Calvin Pryor Showing Signs of Becoming a Playmaking Safety for New York Jets

New York Jets safety Calvin Pryor is easily the most improved player on the team this year. 

That's partly because he gave himself a lot of room for improvement as a rookie, but also because he is showing signs of answering a longstanding need at the safety position.

His biggest play in 2014 was a half-sack, but through four games this year he already has 23 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble. Pryor has wasted no time in proving he can make the splash plays that made him a first-round pick. In fact, he made his two biggest plays this season on the first drive in each of the first two games. 

So, what's different?

Of course, one of the common tropes of Pryor's struggles as a rookie was his alignment as a free safety, and conversely, how his transition back to a full-time strong safety—his strong suit—could ignite his renaissance. However, head coach Todd Bowles disagrees.

"No. He plays center field for us too," he said. "It's just year two. He was a rookie [last year]. You have to give him some leeway as a rookie. It's year two, he's got a lot smarter, a little more experience and that's probably about it."

Pryor is a year older, a year wiser and a year more experienced in the NFL, but the factors contributing to Pryor's improvement are both internal and external. 

If Pryor looks around, he sees a completely different group of defensive backs than the ones that surrounded him in 2014. With cornerbacks Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie and Buster Skrine along with safety Marcus Gilchrist, the Jets have made changes at four of the five spots in their secondary. As a result, they have upgraded at all five by surrounding Pryor with the talent that allows him to play to his strengths.

That being said, Pryor's improvement is not simply by osmosis. He's putting the work in to being the best he can be.

"He's been very professional, obviously studies, very smart football player, very dedicated football player, very tough football player," said head coach Todd Bowles. "He's been great with me. A lot of the communication has been great, I can kind of see what he's seeing. He understands what I'm asking him. He understands what [defensive backs coach Joe] Danna and [assistant defensive backs coach Daylon] McCutcheon are asking him. He's doing a good job."

The Jets certainly hope that Pryor's improvement is less osmosis than self-induced.

Looking around the defense, the Jets aren't going to have stud defensive veterans like Revis and linebacker David Harris forever. By that point, they hope that Pryor can have developed into the kind of player who can help continue the Jets' tradition of top-notch defense for the foreseeable future.

Through four games, he has already shown signs of being that player.

He stormed out of the gate in Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns with 10 tackles, eight solo, and a forced fumble at the 1-yard line that kept quarterback Josh McCown out of the end zone. 

Pryor (far left of the screen) chased down McCown from the opposite side of the field and was able to put his helmet square on the ball. Even if the second hit hadn't turned McCown into a human helicopter, Pryor's play would still have been remarkable. 

"That was a big momentum change in the game, especially them driving during that time," said cornerback Darrelle Revis. "McCown tried to scramble and tried to dive into the end zone and Calvin made a great play. So, that was a big momentum shift for us."

The next week, his interception of quarterback Andrew Luck stopped the Indianapolis Colts before they even really got started on their first drive and his 29-yard return gave the Jets the ball at the 9-yard line.

As Bowles suggested, Pryor was in deep coverage on the play (though he wasn't the only deep safety, with Marcus Gilchrist lined up next to him). The pressure got to Luck, and Pryor was in the right place at the right time.  

Week 3 was not great for Pryor, who gave up five catches on four targets, according to Pro Football Focus. It's also unfortunate that Pryor suffered a knee injury when he banged knees with a Miami Dolphins player, but the timing of the injury couldn't have been much better. The Jets have a bye this week, which gives the team an extra week to recover.

"It's a great time, man," Pryor said, according to Darryl Slater of NJ Advance Media. "Pretty sure a lot of guys are sore, hurting right now. To have a couple days off to rest your body and just chill and relax for a little bit before you get back to football, it's going to be huge."

If the 'Louisville Slugger' comes out swinging after the bye the way he came out of the gate at the beginning of the season, he could further his status as one of the rising stars at his position in the NFL. 

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained via team news release.