Will Terrelle Pryor Be the Greatest Dual-Threat QB There's Ever Been?

As the spread offense has undoubtedly dominated the world of college football, coaches have an added attention span for quarterbacks who can both throw and run the football. From Vince Young of the mighty Texas Longhorns to JaMarcus Russell of the tenacious Tigers of LSU, big, fast quarterbacks have changed the face of college football forever.

In this day and age, when thinking of a stud quarterback of such stature playing college ball, one young man is at the head of the conversation. As soon as the No. 1 '08 recruit Terrelle Pryor signed late with the Ohio State Buckeyes, hype immediately ignited in Columbus, Ohio. From that moment since, the Big Ten freshman of the year has failed to disappoint!

The question is: How good will he get?

Before the Buckeyes kicked off their season against Youngstown St., the 6'6", 235-lb. dual threat Pryor was expected to get limited snaps per game behind five-year senior All-Big Ten quarterback Todd Boeckman. After a clumsy first couple of games and a lopsided blowout loss to USC, the freshman phenom took over the starting position, the fans in Columbus all but distraught.

The highly touted soon to be sophomore is most often compared to the likes of Vince Young. But what is it about Terrelle Pryor that has the Buckeye faithful thinking beyond the skills of the former great at the Texas quarterback position?

When comparing any two individual athletes to one another, you first have to consider how they started their career. First off, Vince Young redshirted his freshman year. Pryor did not.

Redshirt freshman Vince Young shared playing time with junior quarterback Chance Mock, who got just as many (if not more) snaps in 2003. However, that same year Young managed to throw 144 times, completing 85 passes for a 59 percent completion percentage. He also ran the ball 135 times for a whopping 998 yards.

As good as that was, what Pryor did as a true freshman was extraordinary, starting over a five-year senior who led his team to the National Championship with the highest completion percentage in the Big Ten in the '07-08 season (third nationally!) And this was only by the fourth game of the season! Now that's impressive!

In fact, it's more impressive than the blow Ohio State took from USC. You know, the game in which Pryor completed 78 percent of his passes.

He finished off the season 100/165 (60 percent) with 1,311 yards and 12 TDs in the air, while carrying the ball 139 times for 631 yards and six TDs. Sure, Vince Young had more total yards per play and more total yards on the season, but Terrelle Pryor didn't need to with the presence of dynamic tailback Chris "Beanie" Wells causing havoc in his backfield.

There's no doubt that Pryor is going to be a standout dual-threat quarterback in the NCAA in the next couple of years.

The question is, will he be the best anyone's ever seen?

Vince Young of 2003: 85/144, 1,128 yds, 6 TDs; 135 carr, 998 yds, 11 TDs

Terrelle Pryor of 2008: 100/165, 1,311 yds, 12 TDs; 139 carr, 631 yds, 6 TDs

God bless and GO BUCKS!!!