Is Terrelle Pryor Captain Material?
Since winter conditioning, there have been frequent rumblings alluding to this being “Terrelle Pryor’s team” now. So, you knew this was going to come up, didn’t you? There are basically two schools of thought.
Some feel that despite tradition, TP is ready to be a captain. Regardless of his age, he’s already taking being a leader extremely seriously. He’s showing it on/off the field and in the classroom. He will be running the offense and, being a QB, having a leadership position pretty much goes with the territory. Plus, he’s not your average sophomore.
Then there are the ‘traditionalists’ who feel that the elected team captains ought to be seniors, and in rare cases (like James Laurinaitis) juniors. They believe that having been through multiple camps and knowing the inner workings of the team is critical to quality team captain. This often times despite their production (or lack thereof) on the field.
Coach Tressel was asked about if he’d “allow” Terrelle to be captain this season, and while he does have some say, the captains are pretty much selected by team vote. Here’s what he said:
“I don’t know about “allow”. I have a lot of votes but I’m not sure I have a hundred-some. I guess sitting here at this moment I’m not sure that that’s something you would want to add to a sophomore’s plate, but we’ll see how things evolve.”
He brings up a valid point. Something that I think is more important than simply “tradition”. TP has a ton of eyes on him right now. He’s already being mentioned in preseason Heisman prediction lists and he was just named the Big Ten’s preseason Offensive Player of the Year. This year also brought his first spring practice with the team, and first time getting full-time first team QB snaps in the offseason. From all accounts, TP’s absolutely flourishing this spring/summer and making strides in all areas, but perhaps being a captain would be a little too much this year?
All I know is that if there’s someone who could handle all of the expectations and responsibilities, it certainly would be Terrelle.
Most expect Kurt Coleman to run away with the votes. The second he announced he was returning for his senior year, I thought “he will be a captain for sure”. Judging from who attended this week’s media day in Chicago, we could likely see Jake Ballard and Doug Worthington get their teammates’ vote of confidence as well. That leaves one more person from the offensive side of the ball. I’d expect Jimmy Cordle to get the nod, provided there’s no upset with TP.
So, what do you think?
Loading ...I don’t know. If his teammates prove they have that much confidence in him and vote him captain, I’d have absolutely no problem with it. But if not, that’s fine as well. He’s a shoo-in for captaincy next season!
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