Wild card

This story appears in the July 25 issue of ESPN The Magazine.

The AFC scout sat in the press box at Ohio Stadium last November, waiting to see how Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor handled a sizable second-quarter lead against archrival Michigan. What the scout witnessed made him cringe.

As the clock wound down to halftime, the Buckeyes had the ball at the UM 19-yard line with a chance to make a 24-7 lead insurmountable heading to the locker room. But Pryor dropped back, locked in on a receiver running down the left sideline and threw a soft pass that Wolverines safety Jordan Kovacs intercepted in the end zone. Ohio State still went on to win 37-7 to clinch its sixth straight Big Ten title, and Pryor put up solid numbers (18-for-27, 220 yards passing, two TDs). But the scout's opinion was cemented that Pryor isn't a legit NFL quarterback prospect. "It may have been one of the worst interceptions I've ever seen because he just lobbed the ball," the scout says. "Now, if he does that against Michigan, what's he going to do against the Patriots or the Steelers?"

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider

• Recommend0
• Email

Jeffri Chadiha

NFL

• Archive

• Senior writer covering the NFL
• Joined ESPN in 2007
• Attended the University of Wyoming on a football scholarship before injuries led him to transfer to the University of Michigan