Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden has high expectations for Terrelle Pryor. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Gruden made it clear that he rates Pryor very high, despite switching from quarterback to receiver fairly recently.
“I think had he made this decision sooner in his career, I think he’d be further along,” Gruden said, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “But being that he just made it not too long ago, he’s where he is. I mean, he’s still one of the top guys in the league and he just started playing. He’s a physical freak. So we’re excited to have him and we’re going to continue to work with him. We just have to keep working. Kirk [Cousins] and Terrelle just have to get together so they get on the same page, get to know each other not only on the field but off the field.”
Pryor is certainly very good. In his first year as a full-time receiver, he caught 77 passes for 1,007 yards while playing for an especially bad Cleveland Browns team.
Right now, it seems difficult to put Pryor in the kind of group Gruden mentioned, however. As good as he is, he doesn’t have the track record to stack up to guys like Julio Jones, Odell Beckham Jr., A.J. Green and workout buddy Antonio Brown.
But he’s certainly progressing, and his teammates enjoy playing with him.
For now, we’ll have to disagree with Gruden on the idea that Pryor is already one of the best in the game. But he’s certainly taking the right steps towards being counted among them.