Terrelle Pryor has come a long way in two years. In June 2014, shortly after the former Ohio State star was traded from the Raiders to the Seahawks for a seventh-round pick, the first question on a lot of people's minds was whether he'd be asked to move from passer to pass catcher.
Pryor's response: "I don't know how to catch. ... I've been a quarterback my whole life."
Pryor signed with the Browns last June, and logged his first and only catch in the season finale against the Steelers. And now, not only has he fully embraced his new position, he's looking to "beat up on some corners" in 2016. His progress has Browns coaches gushing, too.
"The season is yet to come here, but I know one thing: [Pryor]'s improved by leaps and bounds," senior offensive assistant/wideouts coach Al Saunders. said, via the team's website. "It's really hard, that transition from the quarterback position to a wide receiver position, and the physical environment is so different. He's being asked to do things that he's never really been asked to do before. He's got to make a lot of ground up in that way, but every day he gets better, he does something that really gives me room for optimism that he has a future at that position."
So while this is a positive development, the reality is that there's no guarantee Pryor makes the roster. The good news is that the Browns are in desperate need of downfield playmakers, so Pryor's best chance might come in Cleveland.
"We're really excited about him," Saunders continued. "He's dedicated himself in the classroom, and his work ethic is better and better and better. His efficiency is better and better and better. I look forward to getting him in training camp and see where we can go from there."
Meanwhile, Pryor is controlling the things he can.
"(I'm) 10 times (better than last year)," he said last month, via Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot. "I look at the film and it amazes me, and I give that to Saunders, because just sitting there and doing the extra meeting time with him and him really breaking down certain routes to me and how he wants them run, it's awesome."
Listed at 6-foot-4 and 233 pounds, Pryor, who once ran a 4.38 40-yard dash, is a big, fast target for Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III. Of course, he won't be mistaken for Josh Gordon anytime soon but Pryor is 1) similar in size, and 2) available. Gordon remains suspended by the NFL for violating the league's substance-abuse policy, though he could return to the team before the start of the season.
For now, Pryor is hoping to absorb as much as he can of first-year coach Hue Jackson's offense and have that translate to playing time in the fall.
"It's my first offseason as a receiver. It hasn't even been a year yet since I did it. Obviously there's things I want to keep on working on and I will, and I'll get a lot better at it."
Come training camp, Pryor will be battling veteran wideouts Andrew Hawkins, Taylor Gabriel and Marlon Moore, along with rookie first-rounder Corey Coleman -- and the four other wideouts the team selected in the 2016 NFL Draft.
