Terrelle Pryor: Can Oakland Raiders QB Ever Be Dynamic NFL Player?

With all the emotions after the passing of Al Davis and a stirring road win at Houston, something has quietly gone on behind the scenes with the Oakland Raiders.

Week 5 has come and gone, and you may recall that former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor has been serving a five-game suspension mandated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

This is Week 6, and the 3-2 Raiders are home and looking forward to three straight winnable home games, with an off-week thrown in there as well.

The Raiders face Cleveland on Sunday, and it will be the first home game since Davis' passing. Kansas City comes in the following week, then the bye and then the Broncos, who named Tim Tebow as their new starter on Tuesday.

Now the Raiders will have to make some decisions regarding Pryor. They have a one-game roster exemption—but after that, they'll have to decide.

The question remains—is Pryor a future star or another college guy whose skills can't translate to NFL standards?

The Raiders chose to keep only two quarterbacks this season. They have Jason Campbell as the starter and Kyle Boller as the backup. Will they add Pryor as a third quarterback?

Although Pryor wasn't allowed to practice during his suspension, he was allowed to attend meetings and work on individual drills.

Pryor will most likely be added to the 53-man roster next week, which means someone there now will be released. As the third quarterback, he won't be getting many snaps in practice, which means the Raiders will now look at him as a long-term project.

They may decide to add some running packages to the offense for him, perhaps the way the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have done with backup Josh Johnson, who has a lot of speed and runs an option play that is tough to stop.

Can Pryor be a dynamic playmaker? The guy is 6'5", 232 pounds and runs 4.38.

Nothing says dynamic like 4.38.

He has a strong arm, but he's raw.

They said the same things about Cam Newton. Newton's done nothing but proven the naysayers wrong this season.

After the JaMarcus Russell disaster, the Raiders might be due for some good fortune.

You can always look at what's happened nearby in San Francisco, where Jim Harbaugh has resurrected Alex Smith from the "bust" pile and now has him playing effectively for the 49ers.

Sure, Pryor's a project. But at least now he can actually be an Oakland Raider.