Cleveland Browns: Can Terrelle Pryor be a top WR in 2016?
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Terrelle Pryor has garnered support from teammates and coaches alike so far in 2016.
In the 2011 NFL Supplemental Draft the Oakland Raiders used a third-round pick to acquire Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor. Pryor would go on to play in 15 games for the Raiders between 2011 and 2014.
The Raiders traded him in 2014 to the Seattle Seahawks for a seventh-round pick. The Seahawks would release Pryor prior to the beginning of the season.
In 2015 both the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals signed and released him. In June of last year, following his release by the Bengals, Pryor expressed his willingness to change positions from quarterback to wide receiver and the Cleveland Browns signed him a few days later.
In September of last year the Browns announced that Pryor had made the 53-man roster only to cut him days later to make room for former Seahawks running back Robert Turbin. Later in the season, the Browns re-signed Pryor as a wide receiver when quarterback Josh McCown suffered a season-ending injury. Pryor stayed with the team for the remainder of the season.
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During the 2015 season Pryor was targeted eight times and only had one reception by the end of year, but that one catch was a 42-yard reception against the Pittsburgh Steelers, showing Pryor’s abilities as a wideout.
Earlier this year the Browns re-signed Pryor and his teammates and coaches offered up some comments last week during the team’s veteran minicamp in Berea, and there was one recurring theme to the comments.
“He is obviously a big, athletic guy who can run and catch the ball,” Robert Griffin III said. “It is our job to continue to help him refine his skills. He’s a quarterback at receiver so you know he is going to work hard.”
“He is big, fast and all of those things – but last year, you kind of saw him thinking a little bit while he was doing it, trying to do things right so it takes away from your skillset,” according to McCown. “It is nice to see as he is learning it and kind of getting it that his skillset is coming back to life and you’re seeing that he is a big, fast guy that can go and can catch the ball well. He can be an asset to us. He just has to keep working, but you are starting to see little glimpses of what it can become and it is exciting.’
“He is big, tall and fast,” said head coach Hue Jackson. “He did some good things today. He really caught the ball better. He looks a little bit more natural playing receiver than what I would think. He is one of the young men who have really dedicated themselves to really trying to improve himself in an area to give himself the opportunity to be a part of this football team.”
Pryor, who is listed at 6-foot-4 and 233 pounds, would definitely bring size to a wide receiver group that tends to be on the smaller side. But the comments by Jackson, Griffin and McCown should in no way change what the Browns do this weekend in the 2016 NFL Draft concerning the wide receiver position.
However, after a full off-season with the new coaching staff, Pryor stands a good chance of fulfilling the potential he showed with that one catch in 2015.