Can Calvin Pryor Develop into a Starting Safety for the New York Jets?

2014 has not been a smooth year for the New York Jets' rookie class, including that of its prized first-round selection, safety Calvin Pryor.

The "Louisville Slugger" has been in and out of the starting lineup, battling mistakes and missed tackles as much as injuries to prevent him from having the type of impact the Jets were looking for. Even Rex Ryan himself, who once gave this draft class an A+ grade, conceded that he was expecting more out of his prized safety prospect:

With the season all but lost, Pryor has been given the starting nod in the last two games to prove that his best days are still to come. 

The Good: Coming Downhill

Pryor is listed as a safety, but he plays with the heart of a linebacker. He is at his best when screaming downhill with a target locked on, using his blazing closing speed to make big hits and force turnovers. 

To this point, Pryor has simply not made enough of these types of downhill hits to "make up" for his other mistakes, but he reminded everyone why he was taken so early in the draft when he blew up a screen play in the first drive against the Tennessee Titans. 

Pryor is lined up as one of two-deep safeties (Cover 2). The Titans will run a designed screen pass, kicking out offensive linemen to create a convoy of blockers for the receiver to run behind. 

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Pryor does a tremendous job recognizing the play after the snap, keying on the linemen's movement and diagnosing the screen to get a jump-start on his pursuit. 

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Not only does Pryor close on the ball-carrier in a matter of seconds, but the sheer fact that he was able to find the ball so quickly and avoid blockers is impressive enough. Without Pryor's quick reactions and closing speed, this play could have gone for an easy first down. 

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Pryor also shows off this skill in the run game. Here, he fills a gap in the run game to bring down Shonn Greene with a full head of steam—not a task for the faint of heart.

The Bad: Missing Tackles

As good as Pryor is at running downhill to attack the ball, his aggressiveness can sometimes get to the best of him, causing him to miss tackles and allowing ball-carriers to escape for extra yards. 

Player	Snaps	Missed Tackles	Tackles
Calvin Pryor	563	13	33
Dawan Landry	833	3	61
Jaiquawn Jarrett	391	6	22

According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Pryor has amassed 13 missed tackles on the season (while credited with 33). By comparison, Dawan Landry has just three missed tackles compared to his 61 successful tackles. 

Here, Pryor has Dexter McCluster in his sights and takes a perfect angle to get to him behind the line of scrimmage.

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

However, Pryor has lost control of his direction, allowing McCluster to sidestep outside the tackle. Luckily for Pryor, David Harris and Co. were there to sweep up the mess. 

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Pryor did contribute to the stop by slowing McCluster down, but these types of mistakes are only forgiven on plays closer to the line of scrimmage. In the secondary, where the stakes are raised, these miscalculations can result in touchdowns—just as Pryor learned in his second regular-season game against the Green Bay Packers. 

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Pryor has not given up any long 80-yard touchdowns recently (in large part because the Jets have not given him as much responsibility since), but missed tackles continue to be a recurring theme of Pryor's that will become an issue if it is not fixed sooner than later. 

How Is He Being Used?

At this point, it is somewhat difficult to evaluate Pryor simply because of his usage—which tells us all we need to know about the coaching staff's opinion of Pryor. 

In his last (nearly) full start against the Minnesota Vikings, Pryor was either used in a classic Cover 2 (covering half the field) or pulled up close to the line of scrimmage, acting much like a linebacker—which, frankly, is his most natural fit. 

Credit: NFL Game Rewind

Pryor has had two solid bounce-back games by making many more sound decisions than poor ones, but he still is not being asked to perform tasks most first-round safeties are expected to do.

When a safety is selected as high as Pryor was, he should be able to be as versatile as any defensive back on the team, able to be called upon to do everything from playing in a deep zone to making big stops in the run game. This type of versatility and on-the-fly adjustment is what separates players like Earl Thomas from the rest of the pack. 

To this point, Pryor has not done enough on the field to suggest that he may develop into a special, game-changing player the Jets were hoping he would become when they drafted him in the first round. Pryor is playing more like a box safety who could have easily been acquired in the middle rounds or latter stages of free agency. 

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

This is not to say the book has already been written on Pryor, as he has plenty of time to prove to his (new) coaches next year that he is capable of being more of an all-round safety as opposed to a linebacker in a safety's body.

However, he first must gain the trust of these coaches so they put him in situations—namely Cover 1, "center field"-type roles—to give the Jets a tangible return on their first-round investment. 

Can Pryor eventually develop into a long-term starter for the Jets? Absolutely—but he will need to earn back the trust of his coaches to put himself in a position to flourish. 

Advanced statistics provided by ProFootballFocus.com (subscription required).