High school quarterback phenom Terrelle Pryor’s choice of Ohio State over Michigan in the spring wasn’t meant to be a slap in the face of the spread offense, but it was.
It was made with the NFL in mind.
It was made with being a complete quarterback in mind.
And while Michigan’s spread offense is tailor-made for Pryor’s skill set, the player knew if he wanted to be a quarterback beyond college, exclusively running glorified option plays from the shotgun simply will not do. While the spread offense has been a boon for colleges and made stars of some players, it has mostly been a failure in prepping quarterbacks for the professional level.
So, during the recruiting process, Pryor consulted NFL personnel.
“I talked to a lot of NFL coaches, a lot of scouts, to see what their mind was thinking about, what I should do,” Pryor said.
There were votes for both sides, but Ohio State’s multiple offense won out, with more NFL officials saying it was the right choice for his future. This season he’ll play a running quarterback role in spot duty for starter Todd Boeckman. But that will evolve.
The struggles of San Francisco quarterback Alex Smith, and to a certain extent Tennessee’s Vince Young, are the latest examples of players from spread systems who find the drop-back, read, play-action world of the NFL hard to adjust to.
An inability to consistently make good reads, and thus good throws downfield, has been perhaps the biggest issue against ever-changing, crafty NFL defenses. Getting quarterbacks to use mobility as a complement to passing instead of a primary mode of getting things done has been another. Learning to operate offense from under center has been a difficult transition, as well.
Smith, a former No. 1 overall pick, is the latest casualty. He was recently named the backup to journeyman J.T. O’Sullivan. Young has won some games, but has struggled to throw the football and many times hardly looks like the big-time NFL quarterback he was billed to be.
But at least he got a chance to play.
The Jets changed former dual-threat Missouri quarterback Brad Smith into a wide receiver. Current West Virginia quarterback Pat White is a Heisman Trophy candidate this season, but is not considered an NFL quarterback prospect.
Florida’s Tim Tebow and Missouri’s Chase Daniel are considered NFL prospects, but the jury is out, given they both play in spread-offense systems. Tebow, who won the Heisman Trophy last season, is coached by Urban Meyer, who coached San Francisco’s Smith while at Utah.
Texas Tech runs one of the nation’s most famous — and productive — spread offenses. But none of their most productive quarterbacks this decade — Kliff Kingsbury, B.J. Symons, Sonny Cumbie — is in the NFL. Symons and Cumbie both play arena football.
Pryor has hope — and an NFL example to look up to when it comes to what playing well at Ohio State could lead to. The Baltimore Ravens will give Troy Smith a shot when he’s healthy. Smith is the 2006 Heisman Trophy winner from the Buckeyes, but the Ravens also are grooming strong-armed rookie Joe Flacco for the position. Smith never has been asked to be anything but a quarterback at the professional level.
But for now, Pryor will “learn from a senior quarterback,” that he hopes will help propel him to a solid professional career.
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
Getting the best education
Staff writer Chris Dempsey selects three college quarterbacks who are most pro-ready, given their ability and style:
Curtis Painter, Purdue, Sr., 6-4, 230:Under-the-radar player who ranks fourth or higher in seven passing categories at Purdue for passing guru Joe Tiller. Painter has thrown for 300 or more yards 10 times in his career.
Matthew Stafford, Georgia, Jr., 6-3, 237: The strong-armed Texan threw for 2,523 yards and 19 touchdowns last season.
Sam Bradford, Oklahoma, So., 6-4, 218:Set the NCAA freshman record for TD passes last season with 36.
