Ohio State Really, Really Wants Terrelle Pryor to Stay Healthy

Okay, that headline is not exactly news. It's up there with "points good to win foot-ball" as far as things you already know. But perhaps the news here is the vast extent to which Ohio State's hopes rest on the (enormous, strapping, terrifying) shoulders of Terrelle Pryor.

You see, Ohio State backup quarterbacks Rob Schoenhoft and Antonio Henton transferred last year, leaving Pryor, senior Todd Boeckman, and 26-year-old ex-minor-league-baseball-player and walk-on Joe Bauserman the only quarterbacks on the roster. Boeckman is now out of eligibility.

Ohio State then proceeded to jam its class full of killer prospects at every postion save quarterback. Eventually, this seemed like a bad idea to OSU and they pursued Virginia quarterback Tajh Boyd, a onetime West Virginia commit who switched to Tennessee only to see Lane Kiffin yank his offer once he took the helm.

Boyd committed to Clemson. Oops. Ohio State shot an offer out to Miami of Ohio commit Austin Boucher, who took one look at that shiny Scarlet and Gray paper and said... "thanks, but I'm a Redhawk." Which, like, bully for you, Mr. Boucher, and your extremely realistic views on your role at Ohio State.

So, yeah, next year Ohio State's quarterback depth chart will be:

Terrelle Pryor
Walk-on baseball guy
Basically Nick Sheridan

Say your prayers for Pryor's ACLs, Buckeye fans. No, this isn't a voodoo doll wearing a #2 jersey.

(Link HT: Doctor Saturday.)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-30-2009 @ 7:30AM

randy said...

This kid ran out of bounds twice in the Texas game way before any Longhorn was near him! He was scared, plain and simple! Don't have to worry about him getting hurt. He's either real stupid or scared of getting hit, and either spells trouble for the Buckeyes!

3-30-2009 @ 7:37PM

Aaron said...

Keep in mind the kid was only a freshmen. How many freshmen quarterbacks would take on a group of senior linebackers and DB's just to get 2 more yards. In my opinion, he was being smart. Why get hurt when you have 3 more years to work out and physically prepare yourself to take on hits. Plus, next year he's going to be a machine. Once he polishes up his passing game, he won't have to worry about getting hit because no one will catch him. Go Bucks!!!

1-30-2009 @ 9:36AM

mattinboots said...

For 6'6" guy, I am not shocked he runs out of bounds. Any good corner, safety, or LB is going to hit him low - not necessarily to injure him but because, hey, 6'6" is freaking tall. I wouldn't be surprised if Tressel spends the majority of the offseason trying to turn Pryor into a pocket passer.

1-30-2009 @ 12:28PM

ThWard said...

mattinboots-
If Tressel spends the majority of the offseason turning Pryor into a pocket passer, then no one in the Midwest will be able to get any sleep, what with 10 other Big 10 coaches constantly cheering loudly and celebrating.

1-30-2009 @ 3:56PM

Skapanza said...

Word was Pryor was nursing an injury. Still, a lot of the time it looked like the difference between a first down and a drive-ending run out of bounds would involve minimum contact. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

1-30-2009 @ 2:39PM

sugar lumps said...

1) calling bauserman a 'walk-on', while technically true, is a bit disingenuous. the pirates drafted him and are paying for his school, so he doesn't take up a scholly. however he was a 3-star qb coming out of HS with offers from clemson and louisville - and there is a good reason to think he didn't receive the attention he otherwise would have from recruiting services and schools due to being ticketed for baseball. obviously he would be a step back but he ain't a walk-on in the same way that sheridan is a walk-on.

2) pryor's shoulder was hurt in the fiesta. he was instructed by the coaching staff to avoid any unnecessary hits. check this first highlight and tell me this is a guy who fears contact: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4ciWzHWZ-s -- that is more typical of his style of play.

1-31-2009 @ 2:59AM

Ninja Football said...

Hey Sugar Lumps- Steven Threet's on the phone. His #12 ranked QB, 4-Star having ass would like to agree that a 3-star QB would guarantee success.

Face it dude, if Pryor goes down ya'll are screwed.

1-31-2009 @ 1:17PM

epaz65 said...

I don't know...Matt Cassel looked pretty good this year. Bauserman could surprise

1-31-2009 @ 3:34PM

lilkidmike said...

Per wikipedia: Matt Cassel was the #8 rated QB and 53rd overall prospect coming out of high school in ESPN's Tom Lemming's top 100. I'm guessing he was something like a 4-star recruit. He was always supposed to be pretty good. If Pryor goes down for a long time and a former 3-star recruit who's been playing minor league baseball takes over, OSU goes from 1st in the Big 10 to 4th or 5th at best.

2-02-2009 @ 9:20PM

Bob said...

Hey, I LIKE the Buckeyes, and I'm more than a little concerned about the QB situation, and not just about potential injuries. While Pryor is a fantastic athlete, he has a long way to go before he's a complete QB--quite frankly, I'm afraid they'll blindly stick with him even if he doesn't show a great deal of improvement. His occasional flashes of brilliance from last season need to become more commonplace and dependable, or it's going to be another year of struggling against the tougher teams--a so-so offense just won't cut it against the big boys.

2-03-2009 @ 12:34AM

Brian Grummell said...

Yep, and Cassel was a better baseball prospect as well, played on the Northridge Little League World Series team, pitched one year at USC a little.

Cassel would have been the equivalent of a mid to high 4-star player, probably not top 100 but definitely top 250, was always a highly regarded player that just got beat out by and even more regarded guy (and Booty who was even more regarded than Leinart).

California quarterbacks are generally part of a year-round development system, not every guy pans out but there's a great deal put into most of their development, the ones that reach the D-I level at least. Cassel had that in his background, Bauserman likely doesn't.

Cassel is just a rare, rare exception, no need to pretend there's a next one of him just around the corner.

2-14-2009 @ 4:26PM

globalsetback said...

all u people are crazy, we are the Buckeyes Pryor was a true freshman people, freshman can u people say freshman he'll win the heisman before he leaves maybe national championship bucks always got great running backs good receivers he will be fine