Heisman Contenders - Can Pryor be Another Tim Tebow?

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Terrelle Pryor comes into this season in a position to capitalize on some of the notoriety he had as a schoolboy. Pressed into service for Ohio State last season, he feels he is ready to emerge as the kind of dual-threat that can be the difference-maker in games.

Like a lot of athletes who eventually elevate themselves into Heisman contention, Pryor was a big-time high school athlete. But that is a gross understatement. Pryor has to be considered one of the most decorated high school athletes in recent memory. At Jeannette High School in Pennsylvania, he became the first player in state history to both run and pass for 4000 yards, and he won a state championship as a senior. He went on to win the MVP award at the prestigious U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Pryor was also a tremendous basketball player, and could have had his pick of many schools.

Top 10 To Win 2009 Heisman Trophy

Tim Tebow +200

Sam Bradford +275

Colt McCoy +275

TERELLE PRYOR +800

Jahvid Best +1000

Evan Royster +1400

Jevan Snead +1600

Jonathan Dwyer +1600

Todd Reesing +2000

Darryl Clark +2000

C.J. Spiller +2000

As the most highly-recruited athlete in the country, Pryor first committed to Pitt to play basketball, but he started to gravitate to football, and for that purpose he was strongly considering three Big Ten schools - Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State. He did not announce his decision by National Signing Day, which made his eventual decision even more highly anticipated. Eventually he chose to go with Jim Tressel and the Buckeyes.

It was expected that Pryor might sit for a while behind Todd Boeckman, a senior, and he was gradually worked into the lineup against USC, as Boeckman suffered badly in the blowout loss. Against Troy, Pryor threw four touchdown passes. He ran for two scores and 97 yards against Minnesota the next week. His 226-yard passing performance against Penn State on October 25 was a season-high, though the Buckeyes lost 13-6. By season's end he had 12 TD passes and only four interceptions, throwing for 1311 yards. He also added 631 yards on the ground.

The problem with all of that, in terms of Pryor's Heisman candidacy (and he is +800 in the BetUS NCAA football odds) is that those kinds of numbers aren't even going to get him close. Since his debut, he had seven games where he completed less than ten passes. He had more than 144 passing yards only once. He had 20 or more attempts just once, and he had only one game where he rushed for 100 yards.

Those figures will have to make a big jump, because he's competing with people who can out-do him in BOTH areas, like Tim Tebow of Florida (+200 at BetUS) and Colt McCoy (+275 at BetUS), not to mention better passers like Jevan Snead of Ole Miss (+1600 at BetUS) and Sam Bradford of Oklahoma (+275 at BetUS). Even Nevada's Colin Kaepernick and Central Michigan's Dan LeFevour are considered guys with a bigger upside.