Before I get to why the Browns need to keep Terrelle Pryor if he shows any promise at all in real traffic, I've got to bash a hit-piece on the Browns:
Another writer who should remain nameless offered fantasy advice on the Browns. Well not really. I won't bother repeating his idiocy, but will just make some statements:
Josh McCown succeeds with a good offensive line and fails without one. For most of his career, he has spent a lot of time on his back. It is hard to look good that way. Idiot.
Brian Hartline is 28 years old. Cretin.
Rob Housler played for Bruce Ariens. Jackass.
The blind squirrel likes Duke Johnson a lot, and the defense somewhat.
My own fantasy advice for the Browns would be Housler, the defense, and maye Duke. I wouldn't take any of the wide receivers. I might think about Crowell, since he might get the goal-line carries.
After reading that pile of excrement, it was nice to read this article by Casey Drottar in Rant Sports.
I haven't seen Terrelle Pryor's workout tapes, but Casey has. He's looking really good, and has already worked out with Josh McCown (who is always ready to help anybody, any time).
It's true that it's a whole different story when the pads go on and people are hitting, so we have yet to really see what Pryor can really do.
But he was a quarterback, used to being chased around and hit. It's still football. It is possible that Pryor turns out to be one of those receivers who "hears footsteps" or can't relax his hands under pressure, but Casey and I think he can do it.
Basketball players do a lot of catching. They catch a bigger, rounder, heavier ball, often in traffic. Usually when a guy is a basketball star, I figure the catching part is a good bet. That's probably why Terrelle caught some of his practice catches one-handed on his tapes. If you can palm a basketball, you can do that too.
He's got everybody convinced that he really means business here, and is doing all he can as fast as he can to catch up.
That might not be enough--technically. He does have a lot of lost ground to cover to really compete with the other recievers and H-backs. As of game one, he might not be ready for primetime.
But I'll tell you what: Pettine, Farmer, Flip etc. will know whether or not he can do it, and if he can, they need to keep him anyway.
Remember Josh Gordon (in his first and second seasons?) Pryor is capable of doing everything he did, and probably more. He's an inch taller and ten pounds heavier. He's also faster.
Just because a guy isn't ready to set a bunch of records in game one doesn't mean you've got to release him. Not if, at the latest, by game one of the next season you know he'll be ready.
Oh, Pettine has to worry about his job, so he's got to win now?
So what? Is keeping Pryor instead of your fifth or sixth reciever or your fourth tight end or h-back or whatever going to cost you one game or something? C'mon, Mike!
And anyway, Haslam has this reputation as having an itchy trigger finger why? Because he didn't like the original front office the NFL stuck him with and fired them?
One incident? One time. I don't think so. Jimmy doesn't want to fire anybody if he can help it. He understands the value of continuity as well as anyone. If he didn't learn it in business, he learned it as a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
So yeah, Mike and Ray: See if he can function when the bullets are flying, and if he can, keep him. No matter what.
I personally feel that Terrelle would indeed see gradually more action throughout his very first season at receiver, and do some damage. He might not have been born to play quarterback, but looks a lot like he was born to be a big-time game-changing playmaker.
You don't want those guys to come back and haunt you.
What do you say then: "Well he wasn't that good when we had him last year...uhh..."
THAT will get you fired RAY? RAY?
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