Terrelle Pryor: Mr. Everything

Mike's Pick of the Day, NFL

Desperate times call for desperate measures is an old saying. The situation for the Cleveland Browns can certainly qualify as desperate. Onto a rookie 3rd string quarterback to start against the Dolphins in Week 3, and things weren’t looking good for Cleveland this season.
Terrelle Pryor
Hue Jackson is well respected, but he isn’t Bill Belichick and the Browns are not the Patriots, who can win 27-0 with a rookie 3rd string quarterback against an expected play-off team. Jackson tried his best to get a win this week despite the poor situation that he found himself in. To do that, he decided to get, arguably, his best player the ball in every possible way that he could.

That player is Terrelle Pryor. A standout quarterback at Ohio State, who journeyed around the NFL without much success before switching to Wide Receiver last season. This year, he made the Browns as a starting WR. The Browns are desperate, some predict they could go 0-16. In an effort to put their best foot forward, the Browns leaned on their best player. Pryor lined up at quarterback, wide receiver and even safety for one play. He ended the game with eight catches for 144 yards, four rushes for 21 yards, and 3/5 passing for 35 yards. He was the first player to have 120+ receiving yards, 20+ rushing yards and 30+ passing yards in a single game since Hall of Famer Frank Gifford did it in 1959.

It was a noble effort by Pryor. I can’t help but respect his ability to play so well while being asked to seemingly do everything for the lowly Browns. To make things worse, his efforts should have paid off with the big upset. The Browns missed a 46 yard field goal as time expired. The game went to overtime and, predictably, the Browns lost to the Dolphins 30-24.

I respect his confidence, but the Browns clearly do not have one of the best teams in the NFL. Although, Pryor may be the best player on the team.

 

[Image Credit: CBS Cleveland]

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