Wide receiver Terrelle Pryor says that he isn’t done playing professional football. Pryor, who is currently listed in the league as a free agent, has an unfortunate recent string of injuries and hasn’t completed a full NFL season since 2016. However, he says that he is currently in talks with several NFL front office teams about a 2020 return. For now, his return is a little more than a new rumor. But let’s take a look at what a healthy Pryor brings to an offensive unit in 2020.
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Pryor’s recent injury history
Terrelle Pryor has a unique skill set that isn’t seen too often in the NFL these days. Pryor is a true hybrid quarterback-wide receiver and can switch between the two positions with ease. Pryor had his breakout season back in 2016 as a receiver for the Cleveland Browns.
While he is mostly utilized as a wide receiver, he can also be alternated as a quarterback with confidence for certain plays or situations. During Week 3 of the 2016 regular season, Pryor hit a trifecta of completing at least 120 receiving yards, 30 passing yards, and 20 rushing yards all in a single game — a statistical feat that had not been accomplished in the NFL since 1959.
However, to say that injuries have been a struggle for Pryor in recent years would be an understatement. Pryor had ankle surgery in 2017, followed by a lingering groin injury the following season in 2018. Before the start of the 2019 regular season, he was placed on the injured reserved list again before being released by the Jacksonville Jaguars just three days later.
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Since completing his 2016 regular season, Pryor has been listed on four different NFL rosters and has only played in 17 games. Pryor has suffered more than just football-related injuries. In November of 2019, Pryor was left in critical condition after being stabbed in the neck and chest.
However, Pryor says that he is not only completely healthy today, but he is still able to compete at a professional level. “I can still play, and I can still make plays and dominate,” Pryor recently said in an interview with TMZ Sports.
In the same interview, Pryor also stated that he has identified the cause of the injuries over the last several years and how to prevent them moving forward. “I’m working hard, but I’m really working smarter,” he said.
Pryor says that his injuries over the last few years are the only thing that has held him back since 2016. If Pryor really has kept in shape as he claims, and his days of being sidelined are truly in the past, he could be in a position to get some real looks for the 2020 season.
OSM analytics on Terrelle Pryor’s last full NFL regular season
The 2016 NFL regular season was both the first and last complete regular season for Terrelle Pryor. He competed in all 16 games that year for the Cleveland Browns and started in 15 of those. He had a solid year for individual production and put up some very respectable numbers on the stat sheets.
His Offensive Share Metric, which focuses on key stats that are solely things an individual player is in control of, grades Pryor’s overall 2016 with an OSM of 29.01. According to the OSM grading scale, an OSM grade in the high-twenties is considered an above average, good grade for that position.
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Pryor’s OSM grade illustrates that he was teetering on the edge of being considered an exceptional receiver in 2016. An overall OSM grade of 30 and above is very good and is a common trait among the league’s best receivers. When looking at the individual weeks, Pryor had six games that year where he ended the day with an OSM grade north of 30.00 including two games where his individual production was graded above 40.00 — considered elite on the grading scales.
Pryor ended the 2016 season with 77 receptions for a total of 1,007 receiving yards. Both of these stats are firmly in the top quartile of all NFL receivers for that year. Pryor’s bread and butter, though, was getting open deep downfield with an average of 14.7 targeted air yards — the 16th highest TAY average in the NFL that year. He commanded the deep passes for the Browns that season, accumulating over 40% of Cleveland’s total air yardage. This was the second-highest total air yardage percentage among all NFL receivers in 2016.
Terrelle Pryor and the New England Patriots
In Pryor’s interview with TMZ Sports, he mentioned that he had been in talks with the New England Patriots as a potential landing spot for this upcoming season. The Patriots, who currently have two former quarterbacks as receivers on the roster, operate at their best as a pass-heavy offense. Adding another offensive tool, especially a player that has proven the valuable skill of consistently getting open downfield, is something that the Patriots should be looking for this offseason as they prepare to start the year with new quarterback Cam Newton under center.
New England’s two leading receivers, Julian Edelman and Mohamed Sanu, have a very good combined overall OSM grade of 33.66 from the 2019 season, which is just ahead of Pryor’s 2016 OSM of 29.01. Bringing in a player with an overall individual production grade near 30.00 as your WR3 that can be trusted with the big plays downfield is a can’t miss situation for a team in need of receivers.
A healthy Pryor lined up as the WR3 on the Patriots depth chart with Cam Newton throwing to him would be something to watch. New England’s playbook is designed to open up deep passes with paper cuts underneath. This passing strategy would make a sure-handed receiver like Pryor an excellent addition to the puzzle.
His diversity in size and abilities compared to Edelman and Sanu would lend a great compliment to the overall offensive unit. Adding in the possibility of switching Pryor into the QB slot for some creative play-calling is just icing on the cake.
The verdict on adding Pryor in 2020
It’s no doubt that the 2016 version of Terrelle Pryor was a very solid wide receiver. His individual production value was definitely good and he was outstanding deep downfield. He was an NFL leader in overall team air yardage shares and was very consistent when relied on by his offense.
However, there is one glaring fact that is hard to overlook — Pryor has not competed in the NFL since 2018 and hasn’t played as a full-time starter since 2016. Even if he has figured out a way to avoid injuries moving forward as he claims, two years in NFL time is a very long time to be out of NFL shape. Regardless of the reason for the absence, being out of the league for that long of a time will leave many experts very skeptical.
But if Terrelle Pryor has put in the time and efforts that he claims, and he’s been able to somehow stay in professional football shape, he should at least get some looks from some front offices around the league. If he can manage to stay healthy and perform with a similar output as his breakout 2016 season, he could bring some serious value to any pass-heavy offense.
Thoughts on this feature? Something you would like to see during the offseason? Follow us on Twitter or join in on the conversation on Facebook. You can also check out my other articles from 2019 and 2020 here.