Brandon Myers spent two seasons as a teammate of Terrelle Pryor’s with the Raiders and in that time, Pryor — considered an extremely athletic and raw quarterback prospect — played in only four games, starting just one. No one was expecting Pryor to walk in and immediately resemble a finished product.
“I remember him saying one time that he’d never really been taught how to pass, he just relied on his athletic ability,’’ said Myers, who is in his first year as a Giants tight end. “I think that’s one thing he is working on. He’s got all the tools, that’s for sure.’’
A quarterback saying he has never really been taught how to pass is akin to a lifeguard never learning how to swim. Pryor surely knows how to pass, it’s just that he’s not very good at it and his throwing arm is completely overshadowed by his legs. He certainly has been taught how to run and he does it early, often and with great success.
The Giants know come Sunday, their first priority on defense is dealing with Pryor, who does not completely agree with Myers’ assessment that he has never been instructed in the passing game.
“It’s kind of tough to really say because I only played one game last year with Brandon,’’ said Pryor, who despite a knee issue participated fully in practice Thursday for a second straight day. “I definitely became a lot more accurate and I’m understanding defenses and managing the game of football.’’
In the Raiders’ 3-5 first half of the season, Pryor led the charge with 485 rushing yards, averaging 7.7 yards per attempt. He’s completing 61 percent of his passes, but has only five touchdowns to go along with nine interceptions. He will take off and run in the blink of an eye and at 6-foot-4 and 233 pounds, he is what linebacker Jon Beason calls “a freak athlete’’ who can embarrass defensive players as he races by them. His 93-yard touchdown run on the first play against the Steelers in Week 8 is the longest scoring run by a quarterback in NFL history.
“He’s still young so obviously he’s not as polished as some of those other guys are in the passing attack but he is as deadly, or maybe even more deadly, than any other running quarterback we’ve faced,’’ Justin Tuck said.
The Giants have some inside information, as rookie defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins was a teammate of Pryor’s for two seasons at Ohio State.
“Right is his favorite side, he doesn’t really like to go to his left or throw too many passes to his left,’’ Hankins said. “He kind of favors what he likes and what he’s good at. When he runs, he’s more to his right, his boots and scrambles are basically to his right.’’
Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell lauded Pryor for his running ability — “He’s a 4.4 guy, built like a power forward on a basketball team and he can go’’ — and offered something of a backhanded compliment about Pryor’s arm.
“What we see is he’s good in the West Coast offense, they’re not asking him to do a lot more than the West Coast reads and he’s able to accomplish that,’’ Fewell said.
Tuck said Pryor reminds him of Vince Young, a tall, rangy athlete with great speed. The Raiders do utilize designed runs for Pryor, but mostly he does his damage when he senses pressure in the pocket and takes off.
“He’s not going to stay there long,’’ Tuck said. “He understands how gifted he is as an athlete and considering that most people chasing him are nowhere near as fast as him, he has an advantage.’’
Beason got an eyewitness account of Pryor when he trained in Miami, where Beason lives.
“I watched him throw the ball and watched his work ethic,’’ Beason said. “He’s a special guy now. He can really fly. You have the designed quarterback runs but at the same time he’ll improv. He does it better than anybody. Just tuck the ball away and just keep it, the whole offense thinks it’s a run, he’ll just keep it. To be that big, that fast it’s a tough tackle.
“At the end of the day I got 10 guys around me who are going to be chasing him just as hard and hopefully that’s enough.’’