tate Forcier is as good as he is because he's been preparing to be an elite QB his entire life, relying as much on hard work as raw talent. It's something Pryor now has prove he can do, too.

Clarence Beeks

October 20th, 2009 at 8:57 AM ^

This is a great analogy, but I'm curious of one thing... what did you see in the AAA game that would lead you to the conclusion that he "demonstrated that he was more than competent at the position against other, elite H.S. talent." I watched that game and I remember him having a couple nice scrambles and one or two nice passes, but the rest was very average (at best). To me, that game was exactly indicative of what we have seen of him to this point in his college career.

Njia

October 20th, 2009 at 4:48 PM ^

He gained 155 yds in total offense (79 rushing on 10 carries, and 76 yds passing) including 2 TDs.

Its not so much THAT he ran, but rather WHEN he ran. It was very effective and kept the West's defense off-balance. Because it was a constant threat, the pass opened up (including a long TD pass after he faked a run).

In my view, its really to his discredit that he's not playing to his gifts. It would be like me saying, "yeah, I know I am a good musician, but I'm going to play basketball instead, because that's my dream."

allHAILthedeat…

October 20th, 2009 at 11:40 AM ^

My major problem with Pryor is that he has phenomenal physical attributes, but very little in the way of football intelligence. We all know he says some dumb things (giving further credibility to the lack of overall intelligence comments here), but in terms of the game his football knowledge is what hurts him most. Bad throws, bad reads, panicking, etc. are all symptoms of a severe lack of awareness on the field.


A QBs most important tool he has is his brain. He can have crazy height, a great arm and accuracy to spare, but if he cannot read a defense and find open recievers then he is useless as a QB. The Coner** is a perfect example of this, tons of the measurables but little in the way of football intangibles.


This is one of the reasons Tate has been as successful as he has in his freshman year. Go back to the postgame interviews where he talks about seeing the opposing D drop into cover-0 and such. Those are the things that great QBs (see: Brady, Henne) can do - they manage the game by mastering it conceptually.


** I'm a big fan of the Coner's rhymes, however

Hapa

October 20th, 2009 at 1:35 AM ^

I think its too early to make a call on Pryor. Many QB's don't break out until their Junior/Senior year. We're just (I dare say) spoiled from having Forcier shitting rainbows and game-winning drives left and right.

His progress next year will be a tell-tale sign of his NFL future.

Blue in Yarmouth

October 20th, 2009 at 1:10 PM ^

This guy is a true sophmore and has plenty of time to get things right. Moreover, he plays for our biggest rival who we play once a year. The only time TP is a worthwhile discussion topic is when we play OSU, yet we have more threads about him than we do any of our own players. Who cares? He picked OSU, he is playing below many peoples expectations but is still a great athlete. Does any of this really matter to any of us.....really? Leave the kid alone, his fans are giving him a hard enough time.