Raiders Get Heat for Terrelle Pryor, but Tim Tebow's the More Expensive Project

Terrelle Pryor joined the Oakland Raiders for a third-round draft pick, Tim Tebow cost the Denver Broncos a first rounder last year. After one NFL season, how much better is Tim Tebow than Pryor?

Tim Tebow and Terrelle Pryor share a lot of similarities.

While they have strikingly dissimilar characters, they both cause a lot of controversy and have cast enigmatic figures since leaving college.

While Tebow left his former college—Florida—with the praise of thousands of fans cheering him on, Pryor escaped from Ohio State as fast as he possibly could as everything but the stadium was falling down around him.

Tebow had incredible success in college while Pryor was the first overall recruit coming out of high school and led the Buckeyes as the Rose Bowl MVP in 2010.

As far as the NFL goes however, both players are essentially equals. Tebow has done little during his time in the NFL to ease the concern of those scouts, such as BR's own lead scout Matt Miller, who doubt that he will ever be an NFL starter.

There are similar concerns with Pryor who isn't even guaranteed to be playing quarterback at the next level. Pryor didn't dominate the college game despite playing for a very talented Ohio State team. He was inconsistent throwing the football and won't be able to rely on his athleticism as a professional.

In the same week that Pryor was drafted in the third round of the NFL supplemental draft by the Oakland Raiders, Tim Tebow was relegated to the third-string job in Denver behind Brady Quinn and Kyle Orton.

Pryor is in a situation where he has a chance to develop behind reliable if unspectacular starter Jason Campbell. Being a third-round pick in the supplemental draft brings with it a lot less pressure than being the first-round pick in the regular draft.

For one thing Pryor won't be paid anywhere near the same amount of money as Tebow is but he also will receive a lot less fanfare. That fanfare is an issue for the Broncos as it will affect their team chemistry. The perception of Tebow to many people is that he is some sort of savior but the reality is that Kyle Orton is simply a better quarterback.

Josh McDaniels did a lot of things to cost him his head coach job in Denver but he believed that he could mold Tebow into a starting NFL quarterback. McDaniels made a lot of poor decisions and misjudgments as a head coach, that looks like being one that can be added to the list.

Pryor is in a better situation as he will get the chance to learn from Raiders head coach Hue Jackson away from the spotlight. Pryor is under no pressure to play this season or even next. The expectations of Pryor are for him to learn his position and, like most quarterbacks, be ready to start in his third season.

Giving up a third-round pick in next season's draft for a potential face of the franchise—at least he has as much potential as Tebow does—is a much more astute decision than taking a flier on the former Florida stud.