Terrelle Pryor Ready To Earn Starting Role in Oakland
By Josh Hill
Of the many story-lines heading into the 2013 NFL offseason, the Oakland Raiders actually have one of the more interesting ones. One the one hand we have Carson Palmer, a failed experiment that is currently costing the Raiders a pretty penny. One the other hand there is former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who hasn’t been relevant since he was punished for violating NCAA rules while with the Buckeyes. Both have had better days but only one has a bright future and only one will be the starter come week one of this upcoming season.
Common sense suggests that Terrelle Pryor has the upper hand at this point given how mobile the NFL has gone in recent years and how terrible Carson Palmer has been since coming to Oakland. Still, Pryor has to earn the starting gig, but he says he’s more than ready to win people over.
“Right now I’m trying to win over my coaches, win over my teammates and everybody in the facility and let them know that I wanna be a leader, a great leader,” Pryor told Erik Kuselias on ProFootballTalk Live. “I’m there for the long haul and I wanna win just as bad as everybody else and that’s what I want to prove to everybody before I really get into talks of starting and stuff like that.”
Pryor started the Raiders final game of the season against the Chargers, and he also played in two others during the season. Pryor was a mobile passer at Ohio State, something that has many wondering if he’ll have a “Kaepernick Effect”, where he’ll usurp the old starter and have a run of success with the read-option offense.
He’s not crowning himself the starter just yet, but Pryor seems to have matured since coming into the NFL and appears ready to take over as a leader.
“I don’t really wanna give comparisons or anything like that because Carson [Palmer] does a great job of what he does, and I can also play too and do some things well too,” Pryor said. “So I can’t down talk him because he’s a great QB to me and I just wanna stay on my side of seeing what I have to do to get better every single day and that’s where I’m at right now.”
Only time will tell if Pryor really has what it takes to beat out Carson Palmer in open competition this offseason, but the Raiders have nothing to lose at this point if they do names him the opening day starter.