It's official. The nation's all-everything #1 high school quarterback, Terrell Pryor, has finally made up his mind. Yet after an additional month of hype and speculation, it seems clear he didn't spend the extra time in deep thought. Not simply because he chose Ohio State over Michigan--though it qualifies as sufficient evidence on its own. But because the deciding factor was that he thought he had a better chance to make it to the NFL as a Buckeye.
Ummmmmmmm... huh?
Michigan has sent six of its last seven QBs to the NFL (Elvis Grbac, Todd Collins, Scott Driesbach, Brian Griese, Tom Brady and John Navarre). The seventh (Drew Henson) was projected to be THE top overall pick of the 1994 NFL draft before deciding to pursue a baseball career (after mulling over the 18,000,000 reasons a Buckeye fan named Steinbrenner presented to him). And the current one (Chad Henne, above) is looking to go anywhere from mid-1st to mid-2nd round this April.
Currently (as in fall 2007, after the final cuts of training camp), only one Big 10 school can boast of having more than two quarterbacks on the NFL depth charts. Michigan. Even Indiana has more active signal-callers in the pros than Ohio State. Indiana! In fact, that quarterback factory in Columbus can't even match the number of NFL arms pumped out by two MAC schools (Miami of Ohio and Akron). I know, it's easy to sit back and be a Monday morning quarterback. But when it comes to counting Sunday morning quarterbacks, the Buckeyes aren't even in the top two of their own state.
If Pryor had instead insisted that his chances of winning a Heisman Trophy were better there, okay, then say that. The Bucks win the Heisman-winning QB shootout, 1-0. Just don't pretend your selection has anything to do with something it can't possibly have anything to do with. It's like saying you picked Ohio State because you've always wanted to play for JoePa, or that you love how the students spray-paint the helmets gold on Friday nights.
From a career standpoint, even the Heisman rationale would seem unwise for a kid who-- let's just say he's not weighing pre-med programs. Alhough nine of the last 15 Heisman winners were QBs, only one has gone on to anything resembling greatness. That would be Carson Palmer, so clearly I use the G word very liberally here. Yes, the jury's out on Matt Leinert and fellow Buckeye Troy Smith. But the pattern is set. In fact, since 1970, only Jim Plunkett has had what you could call a stellar pro career. Vinny Testaverde and Doug Flutie were respectable, mostly by being durable. And a few others made it to the NFL but just couldn't keep their jobs (Pat Sullivan, Andre Ware, Ty Detmer,Chris Weinke and Danny Wuerffel). Suffice to say, your odds of being a Jason White, Eric Crouch or Gino Torretta are far greater than being a Plunkett or Palmer.
Every other reason for Pryor's choice of letter sweater makes less sense. Michigan just switched to a wide-open spread offense--the identical offense Pryor ran through high school. And the Wolverines have an immediate vacancy at the position, not to mention a proclivity for starting freshmen (Rick Leach, Rich Hewlett, Chris Zurbrugg, Elvis Grbac, Scott Driesbach and Chad Henne all started on or around their first move-in weekend). As a member of the scarlett and grey, with returning junior Todd Boeckman having led the Bucks to the brink of a national title, it's more likely The Sweatervest will hand him a different red shirt. Sometimes you handle the drug. Sometimes, the drug handles you.
Less likely to make it in the NFL? A former Michigan QB has won three Super Bowl MVP trophies this millenium. Michigan INVENTED the forward pass. Michigan taught Notre Dame and Ohio State the forward pass. Michigan's winged helmet was introduced 60 years ago to enhance their passing attack.
It doesn't have to make sense. The rich get richer. While the poor get... coaches from West Virginia.
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