Former QB Pryor getting better at catching passes
Only four years ago, Terrelle Pryor played quarterback for the Raiders. He started nine games in 2013, making him the last Oakland quarterback not named Derek Carr to run the offense for more than half a season.
And now Pryor starts at wide receiver for Washington and will spend Sunday night’s game trying to torment the Silver and Black, not lead them.
This uncommon transformation largely has sailed below the radar, mostly because Pryor’s loud numbers in his first full season as a receiver — 77 catches, 1,007 yards — came last year in Cleveland. The Browns went 1-15 and seldom surfaced on highlight shows, beyond watching their opponents prance into the end zone.
Pryor, after signing with Washington as a free agent in March, is on a potential playoff contender with an established quarterback (Kirk Cousins). Pryor reinvented himself, impressing his former teammates across the country.
“To do that at this level is not easy,” said Raiders fullback Jamize Olawale, one of only three players on the active roster still left from 2013 (with punter Marquette King and long snapper Jon Condo). “I’m happy for him. He seems to be doing well.”
Carr took it one step further. He understands the distinctive demands placed on a starting quarterback, and his constant work with wide receivers gives him at least a sense of what it takes to play that position.
So to see Pryor excelling in his new role astonishes his successor.
“Unbelievable, right?” Carr said. “It’s something people see and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s really cool.’ But they don’t understand how hard it is to play quarterback your whole life — even in the NFL, to make it as an NFL quarterback — and now we’re going to move you to receiver and be successful.
“And not only that, he did it with multiple quarterbacks last year, which is ridiculous. I think he deserves a lot more credit than he gets.”
Cody Kessler, Robert Griffin III and Josh McCown all made starts at quarterback last year for the Browns. None of them will stir memories of Joe Montana, but they helped Pryor revitalize his career and stitch his name in NFL lore.
He became only the second player in league history to collect 1,000 yards passing in one season and 1,000 yards receiving in another. Pryor passed for 1,798 yards with the Raiders in 2013.
The other player in this dual 1,000-yard club is Oakland native Marlin Briscoe. He had 1,589 yards passing as a Denver rookie in 1968, then switched to wide receiver and compiled 1,036 yards receiving for Buffalo in 1970.
At any rate, Pryor is off to a somewhat slow start this season for Washington. He has eight catches for 97 yards in two games, a loss to the Eagles and a win over the Rams.
He remains undeterred, convinced he’s on the brink of busting out for a big game.
“I am going to have a dominant season and it starts this week against Oakland,” Pryor told The Athletic.
He acknowledged having a little extra motivation facing the team that drafted him. The Raiders took Pryor in the third round of the 2011 supplemental draft, understandably smitten with his abundant athleticism.
His size (6-foot-4, 228 pounds) and speed didn’t make him a good quarterback, though he did dash 93 yards against Pittsburgh on Oct. 27, 2013, for the longest touchdown run by a quarterback in NFL history. Pryor now uses his skills in a different realm.
“He’s still developing at wide receiver and he’s already accomplished a lot of great things,” Washington head coach Jay Gruden said. “I think he’s going to continue to get better, which is really, really exciting.”